Based on your recommendations, and after reading some posts on the woodenboat forums, I have ordered Rebecca Whittman's "Brightwork" book. I have also decided that a heat gun and putty knife might be better for removing varnish than a chemical stripper. With bare wood, I'll hit it with oxalic acid, and then maybe some chlorine bleach to even out the color. (Didn't have much luck with the chlorine bleach on the old GP, so maybe oxalic acid first will help. Wary of a 2 part bleach...) Finally, I think I'll break with family tradition, and use brown mahogany stain rather than Grandad's old red mahogany stain. Ephiphanes varnish seems like a winner. I'm very curious about Coelan, I know it's an excellent coating for nylon skins, but I don't think it will give brightwork that rich amber luster that varnish will. 8 coats of varnish later...

Will spend the rest of the summer sailing, and looking for a place I can store her for the winter to get into this awful varnish mayhem...

Oh, right, and tonight I go look at the boat, possibly buy her... I should probably buy her first!

Brian

: Hey, guys, I'm about to make either a great decision, or a stupid
: one: I may soon be the new owner of a wooden GP14 sailboat! I
: haven't seen her yet, but I've seen pictures of her (I will
: visit in person tomorrow night) and it looks like I'm in for a
: long slog of brightwork restoration. Which, I kinda knew. If I
: want the personality of varnished decks, I must pay the price at
: some point!

: Anyway, I'm sure I'm going to have have some questions regarding
: the process. I'll be checking best practices against all the
: teachings of my Grandfather, back when I owned a wood GP14 when
: I was in high school.

: The main question for you guys, do any of you know of a similar
: forum for wood craft restoration where I can start lurking and
: posting?

: I feel as if I shouldn't clog up the works here, on account of this
: being a sailboat restoration, and not a kayak building project.

: Thanks for your help!
: Brian