port hull



pic shows the doubler plate installed (about a week ago) and a 2nd stiffner plate having just been fitted, the masking tape is covering small wood wedges that are holding the plate tightly against the doubler plate.
The masking tape is easier to remove if a bit of resin gets hold of it compared to an uncovered wedge being glued to the subframes or plate...

The stiffner plate is there to add additional strength to the compromised hull.
Put simply.... if I cut and scarf in a new section where the actual hull crack is I'm weakening a failed area even more, so the crack is best left well alone other than a slight scarfing and glassing, the stiffner plate is really now the outer hull but just located a bit further internally