Hi John

It's cold here in NY too. My boat is in the living room where I hope to finish up some rigging on a skeg before hanging it up in a garage. I followed the instructions and planed the fore and aft decks using templates per the instructions. In my rare free time I make furniture and really hate sloppy joints, even if they are out of sight. My technique for installing the deck was to use a combination of cam lock tie down straps and homemade tourniquets using 1/4 inch rope and two foot long pieces of wood. This will allow you to do some adjustment before you start nailing. Also if you cut the deck slightly oversized this will avoid most of the gaps between the deck and hull caused by the wood straightening out at the nails. Using an alignment hole to keep the deck in the right spot as Frank suffested is not a bad idea. I made recessed deck fittings and installed the ones at the bow and stern before installing the deck. The one in the bow wound up about 3/4 inch off. I am still trying to come up with a plausible lie about why it is like that. Good luck.

Jeff