So, I finished my deck and have cut out a recessed cockpit hole per the plans in Nick's book. After putting in about 8 of the recess strips, I'm finding it pretty tough going. Because I cut the recess perpendicular to the deck rather than straight up-and-down, I'm having to plane some pretty odd angles for each cross strip - the full length ones are a major pain. Plus, taking a precise end off of edge grain is also hard, even with a very sharp low-angle block plane.

Is there some trick to fitting the cockpit recess strips, or do I just need to cowboy up and do the work? Despite my best efforts, my joints are a bit ragged here and there so I'm also now concerned with appearance. Is laying some tape down and covering a bad seam with an accent "strip" of dookie an option? Any experience or guidance is appreciated.