I recently aquired a sixteen foot, midnight blue second-hand canoe from a friend. However, there are a few problems with this boat.

Firstly, its been sitting in the water (not by my friend, who lent it to relatives) year-round for about five years. we get ice thick enough here to support several pickups and a dozen ice-fishers easily.

After scrubbing the algae and dirt off (I wouldn't have been suprised to find freshwater barnacles), the canoe was discoloured and cracked in several places along the hull, running alongside the keel. That's also the first time I've seen a waterline INSIDE a boat. The seats, and the bar that crosses the middle of the canoe (forget the term) are gone, though the places where they attached to the canoe are still there. On one side, the gunwell has popped off, and the rivets holding the gunwells down are rusted out. One deck also fell off in my hand as I tried to move the canoe. Personally, I don't care if its worth it, I want to restore this canoe. I'm thinking perhaps a new layer of fibreglass over top (and inside) will do it, but I'm not sure how to go about it. Do I sand the canoe down first? also, is there a way to restore the canoe's colour (its badly discoloured and scratched)?

Much appreciated, I'm also researching here, but I'm not finding much.

Knightmare