I am building my first kayak and I am having a blast! I have a question for all of you more experienced builders. I have just completed the stripping of the deck and have made the cut out for the cockpit recess. I was wondering if I should plane and sand the areas on the deck around the perimeter of the recess cut out before i install the recess strips. It seems to me that it might be difficult to do the planing and sanding after the recess strips and coaming strips are installed. Any and all comments are much appreciated.

thanks, Bill in Arizona