I dampen the wood, wait a couple of minutes, then scrap with a razor blade. When all the nastiness is off, I'll polyurethane it. Mine is from 1936 and the bottom had been in water at some point. Gorilla Wood glue seems to work great and is easy to wipe and sand off.
Yep, mine looked just like yours when I started. Every time I can grab an hour it looks a little less awful.