Hi peter, plane works fine,just make sure it is sharp and set at a very thin setting. Be careful about not cutting into the plywood. When installing the deck and nailing, restrain from setting the nails after the deck is nailed on and the glue is still wet. You can sink them better after the epoxy is hard. Just to confuse a simple process,now would be a good time to glass a small patch of glass on the underside of rear deck where the deck lies between the back bulkhead and rear hatch beam, will make a big diffence in that part of the decks risistance to cracking during rescues.