Ep. 29: Setting the bar higher - An Ocean Journey - Sailwind!

[@fremen321]

really enjoying the storytelling and music accompaniment.

[@Icu2chill]

Came for the game, stayed for the stories… that’s what’s I’m aiming for! Thank you!

[@Cuppasoupn00b]

Like your videos man

[@Icu2chill]

Thanks bud, means a lot!!

[@jamespfp]

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.

[@Icu2chill]

Loaf test incoming to assess the right amount of ballast I’ll need. I hope to use the (right size) gaff only when I have no other choice or as a combo with squares when it gets to a more complex setup. I will need to make squares work and eager to learn how to be more efficient. I love this game’s learning curve!

[@cesararanda4213]

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.

[@Icu2chill]

Cheers C! A second mast will show up for sure, whether it will end up as my fav config remains to be seen 😏

[@okela1]

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

[@Icu2chill]

I’ll get there. Mark my words. Crab island as in Crab Beach - Emerald Archipelago - 31.8 North, 4.9 East correct?

[@okela1]

@@Icu2chill Correct. And as time is of essence, a hefty reward is awaiting

[@jamespfp]

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.

[@Icu2chill]

Challenge accepted ✌️9 days with which boat?

[@jamespfp]

@@Icu2chill Oh, it could be done that fast in the Dhow, or the Sanbuq, *or* the Cog, and definitely the Brig. Take your pick!

[@Icu2chill]

I see, more of a benchmark, although I assume it would be more challenging to achieve with the Cog or Dhow vs Sanbuq

[@jamespfp]

@@Icu2chill Definitely is more challenging in the smaller vessels. The Sanbuq is more stable in shallow regions and easier to trim for high speeds even while sleeping, which is the real trick to that benchmark. Maintaining an average speed above 5 knots isn't nearly as easy in the Cog.

[@jamespfp]

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.

[@jamespfp]

26:15 -- Yay for Trial and Error, eh? :P And yeah, I distinctly remember having mentioned that the Cog is the best ship in Sailwind for demonstrating Lee and Weather Helm, and now you know it, too. 💯

[@Icu2chill]

Downsizing my gaff is high on my list. I am finding some kakam vibes using my sails to influence my boat’s heading and I actually like it. While more demanding it proves real fun!

[@jamespfp]

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.

[@jamespfp]

^^ Footnote: While it might seem your ship is going faster when all the sails are super tight and the vessel is heeled over, it's both faster and more efficient to have the ship sitting on an even keel. In other words, it's a trade off between speed and efficiency and each situation will require a balancing act.

[@jamespfp]

^^ Footnote 2: RE: Using the Wheel to monitor Wind / Ship response. You read me right, *Do Not Lock Your Wheel* because that might cause you to Turn, even if its set to the Center, *AND* when the Wheel automatically turns port or starboard, your ship will be sailing Straight. I've had the Cog sail a straight course with the Wheel turned as much as 67% one way or the other, because the combination of Hull Loading + Sails + Wind + 67 % Rudder = Straight Line.

[@jamespfp]

^^ Footnote 3: Sail Types and Area As a Rule, I've found the following to be best on the Cog (and often of the Dhow, too). Use the Larger Genoa, the one with corner that reaches back behind the Mast. And, corollary to this, there is no reason to use the same amount of sail on the Aft Sail as the Foreward sail has. That is to say, if the Genoa has X square yards, the Gaff does not need the same amount. I often use a Gaff which is 1/2 the sail area and sometime even less since having more is only useful when the winds are light, and with moderate to high winds I'd be using only half its area, anyway. The Gaff (in my mind) is most useful not for Power and Speed, but for use as a means of automatically steering the ship when I'm doing something else, like fishing, cooking, or sleeping. A 6 Yard Gaff "fullsize" is probably more than enough for the Cog, 8 Yards too much but excellent on the Brig. The "Short" Gaffs, 6 or 8, are both acceptable alternatives. And of course, if you can sail the Cog to Dragon Cliffs you can swap out the Gaff for a Junk Gaff and it won't matter as much since it has better fractional control for the sail area. Another option would be to remove the Gaff from the Main Mast and add a Mizzen Mast for the Gaff. That can use the smallest Gaffs of all and they'll still have a good effect. See also: Heaving To.

[@Icu2chill]

Gotta love those tips James! We are on the same page here, a second mast will be part of the next upgrade I think

[@jamespfp]

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

[@jamespfp]

(And P.S. My vote remains Eastwind by the end of this episode. I find its the best one for starting West-East, shouldn't be more than 3 days to or from Malefic at worst and less than 1 day to Fort Aestrin.)

[@Icu2chill]

I suspected you were gonna lean North James!

[@jamespfp]

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.

[@Icu2chill]

Find myself often too overwhelmed to see the obvious. I’ll be watching those sails carrefuly 👀