"You know I won't. Even though the if we distributed the weight differently we could increase the freeboard*"
*distance between water and the main deck of the ship
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Emerging on deck , Harlan has a perplexed look on his face, as if trying to decipher a tremendously difficult knot. Mtumbwi has a look of utter frustration. The crew that know him call this is 'Arse' face, as one of them is soon to get a 'foot in the arse'. "So you are telling me that you use pins on the *steeve so it can pivot? How does it hold enough to keep from shifting to catch the optimal amount of wind. If you turn the sails even a few dee ..." seeing the look on Mtumbwi's face, he alters what he was about to utter, "A little bit, you loose a lot of momentum." *steeve to set a ships bow spirit at an upward angle.
"Though she did descend at an oblique angle, you built a fine ship here. The finest I have ever seen. I would love to know how you do what you do, how you made this. I promise to learn all you wish to teach me. To study hard and work harder."
"What a dick. he mutters as he moves to the gunwale.
"What is it? Do you want me to *luchet? I noticed that based upon the winds trajectory, if we tweak it by 7 to 8 degrees, we can tack in a more oblique pattern ..."
Turning right, they see the 'specialists' in all their glory. They both quickly turn to the left and circle back towards the ship. "I can't believe you. I cannot understand how you kept winning and didn't ask for more gold. What are you gong to do with those cocks?" Shit, why did I ask him that? Now he is going to tell me.
Of course it is a cock fight. Is *everything* phallic with this guy? Surprised he didn't carve a penis in the prow. And how in the hell am I going to become a better shipwright watching animals peck themselves to death?
"In a contest of strength, the person with the weight advantage, such as Ciaran, is ... never mind."
"Why would I have it?
"Go Ciarán. Mess up his hair!" Mtumbwi just gives his apprentice a sour look before watching the two men come to blows.
"You know in contests like this the opponent that obtains the higher ground is fifty-three ..."
"Well met, sir. I have taken the liberty of making a few measurements." He withdraws a knotted rope, before slapping some black substance on the oarlocks. "If you wouldn't mind rowing at a constant pace, then when I yell 'port', only pull with you left hand, then when I yell 'starboard', just row with your right hand. A shallop like this should have a turn radius of less than 68 degrees, and a speed of 4 knots. "You know when Barbarosa told me I would be serving under Mtumbwi, well he is a bit of a legend in the ship building community. Didn't know he would turn out to be such a dick." Flushing red, Harlan Sparrow the IV tries to cover it up quickly, "Um, let's just keep that between us. I should never talk about my commanding officer like that, and judging by his attire, well, poor choice of words I guess." he laughs without humor.
”Aye sir.” Harlan salutes, a bit less enthusiastically then before, and heads off. ”Anyone want to check out the shal …. Rowboat?”
” You don’t touch a timber on The Audacious” Why does he keep touching his dick. Don’t look at it. Don’t look at it. Damn. I looked at it ” Take the shallop” Really you a$%@*+#? The shallop. I could have done that when I was 9. ”Absolutely, sir. But If I may, so I took the liberty of performing some calculations. It seems The Audacious. She measure 57 and 3/16 from prow to stern, beam comes in 19 5/8. She looks to displace about 40,833 pounds of freshwater, and about 41,813 pounds of saltwater. So if you see in my notes here, if we decrease the curvature of the …”
As Mtumbwi walks around the ship barking orders, a fit, slender, well dressed man approaches. The assembled recognize that he is very similarly dressed to how Captain Barbarosa was when they all first met him in the Hall of Wonders, save for a few medals there, a knot or two less on his sleeve. His clothes appear to be freshly pressed, creases straight, and not a spot can be found on him. The only oddity is that than man has no shoes on. Profession Sailor, Kn Locl DC 10:
True seamen do not wear footwear on deck He walks up to Mtumbwi, offering the man a perfectly executed salute. ”You must be Mtumbwi They told me to look for the man with his ….” blushing slightly, the man continues, ”I am Harlan Sparrow IV, apprentice shipwright on The Audacious. To give you the briefest summary of my credentials I am a recent graduate of the Acadame of Naval Operations in Taldor. You know, the Buckler Hard? Well my father, a master shipwright of his own as have the Sparrow men for generations now, had an old college acquaintance who runs a private, luxury sailing operation here. I took charge of the fleet, introduced a new keel design to help stabilize them. Can’t have them spilling that bubbly wine from Galt, now can we?” he guffaws. |