Suggestions for a first time ship,crew and captain

by Eli
(WI, US)

Hello! I, And my friends, have over quite a period of time gained an increasing desire to construct and sail a good sized ship.

I was wondering, for a crew of 15(including my self)

What type of ship we should make?

One of my companions believe a Schooner would be the best option while I, myself, believe a sloop or caravel would be enough for us. (be it noted we are just getting out of high school)

Also if you have any advice as to what supplies to bring and the best option as to storing our food and water.(we know we will need quite a bit).

Any advice you have to offer would be greatly appreciated as far as what ship to build, what food to stock pile, and if any documentation would be needed in case of accident.

Also any advice for a new captain as to how to entertain a crew, and keep them in happy company.

My first name is : Eli

I look forward to your response(hoping it isn't a telling off)

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More info?
by: Eli

I was looking back on the information I left before and found that it was lacking quite a bit.

I and my friends are hoping for an ends meet of a ship capable of staying in water for long periods of time, and not in the Great Lakes.

Our primary goal is to be able to stay out in an ocean for at least a week, month at the most, and also be able to have a good amount of speed, as we will not be hauling much.

Looking forward to the Seas!
Eli

PS. Mike! thank you so much for your info and consideration to my questions and such. Is is good to know there are so many sights and opportunities for people like me and my friends


Eli's Dream
by: Mike

Hi Eli,

What a beautiful desire.

I wouldn’t dream of telling you off.

Having big dreams is what being human is all about, if we didn’t have them (and follow them) we'd all still be living in caves and best dreams are the biggest, boldest and grandest ones.

As to your questions, um, where to begin, you are asking so many and there could be so many different answers depending on quite what your intentions are.

Most boats are something of a compromise between speed, load carrying, safety etc, not just the sail plan but the hull shape too.

To go into all the computations would take at least a book and there are already many books on the subject.

So, I'm going to turn the tables and ask you a question.

Have you or your friends done any sailing?

If not the best way to learn, not just the mechanics of it but the sheer joy and exhilaration of it is on your own, in a small dinghy.

If you check around there is sure to be a club near you that has a training program and it's own fleet of boats for you to learn on.

You might also want to consider learning on a big sail training shipl.

In the mean time there are a host of inspiring blogs and websites you can look at on line written by people who have had the dream and made it come true.

And blogs such as John Vigor's that is not only entertaining but packed with marvellous advice based on many years of experience.

I hope this begins to help in some small way, and do please come back and ask as many questions as you like.

Mike.

P.S. in the meantime here's a deceptively simple exercise you can do anywhere out of doors.

Sailing ships depend on the wind to propel them and the sailor needs to know what direction the wind is coming from in order to trim his sails.

Now there are a host of electronic gadgets designed to indicate wind direction but none of them are a sensitive as our own wind detectors, the skin and nervous system.

It is one of those 'senses' that are built in but need to be tuned into.

So, when you are out of doors feel where the breeze is coming from and, imagining you are on a sailing ship, think about how the sails should be trimmed.


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