I didn't get any decals with my kit, so can't help with that. Are they waterslide decals, or sticky-back vinyl?
I've just completed another kit - a Krick Neptun tug. It came with some lasercut vinyl stickers for the name lettering, no obvious way of transferring the individual letters from the backing sheet to the model. I picked off the waste vinyl from the backing sheet, leaving just the letters. I then stuck a strip of masking tape on the front of the letters, and carefully pulled the tape and letters from the backing. Carefully positioned the tape over the model, rubbed down hard, and pulled the masking tape off.
If the decals are waterslide, they will need a coat of acrylic clear over the top when they have dried, or they will probably fall off when the boat is in the water.
I actually made a small tool for applying superglue to fix small parts.
I drilled a small hole into the end of a piece of wooden dowel (I used one of those fluted dowels that you get in flatpack furniture) and glued a small sewing pin into the hole. I snipped the end of the pin off, heated it to red heat and let it cool to soften the metal, then hammered it flat.
Makes it a lot easier to pick up a small drop of glue - it tends to run off too easily if you leave the point on the end.
The wooden handle makes it much easier to hold.