23:23 -- RE: The Cog can't really take waves [on the Beam].; A: Mostly True, the sails you're carrying can be let as loose as necessary to relieve heeling and you'll notice that the water stops coming aboard. In much the same way, the correct trim on a foresail should result in a very low frequency Roll, and the correct trim on a Gaff will do the same with Pitching, both of which are where the water is shipping, too. If you're not trimmed right when the Sea arrives, its flooding over the super low freeboard the Cog has on *either* the Upwind or the Downwind side, which is Not Nice in stormy shallow waters.

14:10 -- RE: Fort Aestrin to Happy Bay, would anyone consider that Open Ocean?; Yeah, I would. Two reasons because 2 options for how to navigate it. One is to head East past Mount Malefic until past the shallower ocean and into the darker blue region marked on the World Map. That gives the lowest frequency Swells with the highest amplitude, and those make for the fastest speeds. The other reason is there's deeper blue to the South as well, so either way it's possible to get the "Open Ocean" characteristics and go into "High Speed" mode. Going straight South is often not going to work out in my experience, mostly because the Winds made it faster to go East until a SE or S heading became ideal. I usually use the Sun compass to keep an eye on the longitude and try to steer within 15 degrees of the S when at or near Happy Bay's longitude line. It's also possible to set-up for a Southeasterly approach and rely entirely on Latitude, since every mile S is another mile E.

RE: Speeds of 8-12 knots in the Cog; *Well Done!* That's the right idea and totally possible with 2 largish square sails. Sometimes the genoa won't be needed either.

44:00 -- RE: "This is too much load."; Oh I dunno! I think it would be if you still had the upper deck cabin, but since it's removed this works out fine even with the second mast. The Gems being in 4 crates also works out nicely since you could move 1 or 2 boxes only to counterbalance heeling and it would be as much weight as your character.

20:45 -- RE: Tightening the Genoa with the downwind winch; That's a bad habit you've acquired. The reason I say Bad is because you're keeping the Knot over the Gunnel, which is suitable for winds as much as 45 degrees off the Bow, halfway to the Beam, and if the wind means Close Hauled you can bring the Knot in as far as the downwind side of the Mast. On the Upwind side it'll put you into Reverse. *And* if you try to tighten on the Upwind side when the Downwind winch is already tight, it won't budge until you loosen the Downwind sheet. Simpler to merely use the Upwind winch. Square sail winches operate in much the same way. Letting them out on the Upwind side should be a decent reminder of where the Upwind winch will be for the Jib / Genoa / Staysail.

7:18 -- RE: Weight v. Value in terms of Reputation; In my experience the Reputation goes up for high time priority missions (ie. shorter than a week and/or longest distances) and even more for missions that have multiple items. The weight of any individual item doesn't matter, so that means picking the lightest loads with the highest number of items ought to work out best for grinding reputation.

Great trip with the cog. You good really high winds in the first half, it looked scary but she was handling it like a champ. I always fear missing Happy Bay, is more challenging compared to the full size archipielagos.

Can't wait until they give us bodies and clothing:)

Great video! I am thinking about jumping back in after a year or so away from it. Subbed!

Hi ICU. I have watched a number of your videos for this game and I still don't get the attraction? It seems there are very long periods of just sailing in an open sea with no other NPC's and all you do is go from port to port to buy and sell. Am i missing something here?

Some people, whose names will remain secret, need important cargo delivered to a location that will be revealed later, no questions asked. Meet me at the beach shack east of Crab island settlement, if you are up to it

