: I'm either about to embark on the biggest debacle of my life or its most
: satisfying project.

You'll love it!

While you are out, try to round up a couple of sawhorses. When you return with your okume and plywood, set out the saw horses and place the plywood on them. Then put the okume on that, and now that you have "worktable" set up, dig out the plans and sketch out where the pieces fit on the okume. Even if you do a rough job on this, you should see some areas where there is a bit of additional space between the parts, and you can make your first cuts. If you can get the 4x8 foot sheets reduced to roughly 2x8 on the same day you take them home, they will be easier to handle later when you trim them to the exact size.

If time permits, you might even be able to cut out some panels to size and do your first scarfing the same day. Then the next time you can get around to working on the project your scarfs will have set up and you'll be ready to go with the next step.

Ever onward!

PGJ