There's some stuff I need to know and I've been having a hard time finding any good sources. I tried joining a forum for boaters so I could ask questions but it won't allow me to post or talk to anyone until a certain amount of time has passed. I also tried going to the library but I couldn't really find a whole lot of stuff on sailing. :/ I do know some things. Like if you were going on a long trip it's a good idea to buy a boat with sails just in case you run out of fuel before you make port. I know you need your shots and supplies and things. But what I really need to know is what type of skills a person attempting a long voyage in a sailboat would have to have? What kind of boat would you buy to do something like that? Any info you guys could give me would really be helpful! Thanks.
Sorrily I haven't had a sailing yet. I have only ridden on an inflatable boat in a pool that the boat overturned and I fell in the water. But if I want to write a story which has a long sailing, I will able to imagine it. It is like I feel I am tripping in middle of an ocean.
Hi, Well, do you want to write a tale of vikings in the 10th century, or one of pilgrims in the 17th. Will you crew with the modern merchant marine or shall you sail as the skipper in the age of sail? Sails are wonderfully difficult to write. Each sail on a square-rigger has a different name, rising up the mast - I have forgotten a few since I came back from sea, but the last two up there are called the 'skyscraper' then we have the tiny little 'moonraker' sail - all good stuff, cool eh? Like me you will have to research and immerse. Or you write some 'Captain Penguin and the Pirates' type shit and I won't be very happy. Writing the points of the wind and the angle of the sails in relation to the wind is tricky without experience, even comprehending the illogic of sailing into the wind takes some time to figure. This picture always helped me out before I became a pro-am boat-writing nerd.
Hi Matwoolf. My setting is a more modern one actually. The 2000's. Seven or eight years after our current time. Like 2021-2022. In the story a major conflict has been taking place for a number of years so boats used for common everyday sailing haven't changed much technologically. At least I would guess they wouldn't change much tech wise if there was a war going on and all funds were allocated towards weapon production. >.> What I want to know about is sailing small boats long distances. Something like this: http://www.southerly.com/images/38-pilot/original/284.jpg Is this an okay choice? I really don't know anything about boats. I just know I need one small enough for a small group of people to handle but big enough and strong enough to get them where they're going.
Hey, that's a 40 footer I think, something a rich couple might sail across the Atlantic, in comfort - although a yachtsman wouldn't like that one so much because of the high cabin and the big windows - which makes it vulnerable in storms. Thinking of the poshest yachts, the millionaire type boats - one company is called Swan, they have a website. My Dad had a Westerly 32, a Sadler 29 - those are family size boats, so between 2 and 6 people sail in those, other makes include Moodys, Benetteau - and for a fantasy you could stick up to twenty people on your boat - provide for all kinds of jeopardy - think of the perilous sea journeys made by refugees... So once you've cracked a couple of sentences to realistically describe the wind direction and the state of the sea, then you have to think in terms of somebody being on the tiller, whether there is a reef in the mainsail and also the crew manning the jib. Think about going down the steps of the cabin (backwards) where you have the galley: the cooker on gimbles, a chart table and a main table. The cabin atmosphere sometimes makes you nauseous and seasick out at sea. Start painting the pictures out in your head, and then transfer to the page, I think. Some sailing writing is like sci-fi or climbing narratives where there is too much terminology for the lay reader, so work on the blend to bluff the pros and entertain your wide readership. Good luck, the picture looks fine, have fun, write the story first and then polish up the technical stuff in the drafting.
@Bryan Romer : Thanks for the website. Some good general info there. @matwoolf :I looked at some of the boats you mentioned like the Westerly 32. That looks pretty good. As does the Sadler. I'll do some scribbling and then polish it up with research on some of the other things you mentioned. @mammamaia : I looked at at least three forums and looked at a lot of websites. I was looking for something that as well as a well rounded community like here, also had a lot of information about boat types, deep sea fishing...etc..etc.
