Hi Paint4real, Thanks for your suggestions. I have been unhappy with my previous experience with using the two-part chemical teak cleaners because of the damage it caused the last time I used it - when I scrubbed the wood, the softer grain between the harder lignin got removed leaving a striped and rough texture that I found very difficult to sand smooth. Perhaps I was over zealous. So far, I've succeeded in cleaning the wood substantially using acetone. One person recommended using household bleach to take the gray off - it seemed to work a little bit. In my experience it doesn't take a whole lot of sanding to take the old gray look off. I'm planning to refinish with Cetol Light, followed by the Marine Gloss - this produced a pretty decent finish on my old Cape Dory Typhoon I had prior to my M-15. When I re-apply the toe rail and other wood - I'm going to first coat the bolts with the old standard bedding compound Dolphinite - I have found that this really helps prevent corrosion, and will hopefully make the rails easier to remove in the future. It is also useful to use between the wood and fiberglass - helps join them nicely together and prevents water infiltration into the screw holes. Mark