I'm writing a story with dragon characters that involves intercontinental travel. How might dragons, if they felt the need, cross the ocean? I assume that any ships they construct would not only be massive by necessity but also travel at a much slower speed than dragons can fly. However, if they need to transport resources, or if they are not evolutionarily equipped to fly for several days at a time, they would need to develop some way of ocean transport. We will assume that none or few of these dragons are amphibious.
Maybe a stupid idea...but what about a hot air balloon that they power via their own fire-breath? They use the trade-winds to get around, but their occasional fire-breath to keep them aloft?
Can they swim? Fly and float/swim when rest is needed. They could create barges and pull them via flight or swimming. They could hire other races to ship their resources across the oceans?
There are two types of dragons in this world, those who can glide across oceans like an albatross, and chumps.
Chinese dragons (long) are somewhat akin to water elementals and are associated with lakes, rivers, and oceans, as well as clouds and rain. Swimming would be a natural mode of movement for them.
I can't believe I didn't think of this, but this is a good idea. Esp seeing as Chinese dragons don't have wings - swimming would be natural.
I just have my dragons fly, following currents and flying toward the pole instead of flying straight across. I also took inspiration from whales and dolphins, resting half of their brains at a time while the other half works to keep them afloat (or fly, in the case of my dragons).
Dragons resting on the boat, facing backwards, lips (they do have lips, right?) pursed around the input ends of forged Venturi nozzles, serving as organic solid rocket boosters. The deckhands hunt whales to fuel their dragons.
An animal the size of a dragon that could fly would be naturally bouyant - they'd float. So they could just land on the water, spread their wings and snooze. Or else, they'd have ancestral knowledge of islands they could use to stop over on. You can see an awfully long way from high up in the air.