Toller wrote:
A fiberglass canoe washed up on a friends beach a couple years ago. He
tossed it over to one side. Since no one has claimed it, I think repairing
it will make a good project for my son this summer. He is actually eager to
do it.

I hope he's as eager when he discovers how much work it's going to be.

It has two holes, one in the bow and one in the stern. It looks like
someone dragged it over a driveway and simply ground holes. The previous
owner patched it with what seems to be asphaltic tape. He also painted the
inside and outside.

I am planning on putting one layer of fiberglass over the holes, and then a
larger layer over the entire bottom. The construction is awfully flimsy and
can use some strengthening.

I have pics of fiberglass and gelcoat repair for kayaks on Webshots at:

http://community.webshots.com/user/brian_nystrom-reg

The same techniques can be used on canoes, which have similarly thin
skins compared to most fiberglass craft.

First thing is to get the paint off. I have tried simply scraping and that
gets a little off. A heat gun and scraping gets most of it off, but not
all. And I am not not sure how good a heat gun is for fiberglass.

If you overheat the resin, you'll ruin the boat. I would not suggest
using heat to remove the paint.

I don't want to sand (except of course where I will be putting new
fiberglass) because the fiberglass is so thin, and I have doubts about the
safety of a chemical stripper on fiberglass; someone warned me it will
soften the resin.

If you sand with 80 grit, you can remove the paint without removing the
resin or cutting into the fiberglass beneath it. DO NOT use the 36 grit
and similarly coarse methods recommended for larger boats with thicker
hulls.