How many sailors does it take...?

Well, all that would depend on where the ship was sailing from and what sort of sailing it was doing. Crossing the ocean would have required different types of ships than sailing up and down rivers or around the coast. For deep ocean in the 1400s you'd probably be talking about either a carrack or a more primitive galleon (like the Nina and Pinta), unless you were in the east in which case it would have been a junk. The smallest length I've heard of for the carracks and galleons was around 60-65ft. If the ship is much smaller than that they just wouldn't have been able to carry enough cargo. For comparison, the Black Pearl in POTC is 84ft, and she's also a galleon, reminiscent of a circa 1600 design.

A small galleon (like the Nina) could be sailed by as few as six or so experienced sailors, but a normal crew compliment would have been somewhere around 20-30 or maybe even more. They needed to take extra men to allow for the deaths during long ocean crossings.

I've never seen first mate capitalized.

If you put in more specifics I can probably answer your question better. I know a good bit about sailing ships (and steam ships, but those weren't around in the 1400s).

By east I meant Asia. Are you writing an actual historical, or are you writing fantasy with a 1400s tech level?

I know what you mean about the ship's crew being an annoying plethora of secondary characters, LOL. My enchanted galleon has a crew of sixty, but only fifteen or so that I bothered naming. The rest are just sort of 'there'.

It was quite typical for deep ocean ships to hug the coast when they could, since the longer they had to go between ports the more supplies they had to carry, meaning less cargo space.

How important is the ship in your story? Is there a lot of time spent aboard it? If so, there's going to be a lot that you'll need to know in order to make it realistic. Even in fantasy you need a basis in historical fact so it sounds real, even if it's different than how things were on this world. I'm happy to answer whatever questions you have. I've spent nearly a year studying historical ships and have even gone sailing on a real tall ship, all as research for my own writing.

I dunno about 1400's, but I lived on a 40 foot sailboat when I was a kid. My parents could run it by themselves, although three adults was best. Of course now everything is streamlined. Incidentally, 4 adults on a 40 footer is a bit cramped.

Modern sailing ships are a lot easier to handle than the old galleons. If you thought 4 people on a 40 foot ship was cramped, imagine 40 people on a 60 foot ship.

Hull speed

Bahamutchild said:

Ha! Only 4? I frequently use to be the youngest of 6 or more(!) people on a 42 foot sailboat. Yep, I slept in some crammed hall (I know, you don't call them hallways... the word is escaping me).

Anywho

Yep, Fantasy novel that is paralleled with 1400s Poland.... if Poland were much smaller and the south-central country in a peninsula

As it stands now, my MC boards the ship and just hangs out while they sail to their destination. She talks with her friends and the Captain (also her friend) but not the sailors. Pretty dry stuff, but I figured I better spice it up a little (even if I just make a comment about the sailors working the rigging or somesuch), thus this thread.

The ship is important in getting them around and behind the enemy. They are on it for a few hours... MC is focused on her revenge

And I just realized- how far (roughly) can a ship travel in a few hours? (Say 12 hours). I know this depends on the wind and the ship, but I just need a rough range. I may have to shorten my coastline to make this work!

Cheers,
Christina

Click to expand...

Hull speed is determined by length of hull. Ship of 60 - 65 ft. would be straining to make 7 nautical knots per hour. Running before the wind, perhaps 9. Grandad was captain of a "fore n' after" -sails follow length of hull. Your ship had sails across the beam.
john

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to check the resources sticky in the Historical section of genre. There are some good references to things like the National Maritime Museum UK website where you can find loads of information and pictures etc.