: Do the CLC designs require mechanical deck fasteners to the shear rail, or
: can the deck be bent and taped in place until epoxy cures?

:
As stated by others, the nails are just there until the epoxy cures. The method of removing the "heads" would work. I went with another method.

I used rope (lots of it) to hold the deck down as the epoxy cured, and ended up with a boat that had no fasteners holding the deck to the hull.