36:44 -- RE: One more flag on the Mizzen Mast...; A: Here's to the Dreamers, pallie! No but seriously, I'm often amused that more "Point of View" players like yourself don't do the obvious thing, and to be perfectly honest it took me a while to accept it as being the right thing to do. *Look At Your Sails,* and make sure you have Lanterns somewhere high enough to see the bottom edge of sails you need to see to know where the Wind is. *You don't need to know "absolute",* you only need to know a *Relative* direction and with any luck what you think the Wind is doing will be Close to what the Wind is actually doing. The Worst Time is when you wake up in the middle of the night, having slept, and the Wind has changed. But even then you can still use the sails as a way of knowing. Here's my Top Five favorite sails for telling the relative wind direction: ( 1 ) Junk Jib. Best Jib ever on the Sanbuq. Bigger is also Better. ( 2 ) Trapezoidal 9 Yard Squares (Fort Aestrin dockyard). The way the bottom edge bulges to show the Wind is much better than on the default 9 yard square, and it has 1 extra square yard of sail area. Taking in a tiny bit of sail will also make the bulge more noticeable, but it doesn't need much help. ( 3 ) 12 or 8 yard Wide Squares (Gold Rock City). Has a bulge a lot like the 9 yard trapezoid but it also has another 8 yards (or more) of width, so there's a wider range of angles shown on the sail and they're spread out a little, for fine tuning. ( 4 ) Genoa. This is another reason to want the genoa with the longest possible bottom edge, because the longer it is the more angles you can see when the sail's Knot is close to the Mast.. Wind from the Beam, the bulge is dead center and the ship heels over a lot; the same sail would have its sheet loosened 1/2 of its length for such a Wind for maximum efficiency. ( 5 ) The Junk Gaff on the back of the Junk; the smallest one. Best in class for use as a Rudder Trim and Auto-steering method; *can't work* if it doesn't know exactly where the Wind is, and should be able to get a wide range of angles on most Mizzen masts.

29:13 -- RE: Interesting Oracle; Fun Fact! Spend some more time in the waters near Oracle, especially in the dark hours. And, out of my last 3 trips from Al Ankh to Aestrin, I've ended up sailing to within a mile of Oracle pretty much by blind luck twice. I don't think it would be difficult to make a trip from Oasis to Eastwind based on that, probably within 9 days.

28:25 -- RE: Trimming the Cog; I have another suggestion/tip for you. Cargo/Ballast will do you more good if it's positioned to the Windward side, and Yes, I know that might mean a lot of work. I try to minimize the amount of shifting back and forth by balancing the heaviest items port and starboard and only moving 1-2 items like a barrel, crates of medicine or gems, and then I add "Reposition Ballast" to my checklist while tacking. Another way to look at it is to consider how much pressure the Wind is putting on the sails plus how much mass is in the rigging of the sails. Gaffs are heavier than Jibs but often weigh less than Squares, but Squares are balanced on the middle point of their booms, so they don't have as much impact unless they're let out a lot. The largest Gaffs are huge and weigh a lot, so when they're swung all the way out, you'll need a couple of hundred pounds of Ballast counterbalancing them on the opposite side of the ship. *This is Key to safe operation of the Cog,* since it has the least amount of freeboard of all the ships in the game, and likewise, it doesn't hardly have any Keel, so the *only* physical thing in the Cog which will make it behave as if it does have a Keel is Ballast.

Nice video already liking the interior and that moon screenshot was too cool to not end as the thumbnail. If you go for a mizzen mast be careful with the size of the rear sail, the mizzen sail is more like an air rudder, it helps a lot in steering but if it's too big will be worse than your current gaff.

24:55 -- RE: Putting the Sail Up pushed me straight into the wind, and I'm Full Starboard on the rudder (to try to compensate); A: Yep, SEE MY OTHER COMMENT. To relieve the pressure from the Gaff, *EITHER* drop some of the sail area *OR* loosen its sheet. The Optimal angle between the Wind and the Sail should be 45 degrees but it will still work with as little as 12-15 degrees, so try using a much looser or a much smaller Gaff. *Ideally* your Rudder will want to sit 15-30 degrees to port or starboard, whichever is "Weather Helm". Loosening the Winch for the Gaff should always cause your Foresail (Jib, Genoa, Square) to turn you downwind. If you loosen the winch so that the Gaff's boom goes out by 5 degrees, you should notice at least a 5 degree turn on your Compass, probably without touching the Wheel. *In Other Words,* The angle of the boom on the Gaff sail will directly correspond to the angle with respect to the Wind and your Ship, so basically you can pick your course and the point of sail just by trimming the Gaff. In yet other words, the Gaff is basically a "Wind Rudder" which isn't primarily concerned with providing thrust as acting as a means of trimming the Ship as a whole. *This is another reason to want the largest possible foresails,* since they (a) sail closer to the wind and (b) are more likely to provide the maximum amount of thrust. Also -- "Weather" and "Lee" helm are named that because ships used Tillers more often in the past, and it refers to the way the Tiller will turn. If the Wind is coming from Starboard and the Wheel turns to Port, that's Weather Helm.

