After the hull is glassed, the shear clamps need to be planed to match the contour of the deck. I made some radius gauges with the proper curvature (48 inch radius aft and 16 inch radius forward) out of manila paper. Using these gauges, I planed the proper angle on to the shear clamps. Between the cockpit deckbeam and the aft bulkhead, the radius makes a transition from 16 inches to 48 inches, so I took a guess at the proper angles. Next, I trial fitted the deck by lashing it to the hull with sash cord. At this point, the planed angles can be checked. The underside of the deck must meet the outside of the hull. If too little angle was planed on the shear clamps, a gap can be seen. Since epoxy is such a good filler,(and performs well with thick glue joints)I decided that the angle tolerance should always be on the minus side. This way, (in theory) I will not have to fill any gaps at the shear. Next, I removed all of the trial fitted plywood. I applied clear epoxy to the underside of the aft deck. Next, epoxy thickened with cab-o-sil was applied to the tops of the shear clamps, bulkheads, and deckbeams. Then I re-tied the aft deck using the sash cords and began nailing the bronze ring nails through the plywood into the shear clamp, starting at the aft bulkhead and working aft. Next, the same process was applied to the foredeck, nailing from the cockpit deckbeam forward. Finally, the area between cockpit deckbeam and aft bulkhead was nailed.
 

Where the foredeck meets the aft deck, a butt joint is made. I trimmed the foredeck plywood to length with several passes of a razor knife. The butt joint was backed up and glued to a small (1 inch wide) piece of plywood, covered in plastic wrap, and clamped.

Here are some tools that I used to attach the deck: A compass to mark off the distance between nails, a bolt with the end ground to use as a nail set, a nailing gauge made from popsicle sticks, and the sash cords. The popsicle stick gauge is needed because the deck is supplied oversized and will be trimmed later. But the nails need to be even in relation to the side of the boat. The gauge has one short stick that touches the side of the hull, while the longer marks the spot 1/2 inch in where the nail belongs. The sash cords are rigged in a cascade arrangement similar to that used by Laser sailors to increase purchase on the vang or cunningham. A bowline is tied at the end, and placed at one shear. The cord is passed under the boat, and another bowline tied near the other shear. The tail of the second bowline is reeved through the first bowline, then through the second bowline, then tied off with a tautline hitch for adjustability.