To those of you with some nautical knowledge, how does a sailing ship like SW navigate in enclosed areas like harbors or reefs. Do most sailing ships come with the capacity to use oars or do they use rowboat to toll them around as in the movie Master & Commander.
that depends very much upon just how enclosed the area is.
commonly towing would be used with small craft (boats) tugging the vessel behind them, or with strong ropes (hawsers /cables) being fastened on land and either hauled in with the ship's capstan (central winch ), a winch on land or a team of oxen (possibly four or more).
There is also the alternative of deploying an anchor (cable attached !) some distance from the ship in the desired direction and then haul the ship towards it - then deploy a/the second anchor and repeat (there are often lighter anchors carried specifically for this purpose - they would not have the wight to hold the ship in position in a storm on their own ).
All of this is extremely man-power intensiv and slow. perhaps half a mile/hour of very tiring work.
Small (up to 60', more if not a bulky freighter ) vessels could deploy sweeps, but that was very slow going as well (and is mostly a fancy of pirate movies ). Even then turning is very slow and awkward.
generally to do a 90° turn a ship needs at least 3- 5 times its length in clear space ahead for sailing. A 180° turn should be even more awkward the "Sea Wyvern" would - in my estimate, need a minimum of 400'x400' simply for the turn, with additional safety space along the edges. No drift taken into account, and very much depends upon wind strength, swell, number of crew and the speed of the craft at the onset of the turn ((believe it or not, slow ships turn less well, since there is less effect from the rudder - but faster ships have a higher momentum to compensate and take wider turns....)
Maneuverable craft ( a carvel or smaller) could in low wind conditions maneuvre with only a few of their sails as well and do tight turns, and even approach a pier unter sheer initial momentum (which is an often employed trick for final maneuvres), then shedding speed by either turning into the wind or spilling the wind. This requries some skill, but is feasible.
Just how enclosed are we talking anyway ? Sailing into and moving into an anchoring position in Farshore harbout should not present a problem for a caravel or carrack.
Navigating through a twisty maze of reefs, with tight and sharp turns should be impossible though
The infamous "clubhauling" turn so beloved to piracy and smuggler movies (to be witnessed in PotC-I ) _is_ actually feasible, if only in rather shallow waters. It also entails massive strain on the catheads, anchor-fastening, rigging, rudder and anything not securely fastened will likely rip loose and roll around on deck. if the anchor-cable snaps, you are also in deep poodoo - and likely have a taut, wet 2" hawser snapping over the foredeck like a whip from hell ! Dangerous and only used in dire extremes.
You also always loose the achor employed - and that is something no captain will contemplate lightly , since one only has two anchors to start out with, and it becomes almost impossible to position the ship stationarily afterwards unless you find a handy pier.
Oh, and you also have to replace a bulky (1 ton and up) anchor made of iron, which really usually is something not lying around for the taking.
Thanks for tha info Vikingson. I noticed that you changed your avatar so did'nt recognize youat first.
I don't know anything about sailing so when i say confined space, i meant piers and harbor instead of open ocean.
What exactly is clubhauling?
Tim
Clubhauling is (AFAIK...) dropping an anchor while the vessel is in motion so as to be able to use the taut anchor cable to pull the bow around in a very tight turn. Very much an emergency measure, for reasons explained above.
Dear vikingson,
You rule. Skaal!
KA
Thanks for tha info Vikingson. I noticed that you changed your avatar so did'nt recognize youat first.
I don't know anything about sailing so when i say confined space, i meant piers and harbor instead of open ocean.
What exactly is clubhauling?Tim
lol, my avatar got crowded so I changed appearances
As for piers and docking usually the vessel would approach those with the wind spilled from its sails (such no propulsion gained from them ), fluttering loosely, very slowly using up its momentum. If done right, the vessels comes to a full top with just a slight bump (usually cushioned by nets filled with old canvas or oakum ) , or by passing a hawser over to the quay, then loosing its momentum by drawing that taut. this does require some skill and experience with the vessel to judge its drift, loss of speed and maneuverability with dimishing effect of the rudder.
Serious ramming of dockside installations may occur if done with haste and misjudged parameters - which will likely result in sever damage to the vessel (toplling of masts, chrushed hull and underlaying spars, collapsing piers etc. ).
There usually wouldn't be space for sweeps or rudders anyway between the ship's hull and the quay - but the same principles may applied for docking a rowed vessel - if the sweeps are pulled in prior to the final approach.
But, generally, larger vessels would drop anchors some distance from the shore, and use small craft to transfer its crew to shore. As for its cargo, that would be unloaded into lighters and barges, mostly a necessity since larger vessels draw a sizable of water ( their keel being 10' or more beneath the wtareline) making close approach to the shore impossible without running aground. And dredging harbours to the requisite depth is very labour-intensive activity, and also mostly a thing of the modern age (and steam power )
Thanks for tha info Vikingson. I noticed that you changed your avatar so did'nt recognize youat first.