8:30 -- RE: What's Happening Here? Is it the Genoa plus the Gaff? I can't have that much speed this close to the wind...; A: To the last part, Yes you can actually go pretty darn fast with a fore and aft combination like a genoa plus a gaff. The problem you have here is your Gaff is causing your ship to "weathervane" into the Wind. To prevent and/or limit how much it does, you have to loosen the sheet winch to the Gaff, or use less of its sail area, or both. You can use your Wheel as a way to measure how much sail or winch is too much. To do this, leave the Wheel "unlocked" so that it freely moves and oscillates, and set your sails (assuming Foresail and Gaff). If the Wheel turns Into the Wind, that's called "Lee Helm" and it is because the Jib / Genoa is too tight. If the Wheel turns Out of the Wind, that's called "Weather Helm" and it's because the Gaff is too tight or there's too much gaff sail area. Weather Helm can be very tricky because a very slight turn back towards the center, *or* a gust of wind, *or* the ocean swell can cause your ship to "round up" into the Wind (AKA Weathervaning) and at worst, nothing you do with the Wheel will stop it and your ship will broach or capsize. *But* just a little Weather Helm can be very good indeed, holding your ship on course when you're close hauled and without blowing your ship off course in the downwind direction.

2:55 -- RE: "Where should I set up {a base of operations]?"; A: I don't even know what the Mission or the Task is yet but I'm going to leap to a foregone and dare I add obvious conclusion: Eastwind. :P

really enjoying the storytelling and music accompaniment.

Like your videos man

I love the cog even with it's flaws, poor rudder and heeling tendencies. I have had a lot of fun rigging it as a ketch adding a mizzen mast. You can have it with lateens like a mini sanbug (heels a lot) or a mix with lateen and square+jib or pure fore-and-atf rigging with gaffs, either with the main mast in front or in the center. The only thing i miss is more staysail options with a longer bowsprit or a staysail between both masts. I went from Aestrin to GRC and later from GRC to Emerald disregarding the trade winds in a jib+two square sails+lateen configuration because i like the looks of it and it's very very safe to sail. Btw small jib+front main junk sail and mizzen junk sail beats everything imo, very easy to use and can sail well in any wind configuration. Also in Emerald archipielago you can install a big square junk sail that has 89/89 angles, seems op but i have not tested that properly. Oh and low cabin all the way imo, tall cabin is not practical and no cabin looks wrong.

RE: The Brig; I know, it looks like it's too much ship for one person to handle. *This Is Not The Case,* and it's even possible to add another mast and many sails to it. The reality of the Brig is that it might rarely have a chance to have all its sails out at the same time, and various conditions like how powerful the Wind is will determine how much of the sails you really need. Learning basic maneuvers with the default rigging isn't a bad idea, and it should be fairly manageable using just the Jib and the mainmast Gaff. I personally like to have a Gaff even further back than the default has it. I also like to put a Gaff on the Foremast because there is a lot of unused space between the default masts and the default Brig Squares can't be let out past 45 degrees anyway. Stays may also be added between the masts to use Jibs between the Squares.

13:30 -- RE: "I mean, I could just drop my square and use the Jib, right?"; A: Yes, and No. Jib Only, you'll be forced to run in Reverse at least a little since, to get the Bow through the turn into the Wind, the Jib will have to either be let loose (so it doesn't give forward momentum) *or* set to provide you with reverse thrust, tightened to the "wrong" side of the mast until the wind is favorable again. As a rule, the Jib needs to use the Sheet Winch which is on the Windward side of the boat. Tightening that one down so that the Knot is near the Windward Gunnel will always push you backwards, but slower than the Square will and also through a narrower range of angles, meaning, it stops pushing you backwards as the boat comes out of the Wind. Letting it loose then will put the Knot back to the Leeward side and relieve any heeling, and the sail pushes you forward as normal. This will also almost always be faster than using the Square as a reverse gear, mostly because it takes time to let the Square down and then winch it back in again, all while managing the Rudder so that the turn is favorable and reversing the Rudder when going from Forward to Reverse or vice versa. With a Jib it's only the 2 sheet winches to work and once you are nearly "in irons", only 1 of them will be necessary. With Gaff Sails this problem is complicated by the tendency of the Gaff to stay nearly in irons. It will frequently be best to use less than 50% of the Gaff to keep it turning on Forward momentum, and it will also help the Jib once the Wind changes sides. Jibs sail very close to the Wind like Lateens.

