My old Porter Cable palm sander died just as I was starting this project. I bought the Dewalt random orbital on the advice of twofootartist. I'm extremely happy with it. I removed the sock and connected a hose to my shop vac. This works real well in keeping the dust level down. Ear plugs are a must, tho

 http://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-D26451K-5-Inch-Random-Sander/dp/B0007XXHGO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1268497691&sr=8-1 

Palm sanders can be useful during the painting/varnishing phase, but can't touch cured epoxy. Like dthaler, I am very pleased with my Dewalt R.O. I leave the bag on, though, when sanding cedar strips and use the dust for thickening epoxy. I collected a quart of it when sanding the strip deck on my Merganser hybrid. -Wes

Thanks for the info lads.  So for sanding cured epoxy, you use the RO sander.  Would a small belt sander also do the job?

I'll throw in my vote for the DeWALT RO sander, I have the D26453K model, no complaints. I have never used a belt sander in this kind of application so I can't say yay or nay ... I guess I might be a little concerned that it would take off too much material. Than again, in experienced hands it might be fine. I have also used a card scraper in some areas but then got lazy and went back to the RO ;)

I use a belt sander for very heavy cutting, like smoothing the inside of a plywood cockpit coaming, but I've got 45 years of experience with this machine. A belt sander can do an awful lot of damage in the blink of an eye. -Wes

Thanks for all the replies.  I thought I may use a belt sander if there is any fairing to do.  I may buy an electric planer for that task.

Jeff - Forget the electric planer; buy or make a fairing board. Great control and not a lot of work. -Wes