With any of the cord and especially with the heavy cord (the red one), dunk your deck or soak it for about 10 seconds, or until the water bubbles stop coming out of the neoprene, this will give the material about 10-15% more stretch (keep the tube dry) dampen your coaming with your sponge and now try and fit your deck.  Magic!  you will find it much easier to fit than a dry deck.

Another hot tip, when you put the deck on the back of the coaming, give the sides a little tug forward, bring the side seams to the side of you, this will ensure you don't have any deck bunched up behind you.  Most people will take the front of the deck forward with their left hand holding onto the release strap, put that part of the deck over the front of the coaming and with the free hand flip the sides on.  This will save you putting your thumbs into the deck and creating stress points.

To ensure longevity of your tube... 1. please give us your correct measurement, not a vanity measurement, we know it's tempting... 2. Roll down the top of your tube a few turns to give you a roll of fabric to hold onto as you pull it up or down, this will protect the neoprene from excessive pressure and splitting.

And a little trick for getting the deck on and off your body!

Girls - put your decks on over your head...

Boys - pull your decks up...

Why? - the widest part of boys is their shoulders (usually....) and the widest part of a girl (usually....) is the hips.