I thought you were going to turn it into a Dhow then:) Add some Lateen sailes or 2 and have a mini Sanbuq.

The boat is much better w/o the stairs. Its too bad you can't move the flag off the top of the mast but hey...right?

1:10 -- RE: Just to get used to tacking with [this Square]....; A: There's a reason it's challenging and "Hard Mode" default. Both your sails are ahead of the main mast, *thus* there's nothing providing you with a natural tendency to turn into the wind other than your rudder. Square Sails and Lateens are basically the *same,* do you see? The difference is that Lateens have all the nasty *extra* sail cut away so that you don't lose efficiency to a tendency to heel over. When Squares are let out beyond 45 degrees to either side, the part of the sail which is giving you forward speed is Behind the main mast, and the part that's slowing you down by heeling you over is in Front of the main mast. Tacking (therefore) is complicated, especially given your experience in kakams and junks, where all the sails are positioned behind their masts. There are better alternatives to be found in the Shipyard, so I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of this episode!

I love the cog!

26:50 -- RE: The Aestrin Market Model; A: It's true, the night life in the Aestrin region is pretty slim pickings but it still has many strong features for the hard-working trader. Eastwind in particular has resource extraction on its side, so it offers copper, iron and goods at prices which are competitive with the rest of the Sailwind world and downright lucrative for a seasoned trader.

25:20 -- RE: Of course we're gonna pay it!; A: *YES.* TBH I held off buying the top of the line telescope until very recently myself because the extra powerful magnification wasn't really for much benefit. but I had a reason which involved not knowing what I would be looking for and thus I justified the expense by rationalizing it would be better to spot something however much earlier than never ever spotting it at all and sailing right past it. *Full disclosure,* turns out I did sail right past it, but luckily I was also paying very very close attention to my latitude and longitude Noon and night so I caught the overshoot error before I lost more than 60 miles.

18:10 -- RE: "It's a very quick trip!"; A: Yep, It's on par with many of the shortest range transits in the game, around 32 miles. Sunspire to Fort Aestrin is also only 30 miles, and Siren Song to Eastwind 35 miles. The Cog can make 6 knots without too much trouble and without much wind, though, and I've always found it reliable for calculating the length of a transit by averages. Sample the speed with your chip log more often to get a better average approximation. ; ) I'll say one other thing for the Cog, it can be pretty fast too, especially when running downwind and using more than 1 square sail. Fort Aestrin's Dockyard sells a lovely trapezoidal 9 yard square sail... a pair of those suckers can make a Cog seem like its flying on deep water ocean.

9:15 -- RE: "The Flag at the top! Come on!"; A: Yeah that is a bit inconvenient at times but haven't you noticed it also has a weather vane with a couple of bars poking back at 45 degrees or so, port and starboard? That weathervane needs a chef's kiss.

Do you know how much the stove weighs?

I love the dhow, it's the boat I've performed my best manoeuvre in; mooring on the back-side of the GRC dock after extracting the sanbuq, head-to-wind, without using lines and without touching the pier or grounding. She stopped dead exactly where I wanted her, and backed in on the breeze without much need for rudder commands. She just behaves so well. When I was on my way to buy the sanbuq I was coming in from Al'Ankh Academy, with a wind at my back so stiff you'd think there was a storm, doing 11 knots (stock rig) all the way through the sandbars. It made me question why I was even retiring her...then I remembered trying to carry copper.

