I always said I would make sure I have no scenes on boats, because my knowledge of ships is summed up as floats = gud
And here I am, knee-deep in comparisons of 17th century ships from around the world, trying to figure out what the heck a bulkhead is and why a 24 foot long rudder would be good or bad instead of writing
Edit: boats are terrible and I hate them. Why did I write in a naval battle? Why? Now my brain is full of weird words link 'clinkers' and 'strakes' and 'chines' and I am married to a dang NAVY MAN who said "yeah, I don't speak old boat" and walked away
"Floats = gud" is the basic rule of all maritime activity, from "man-overboard!" through sitting on a log paddling with your feet, to submarines.
If
my dad was still alive, I'd send him down to Florida to lecture at you! He was fluent in 'old boat'.
BTW, you're in Florida? Anywhere near the water? Look for wooden boat shows, or the people who go these. Because, really, some things haven't changed since Noah built the Big Boat.
A few basics from stuff I picked up from the old guy (my dad, not Noah):
Bulkheads - internal divisions in the hull of a ship (length or width). Divisions provide support for the deck, separate spaces for activities, and, esp. on a cargo ship, a way of stopping the cargo from slopping around. Or, in the case of cattle, wandering - you don't want the weight to suddenly shift and put the boat off-balance.(Smaller the boat, the more important this is.)
The heavier the cargo is, the nearer the center and the lower in the boat it should be. Ballast (rocks along the keel 'backbone' of the boat) is also used to keep the down-side down.
In a boat 'clinker' is a way of forming the sides, not a left-over from a fire.
There are two ways of putting up the hull of a wooden boat: clinker and caravel. Both require skilled shapers of wood.
In caravel building the planks (strakes) are carefully shaped to fit tightly, one above the other, to form smooth, sleek looking sides to a boat.
Clinker-building is the Norse tradition - like a Viking ship? With the ridges all the way across?
The boards (strakes) are overlapped, beveled and fastened together (clinched = clinked) with the lower edge showing. Like wood siding on a house.
(Alternate name: lapstrake.)
Even if your character knows nothing about boats, clinker or carvel would be obvious at a glance, even if the character didn't know the what or why.
And now I will shut up, as you doubtless know this already from the videos and model-building books.
You might also try the Children's Non-Fiction of your nearest library, there are some nice kid's books of historic ships that have illustrations of the parts and names, etc. Sometimes a picture is better than a thousand words.
Sorry, idiot me forgot that you
are a librarian,
working in a library, and know
all about the children's non-fiction.
. I thought for some reason you were talking about the trash bin. No it's definitely not cool putting anything in the recycle bin that isn't recyclable.
so I slightly cheated.
