Is the vinyl peeling, or is it worn off? Wearing off is normal with
heavy use, peeling is rare.
Royalex is the vinyl-ABS-vinyl sandwich. If the outer layer of vinyl is
going, it exposes the ABS to UV, which will degrade it. Yeah, you could
put a bunch of work into stripping off the de-lammed part, then glassing
over it, and probably painting it, too, but IMO $500 is way too much to
pay for a tandem canoe with a de-laminating hull. I just bought an Old
Town Discovery with a little delamination, within the layup--it's still
solid, though--for $150.
Keep looking, John.
Steve