I don't know anything about sailing so when i say confined space, i meant piers and harbor instead of open ocean.
What exactly is clubhauling?Tim
lol, my avatar got crowded so I changed appearances
As for piers and docking usually the vessel would approach those with the wind spilled from its sails (such no propulsion gained from them ), fluttering loosely, very slowly using up its momentum. If done right, the vessels comes to a full top with just a slight bump (usually cushioned by nets filled with old canvas or oakum ) , or by passing a hawser over to the quay, then loosing its momentum by drawing that taut. this does require some skill and experience with the vessel to judge its drift, loss of speed and maneuverability with dimishing effect of the rudder.
Serious ramming of dockside installations may occur if done with haste and misjudged parameters - which will likely result in sever damage to the vessel (toplling of masts, chrushed hull and underlaying spars, collapsing piers etc. ).There usually wouldn't be space for sweeps or rudders anyway between the ship's hull and the quay - but the same principles may applied for docking a rowed vessel - if the sweeps are pulled in prior to the final approach.
But, generally, larger vessels would drop anchors some distance from the shore, and use small craft to transfer its crew to shore. As for its cargo, that would be unloaded into lighters and barges, mostly a necessity since larger vessels draw a sizable of water ( their keel being 10' or more beneath the wtareline) making close approach to the shore impossible without running aground. And dredging harbours to the requisite depth is very labour-intensive activity, and also mostly a thing of the modern age (and steam power )
Cool!! Thanks a lot for the info. Now I can talk with some authority to my players. I just hope that they won't ask me to explain what passing a hawser over to the quay is :).
Tim
Cool!! Thanks a lot for the info. Now I can talk with some authority to my players. I just hope that they won't ask me to explain what passing a hawser over to the quay is :).
Hawser = thick rope made from twisted (manila) hemp, usually tarred for protection against rot. Sailors will call any rope used for towing or securing/tying a ship to a specific position a "hawser". Short end of it (cut off), are favourites of boatswains to "motivate" crew, like a short flexible baton... so called "starting" (no kidding)
quay = pier or other construction extending from the land into the sea, or the build up/reinforced shore, usually made of stone or wooden pilings.
passing = think football =)
The method described - passing a hawser than eating up one's momentum by slowly pulling that hawser taught, braking (mind you not breaking !), the vessel by using the rope (which is made frok several smaller cords, which provide it with a significant amount of yield when stretched) as a sort of coilsping - is pretty common.
if you want to talk the talk, I recommend trying to find "A Sea of Words" at your local library, which explains the naval terminology for the land-locked laymen who reads the "Aubrey maturin Series by Patrick O'Brian. Wonderful stuff.... copy you favourite phrases and keep a shortlist handy with your adventure notes. THAN practise your tovbacco chewing sailor mumble and mad glare !
And as for your players if they don't _know_better, just threaten to hang them from the yardarm, or have them whipped around the fleet, the noi'some buggers !
Cool!! Thanks a lot for the info. Now I can talk with some authority to my players. I just hope that they won't ask me to explain what passing a hawser over to the quay is :).Hawser = thick rope made from twisted (manila) hemp, usually tarred for protection against rot. Sailors will call any rope used for towing or securing/tying a ship to a specific position a "hawser". Short end of it (cut off), are favourites of boatswains to "motivate" crew, like a short flexible baton... so called "starting" (no kidding)
quay = pier or other construction extending from the land into the sea, or the build up/reinforced shore, usually made of stone or wooden pilings.
passing = think football =)
The method described - passing a hawser than eating up one's momentum by slowly pulling that hawser taught, braking (mind you not breaking !), the vessel by using the rope (which is made frok several smaller cords, which provide it with a significant amount of yield when stretched) as a sort of coilsping - is pretty common.
if you want to talk the talk, I recommend trying to find "A Sea of Words" at your local library, which explains the naval terminology for the land-locked laymen who reads the "Aubrey maturin Series by Patrick O'Brian. Wonderful stuff.... copy you favourite phrases and keep a shortlist handy with your adventure notes. THAN practise your tovbacco chewing sailor mumble and mad glare !
And as for your players if they don't _know_better, just threaten to hang them from the yardarm, or have them whipped around the fleet, the noi'some buggers !
Since I got the Talk like a pirate book, I might as well get the Talk like a sailor book. Once again, thanks for the info.
Since I got the Talk like a pirate book, I might as well get the Talk like a sailor book. Once again, thanks for the info.
Argggggh, that's the spirit, matey !