Yo Sandra

I believe there are gel coat polish products you can buy. They can turn a weathered epoxy finish from 'old-weather worn' to 'shiney new' in no time and without too much elbow grease. See if you can get some of that stuff.

If the fibreglass is sound (posters said poke around) and not leaking, you may not have to sheathe and paint the entire hull at all. Maybe you have to sheathe the hull and can get away with just polishing the deck.

Sheathing wouldn't be a problem. Just sand with 60 grade random orbital, lay 6 oz cloth and squeegie on the epoxy. Follow up with a few weave filling coats. Let the epoxy set (for a couple of weeks/month) random orbital sand 60, 80, 120, 220 and paint with two pot epoxy paint - should be good as new.

Kayaking is pretty simple: Kayak, life jacket, spray skirt, paddle, add water and go. But you can learn a few tricks by linking up with a kayak club. Sometimes pools give kayak lessons. Maybe there is a kayaker nearby.

Good luck with your project and have fun.

Cheers Pete