2:25 -- RE: The Clock; I want to voice a note of cautious optimism about perhaps worrying more about a telescope, even the cheapest, lowest power one, because the time of day can be determined by the Sun's position in the sky (that takes some experience with a Clock, so stand around in the Market checking the time first....) during the day, and the relative position of the 2 stars that are nearest to the North star will accurately show the time of night (when they're "level" horizontally, it's 10 PM, when they're "upright" vertically, it's 2 AM). So that means a Telescope + a Quadrant and a cheap Sun Compass would be an economical kit for the first couple of rounds in Al Ankh's region. Oasis needs the Telescope more than the Clock to find.

I tried the tall lateen sail like you did but I didn't like the keel angle and was worried about storms with it. If you think it's a lot faster than the normal sail then I might try again?

I don't know what to say about this episode except "huh"?! You swam to the Fort? lol 😆 Then at 21:15, you play "Here comes the bride". 😃 I agree that having the wind vane at the top of the mast is not ideal for first person view. Anyway...I enjoyed the vid.

1:00 -- RE: "I believe this is Sunspire." -- Hm! I recognize the harbor though. Siren Song, methinks! Sunspire is the next island west of Malefic. This one is north of Fort Aestrin and west of Sunspire. Excellent harbor for large ships, too.

I love the game!

You didn't get a receipt.

Epic following this one!

:)

Yeah I'm thinking twice about an open sea journey in my Dhow now lol:) I made it to Oasis from Gold Rock, then back to Gold Rock but didn't face anything like this!

17:50 -- RE: Swamping; FYI, heeling the boat onto either side in high or very high winds doesn't make it go any faster, and letting it out looser on the sheets won't either. The best solution is to start dropping sails when you hear high strength wind sounds. I find 75% on the fore and mizzen gaffs and 50% in the main, or 50% fore and mizzen with 75% or less on the main works fine, depending on the situation. (Running downwind the first way, running into the wind the second way.) Also, storms are quite easy to track and use in Aestrin. If you want to avoid them, it's normally pretty easy to pick a direction which will sail out of its way, and if you notice the winds rapidly changing direction, it's because the storm is nearby you and moving quite fast. When a storm passes, the wind can quite often switch sides from East to West in Aestrin. They also like to come barrelling up out of the South heading generally North, and then changing direction.

How do you do the thing where you roll the mooring line to pull the ship somewhere?

28:18 -- RE: For the "Calling it Now" Files; Fun Fact! Mount Malefic is so high above sea level it must become visible at about 100 miles. For reference, each grid square is 90 miles x 90 miles (diagonally, 127 miles corner to opposite corner), so if you can see Malefic you're practically able to use that information to know your longitude exactly.

RE: The Form, ie. No Commentary; Curiously, I like how I'm vicariously getting to scratch my Sailwind itch without having to play a couple of hours while doing so. I'm also spending more time paying attention to details like what the compass says, what time it is, and where the wind seems to be coming from. You get bonus points for having a whole bunch of compasses positioned at places where they will be necessary but when opening the Inventory would mess up Mouse interaction with things like the wheel. Another side item: no matter where I start a new game in Sailwind, the first place I plan to visit (if I didn't spawn there) is the Emerald Archipelago, and for 2 big reasons. The second is because the Emerald Archipelago Clock has the white background and dark markings/hands, which is much easier to see at night especially when there's some moonlight. The first is because the Emerald Archipelago's compass is also easier to see, especially when compared to the other 2 options. It uses a similar color scheme, light background, dark markings for maximum contrast. I'll make one small concession to the Aestrin region's tools though; their Clock is the one I like to use below decks in the Captain's cabin, and their Chronocompass is nicer than the other 2 in my opinion, as in easier to read and understand.

I’m commenting right at the point where you spot a storm and then realise there are two of them. I was going to comment that you were lucky to travel so far without any storms, good old SW didn’t disappoint. Still watching…. Got my beer and cheering you on, did you hear me? 😂 Well done, it’s a great relief to spot Malefic on the horizon isn’t it? I bet you were thinking “if only I had some hands, I could wave them about in joy right now”

Haha, love the flying fish flick on to the barbeque.

Can’t wait to see more ! The ocean journey was really very Nice !!! I always neglected the Junk but it finally looks very good 😮 You convinced me, l am going to make the trip and rest my sanbuq to test it !! =)

Great to see the game get worked on!