You could dip the loop ends of the Amsteel in melted candle wax (or even butter) but you would need to be very careful not to let those treated areas touch any of the portions that you want to have the epoxy adhere to.
It might be slightly easier to use some sail slugs that fit snugly in the groove. As long as you don't fill the groove with epoxy then you would still be able to replace them if they were to fatigue and break. You could cut away the "band aid" bridges to start over again with replacement.
http://www.sailrite.com/core/media/media.nl?id=3609&c=603010&h=96311ce087aa7abe9032 "sail slug without rocker"
Sail slugs like this are available in up to 1/2" diameter. Using these you could forget about the worry of the Amsteel fiber rope wicking up some epoxy. Try Sailrite for sourcing them. They own the image that I just pimped off of the www.
The two possible down sides that I anticipate are that the hard prong could pry against the edge of the groove, creating the leverage I mentioned that resembles a can opener and perhaps that he metal could eventually fatigue. I think that 18 or 30 of these things could easily support all the forces without ever fatiguing over a period of several years of use. These slugs should correspond to some grommets on the tramp. If the tramp and its existing grommets are too wide, consider "shrinking" the width by "taking up" a "Z" hem somewhere down the length of the center of the tramp.
In short:
Sand off the paint along the groove, 2" on each side of the groove.
Insert sail slugs every so many inches along the groove, to situate them between the spacing of the tramp grommets.
Lay one or more layers of2", 3", or 4" wide woven glass cloth or unidirectional glass cloth that has the "warp" at 90º to the length of the groove. This will be impregnated with two-part epoxy of course. These layers will bridge the sections of the groove in-between each of the sail slugs.
Fill and shape with epoxy mixed with lightweight filler.
Whet sand and paint to keep the UV light off of the epoxy and to keep a smooth surface.
We should probably cross post this to the I20 tramp groove thread because I don't recall anyone ever mentioning applying these superficial "band aids" between slugs to keep the groove from spreading open.
Gary
