Snow-dog,

I suspect the damage you are seeing is from ultra violet light.  Epoxy is notorious for getting long-term damage from UV radiation.  But it takes a lot of it over time.  If the Bell was stored where only the bow was exposed to sunlight day after day, that may be what caused it.  The cloudiness is a tip-off to UV damage.  It will cause the epoxy to get very brittle and to chip / flake / delaminate.

Some manufacturers add UV inhibitors to the epoxy, others varnish over the epoxy with a spar varnish to protect it.  I do both on my wood strippers.

Sounds like you have a good potential fix with the guys Prouboy recommended... I would snatch that canoe up and have 'em fix it for you.  I'm looking at getting a damaged prism and fixing it for my own use right now.  The guy had a tree limb fall on it... cracked the gelcoat, cracked the kevlar layup, and bent the gunwales.  The fix will be ugly, but it will work fine and the price (free) is right!

WS