Sand floor questions and a replacement liner process

I've got the electrical all worked out, and next weekend we are replacing the liner. One problem: I cut the old liner out a couple weeks ago. Now there is a bunch of 'crap' in the bottom of my pool.

I plan to spend the bulk of my weekend getting the sand fixed up and adding a bit more, leveling out the bottom and building a sand cove. I am going to use plastic taped to the pool wall for the cove to sit on, and I'm going to build up the seam really well with duct tape as well.

When I'm done, I'm going to set a six foot ladder in the middle and put the cover back on to keep more crap from getting in the pool.

In the mean time, I need to clean up the sand. There is some mold in there, some leaves and a few small twigs, along with a few others things that mother nature decided to toss in my pool. Much of it I can pick up by hand, but how do I clean up the remaining debris?

Any pointers on this part of my project will be welcomed. I've never done any of this before, so I'd be happy to learn from someone else's mistakes and expertise.

Oh and how does the whole vacuum liner thing work? Is that easy?

OK, I just posted the liner install proceedure to another thread here, so look around for it.
As for the remaining crap - rake everything and shovel it out, if there's gravel scattered about, pick it up by hand, don't spread your fresh sand until you've pretty much picked through everything and are satisfied.
if your old sand is lumpy, tie some bigger boards to your shoes and stomp around in there crushing the lumps.