Alternate Realities > TW(i)G

Traveling in Azamoth

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Spriggan:
I have a question about boats, and maybe Jeffe can help on this one since he has experence with them.  How much water does a ship need to sail?  I've got a river delta that varies in width (adverage is 1/4 of a mile) and depth (average is about 20').  I take it your tipical gallion could not sail on it.  And what do you think the biggest ship might be that could sail safely down it?

The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers:
bays and inlets tend to be less affected by weather of the open seas. The land mitigates the worst of the storms. YOu could probably cut straight across the opening of a bay.

On the other hand, merchants would go in anyway in most cases: more places to trade.

My understanding of ships is that the length or breadth of the ship doesn't matter so much as the draft: how far underwater it sticks. From what I remember, the shallower the draft, the less absolute control you have, since you don't have as much ship in the water to cut through the seas and stear, but in very shallow water, which low draft ships are designed for, you usually don't have to do a lot of fighting against storms, so it doesn't matter.

Spriggan:
Well I'm still not sure how deep the waters are at the delta, considering how much of the water gets spread out depends on how maby outlets there are.  If you had 2 major lines and a few small things (more of a flooding hence the mash) the depth would be less then half on those lines (or rivers).  So 10'-15' might be a little generios (the main river will be between 30'-40'), and I don't think 10' is enough for a seagoing vessal (especaily ones that have to constantly deal with rough waters).  This is currently what I'm planning:


--- Quote ---at the center edge of the delta is the waypoint known as Sea Harbor, since the Ilne isn't deep enough for large cargo ships to sail down captains dock here and unload their cargo on skiffs which are sailed down river to various cities, more luxurious boats are used for dignitaries and can be rented by anyone with the money.
--- End quote ---


Those skifs would be flatbed boats.

The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers:
That sounds about right. YOu'd do different kinds of sailing on long term trips up and downa  river than on the open seas. A draft of 10 feet is, I think (hoping Jeffe will confirm this) pretty shallow for a big vessel, and wouldn't be the easiest thing to take on a stormy sea.

Spriggan:
And it adds a sence of originality to the setting.  Especitaly when I go in length talking about the place being run by the Parthann military and that Bask and Parthann nobles want it privitised, it brings in a lot of cash that others want.

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