Yeah, I hate working with fiberglass too, but my son is exceptionally sensitive to it. It must be his Korean skin or something. I swear he just looks at it and breaks out. We haven't canoed in a while since new ones cost far too much IMHO.

Looked at a plastic used one this summer, and thought "oh wow, only $300!" then I tried to lift it. Then looked at some Kevlar canoes OMFG! Then I started looking at paints.

Frankly I am afraid of sanding fiberglass as nobody knows if the glass fibers are just as bad as asbestos when lodged in your lungs. I have already had my fair share of asbestos exposure when unknowingly removing a linoleum kitchen floor with asbestos backing... using a circular saw. No need to add to the pile of crud in my lungs.

The outside will need some sanding as it has some cracks and gouging in the existing paint surface. A lot of recommendations of several coats of paint to restore the outer part. The inner I just need to captivate the fiberglass to stop it from shedding. I will probably powerwash it, as I think sanding may "fluff up" fiberglass that has not yet broken the surface of the old paint and make matters worse.

Thanks for the recommendation on the epoxy resins as there are so many to choose from it is mind-boggling. I had visions of garage concrete paint, which would certainly stop the shedding, but also the lifting.