Crash box

 It’s time once again to write a little blog post. Flow is progressing at a really good pace, and I’m excited about it. :) 

My father has helped me enormously with all the wooden parts, which is one reason for the fast progress. In this post, I’m going to talk about building the crash box.

 

In the middle of the crash box, we added a reinforcement piece to make the whole structure stronger and more durable. Before cutting it from the actual material, we first made a template out of cardboard. That way we could test the shape, make sure it fit perfectly, and then easily cut the final piece to size. This little extra step made the process much smoother and helped avoid mistakes.

 Once the plywood piece had been cut, we decided to drill an extra ventilation hole in it. I didn’t want to end up with any sealed-off sections or closed boxes inside the boat that couldn’t be opened or accessed. By adding the hole, the space can “breathe” better and it reduces the risk of hidden moisture building up over time. It’s a small detail, but these are exactly the kinds of things that make a difference when you’re building a boat meant to last and perform well.

 The center piece was glued in place with West System epoxy. To make the box sturdier, we added wooden battens along the edges to support its cover. This way the crash box became more solid and reliable without adding too much extra weight.

 This is the reason why I wanted a hole in the middle piece. I’m going to install a watertight hatch on top of the crash box, so that when I’m in harbor I can always open it up and let it dry.

Many builders have filled the box with flotation foam, but I decided to leave it empty. If I ever change my mind, the hatch makes it easy to add foam later on.

Working on Flow has been quite straightforward, because the hull work done by Kolibri Jachtbouw is so well finished.

Now the entire interior has been painted white, and the next step will be to finish the interior hatches and then paint the whole exterior of the boat.

Thank you for following my project!