Lots of different opinions... what matters is yours. People do all kinds of things in the name of "restoration", some of which some people like, some of which some people don't.
Personally, I don't like wholesale staining jobs like this at all, particularly when filler stains are involved. I once heard someone say "Oh yeah, you can make anything look good with enough stain." I don't think so! Natural wood (vanished) is beautiful, and the differences in color and grain among different species can be spectacular. Filler stains are designed specifically to kill such differences, to even out the tone of the wood. This canoe is red all over because it's had that Chris Craft red mud slathered all over it. No more mahogany, red cedar, white oak, etc.... it's all just Chris Craft red now.
What's more, these filler stains aren't simple to apply. Without good technique, it's easy to end up with a blotchy finish even on large expanses of smooth wood (i.e., the hull of a runabout). It should take extraordinary care to cleanly apply and remove excess filler stain from the complicated contours of a cedar-canvas canoe's interior.
Finally, what if you ever wanted to remove it? Will it be possible to get all of this stuff off? Out of the grain and defects in the wood? Out of all the rib-planking junctions and from between the edges of planking?
All this said, what matters is what you like. Know the issues, see it IN PERSON, and make an informed decision. If not this one, keep looking- there are others to be had!
M
