Yes, I know on the PVA I think if I had used better wax would have been ok. After all, would have just waxed the mould next step so any residue is not an issue.

As far as gel coat, the mould was expensive enough (island prices). The layer of straight mat I put against the surface was resin rich and I worked it with a bubble popper roller, as I did with the subsequent layers. It should be fine for 1, at most 2 parts (all the core I have). The important thing is it is airtight and that is where the rolling out comes into play, along with wetting the material out on the bench, then transferring to the plug, rather than attempting to wet out in place. I am not expecting a straight to clear coat part, it is getting painted. We don't have the mild sun you have in Florida , it eats clear coats here (and subsequently the resin underneath as it is also UV sensitive).

For a mould that will see multiple uses, go straight to a tooling surface like Duratec, rather than run of the mill gel coat. It is the orange stuff in the picture. It will polish up to a nice gloss surface. That part is half of an ama for a 36 foot trimaran which will see considerable sea loads. As you can see carbon correctly engineered gives a stiff and light part. This is the shop in Bristol I mentioned.