Its looking great John.
Yeah "toothpicks" probobly shouldn't be it.
So how about Hoosier's Long Haul I'm just teasing. I keep threatening to call my present boat the sled. I started testing Nick's designs out in the snow out behind his barn and mines likely to get luanched on the sledding hill.

Its a classic already!: I was in a book store that is closing out (Big chain store opened a cross the street) was perusing a wooden boat book yesterday. And found a picture of a decked canoe. with similar dimensions to yours. The writer considered by the writer to be a classic. Decked canoe called a fiddlehead. It had a similar usage intent, and dimensions. It was a lapestrake though.
I'll post a picture later today.

See your already building a classic! You know what they say about great minds.

Thoughts On your plan to mate your seams: That's a lot of what I did. I used slots too but I ddin't glue the seams together. . I think you have an open cocpit so you'll be able to get at things easier. The big thing is to get all the glue out after you knock the slots out. I found a wooden mallet helpful to tap things into line. I also used rounded pieces of red oak to hold the parts out that needed it. I didn't find much need to glue the seams as the epoxy will fill the seam and glue it in any ways. And the biase backs up that. The biggest difference was a trade off. On other boats we have done we could do one seam stem to stern in one fell swoop. IT went quick, but the long rolled up piece of bias can be hard to handle. The slots make it a thing you have to do in 2 foot bits and then go back over the slotted area. Loading straps wwere very helpfull outside addition to the inside slots. All grist for your mill.
The good in htat is you can work each area for fit as you do it, and is hard er to work near the ends from a distance. It sound though if you can get into the stem and sterm it wil lbe easier.
!RUSS