h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hello,
i see that you are knowledgeable in matters to do with the sea, would you be able to tell me what distances a small fishing boat could overcome in the North sea or the Atlantic?

Hi Delicia,
That's quite a question you've posed, but I'm honoured that you consider me suitably qualified to answer it , so here's my worth.
Basically, there are many factors that will determine how far offshore a small vessel can safely venture. First, how small is small - 5 metres, 7 metres, 10 metres ? What is its design (enclosed or open deck ? light or heavy displacement ? derricks ?), and construction - plastic (fibreglass), wooden, steel, aluminium ? How old ? What equipment - radar, radios, gps, compass, engine(s)- fuel capacity and consumption, pumps, generator(s), auxiliary propulsion (sails), liferafts and other safety items, spares, etc ? Most importantly, what about the crew - how many, what experience ? What time of the year would it venture out ? There are probably more factors that I cannot bring to mind at the moment, but I think the above is enough to be going on with .
However, if it helps, the smallest yacht to cross the Atlantic was less than 2 metres long and windsurfers have crossed the North Sea.
More questions than answers, I'm afraid, but I'll be only too pleased to provide more help if you need it.
(beard)(grey).

Thank you that already helps me immensely already.
But to go into more details, it would be a 3 m boat, sea lion skin over whalebone, open deck, one sail (to tell the truth i havent't thought yet how that could be attached to such a frame), and oars. Tripulation one experienced man.
He lives on an island, goes to the mainland on a regular basis from spring to autumn.
From this description you probably already guess that it's a budding fantasy writer talking to you. Sword & sorcery, to be precise. I do feel however that fantasy doesn't have to mean sloppy in technical details, so i would be grateful if you told me if this sounds like nonsense to you.
And thank you again!

Always a pleasure to be of help .
Fantasy, huh? I suppose anything's possible then, and your hero is probably more than a mere human (?), but he still has to obey certain natural laws. (Am I right?)
I believe there is a legend of a leather boat sailing from Ireland to Iceland and this was re-enacted some years ago by a group of adventurers, so your idea is not that far-fetched. The limiting factor would be fresh water capacity (at least 1 litre per day). No-one can survive more than a few days without water - drinking seawater or urine will only lead to an early demise. Collecting rainwater helps, though. Food is not so important - it is possible to live for weeks without it, provided you have enough water. Bulky carbohydrates help as they are filling and easily digested. Avoid proteins, such as fish and seabirds, as they require lots of water to digest.
As for mast construction - why not a tripod made from whalebones extended from the hull ribs and stem keel extension? Don't forget, the steering oar must be on the right side - steerbord = starboard.
Hope this helps.

Hello pirate, i've been away, sailing the Caribean under the black flag. Maybe not actually sailing, being of a sea sick disposition, and my swimming ability equating that of a lead duck, but the black flag is true ... so it does help me a lot to get the general idea about what can be done on the water and what not, particularly as my hero has to adher to the laws of physics as everyone else, except on the far right end of the respective Gaussian curves but No Magic to face the forces of iniquity, not even a magic sword. Magic dohdahs always bore me unspeakably, i mean, why have a super hero if he cheats on physics anyway, given the right equipment i could be a superhero ...
Tripod is good, i was thinking of a structure that could be dismantled when needed, or do you think there would be so much strain that a not stationary sail would lead to too much instability? And the distance i had in mind for the boat to cross would not exceed a hundred miles or so.

hello!

My predilection towards procrastination has come to the fore again !

For the mast, how about a bipod or A-frame arrangement which can be raised/lowered with fore- and back-stays? To enable up-wind sailing, you will need some sort of keel or lee-boards. Although not too familiar with cetacean anatomy, I would have thought whale scapula(s) may be suitable.

If your hero(ine) is venturing no further than 100nm from land, which is only 67 hrs (there-and-back) at the 3 knots he/she should be able to manage, then only a few litres of water would be necessary and food is no problem.

Hope this helps.

Hello YES it does help, and how! Knots, hrs, miles, you know that is PRECISELY the sort of information i need! Count, measure, weigh! Work it outfrom there.
Good idea with the A-frame, it could be stationary, being attached to the sides, and resting on the prow when not needed? Or rather on the end?

Is a keel a sort of elongation of the prow?
Are leeboards boards that reach into the water from the end or the sides of the canoe?
How many leeboards would a canoe have?
And if i have lee-boards, don't i need a keel? Or would it still be better to have one?
I suppose a canoe can be built with a keel?

There, give a just one little finger and you'll be missing the whole hand and have to wear a hook

I seem to have opened a floodgate! In order to retain my hand, I'd better get back to basics.

I think 3m is too short - most seagoing canoes are about 5m long, for better longitudinal and hydrodynamic stability, speed and also storage space. Maximum beam (amidships) should be about 1m. A deep keel would be difficult to fit with basic technology, so leeboards would be better for lateral stability while under sail. (As a matter of fact, a lot of sailing canoes use leeboards or outriggers).

(Wish I could draw a diagram using this system, but you'll just have to cope with my rather inadequate descriptive powers.)

As you suggested, the basic hull can be made from whalebone and sealskin. Select the longest(about 6m) and broadest rib for the keel and bend the ends using liberal applications of hot water over time (I assume this technique would work with bone - it does with wood) to form the bow and stern. Then attach 5 pre-formed U-shaped smaller ribs equidistant along the keel, using sinews, to form the frames of the boat. A height of about 70cm should give sufficient freeboard. Make the midships one stronger than the others, for reasons I will come to later. Next, attach 6 more long ribs to the bow, frames and stern. 3 to each side - the lower to form the bilge stringers, the middle as an extra longitudinal stiffener and the top one (slightly stronger) to form the gunwale. At this stage you should have something that looks like a boat, but won't float .

Now wrap it in sealskins, using more sinews to attach to the longitudinals and frames. I'm no sewing expert, but I assume there is some double-overlapping technique for watertight seams. The skins would have been liberally treated with blubber to make them stretchy and even more watertight. Then you have your basic canoe.

Next we come to sailing. A tall mast would not be a good idea, as it would get in the way when not sailing and decrease stability by a disproportionate amount. Also, you need the leeboards down only when you are sailing, so why not combine the two? Here's my idea - make an A-frame mast about 2.5m tall from 3 whale ribs. At the bottom end of each side attach a whale scapula. Pivot both on a peg attached to the gunwale where the middle frame meets it. This way, the leeboards descend into the water as the mast is raised. Also, the mast should fit comfortably along the fore part of the boat when paddling, fishing, whatever.

I hope this is a clear enough explanation of my ideas - sorry to use technical expressions, but that's inevitable, I'm afraid.

I know I'm going to regret this , but, if you have any more questions, don't be afraid to ask.

trying to picture a whale with 6m rib...should be possible... what a lot of fish!

That's brilliant! I like the idea of the pivoting A-frame with the leeboards attached!
And the sail would then give a sort of covered space, when not raised. It would be quite a fine boat i think.
I wouldn't really need the leeboards when rowing, would i? So it wouldn't matter if they come out?

Do you know of any historical examples of boats of just this construction? As it sounds very logical, it would be conceivable that the principle has been developed independently in different places, and used?

Oh yes, should i have even more questions i won't fail to bother you. They do have galleys and sailing ships in that fantasy world as well, so when i get to that part ... hello, are you still there?

Thank you again , you've helped immensely.