repairing a cap / buffing hull scratches

[cyclone]

my favorite glass guy isn't answer his cell right now so i thought i'd solicit some info here.
my cousin has an older Eliminator Liberty that the previous owner beat the hell out of of. The rub rail was pretty trashed so we took it off and discovered portions of the hull near the bow area that had split the deck from the gunnel. You can push on the deck and it will move down to the side and close the gap up.
what i'm wonding is how to keep the deck down while we are glassing the inside together again. adding weight on top of the edge won't do it. it needs to go down and in a small amount to line up the edges. is there some sort of clamp or jig i can use?
also, what's the best stuff to use to fill and then buff out some heavy scratches in my gel coat? the gel is only a couple years old but a freakin cat dug its claws clean through the clear down to the color. When i wax the the boat now the scratches fill up with was and are very visible. I want 'em gone.
thanks.

[victorfb]

ive used a sand bag or two to do something like you describe. if its too close to the repair area use some wax paper so the bag doesnt stick.
as for the deep scratches, you may want to clean them out real good and fill them with some clear cote like duratech.
or you can tell todd to stop working on his boat and fix yours. (just funnin with ya todd)

[Just Be]

my favorite glass guy isn't answer his cell right now so i thought i'd solicit some info here.
my cousin has an older Eliminator Liberty that the previous owner beat the hell out of of. The rub rail was pretty trashed so we took it off and discovered portions of the hull near the bow area that had split the deck from the gunnel. You can push on the deck and it will move down to the side and close the gap up.
what i'm wonding is how to keep the deck down while we are glassing the inside together again. adding weight on top of the edge won't do it. it needs to go down and in a small amount to line up the edges. is there some sort of clamp or jig i can use?
also, what's the best stuff to use to fill and then buff out some heavy scratches in my gel coat? the gel is only a couple years old but a freakin cat dug its claws clean through the clear down to the color. When i wax the the boat now the scratches fill up with was and are very visible. I want 'em gone.
thanks.What year is the boat?. What color?. Need to get a idea how to approach it.