Basic Sailing

This page is a Work in Progress

## Balance and Heeling

Cargo and commodities have weight. Trade missions usually list the total weight of the associated cargo. Weights of commodities and cargo can also be found the **Cargo** page. Heavy loads will cause the ship to ride lower in the water, and can sink it directly if sufficiently overloaded. Uneven distribution of weight throughout the ship can cause it to "heel" (tip to one side or the other), or cause the bow or stern to dip excessively into oncoming waves. Any of these conditions, if extreme, can cause the ship to take on water, and sink or capsize (roll all the way over—and *then* sink). For a safe voyage, keep the load as balanced as possible.

Your player-avatar also has weight, and affects the ship's balance just like cargo, depending on where you stand. If the ship is heeling too much to one side, try standing at the opposite side.

## Docking and Undocking

### Mooring Ropes

When you begin the game, your ship will be secured to the docks by two **mooring ropes.**

* Left-click to pick up/detach the **mooring rope's** "coil" from its stowed position aboard your ship/"attachment point" along the dock.
* Left-click anywhere to release the **mooring rope** from your control; it will immediately snap back to its stowed position aboard your ship
* With a held "coil," left-click on a *highlighted* "attachment point" on the dock to "make fast" (tie off)

**Mooring ropes** can be hauled in or eased by right-clicking on either end of a mooring rope after it has been tied off, then scrolling in the desired direction. You can use this effect to "walk" the ship to a new position along the docks, turn the ship around to better catch the wind for departure, spring the ship forward against a contrary wind, or even pull the ship free from an obstruction if it's near enough to reach.

### Departure

* Release all **mooring ropes** currently tied off to the docks, and quickly get back aboard
* Increase sail (just a little, for a more cautious departure)
* Get to the helm, and steer as needed

### Arrival

* When closing within sight of your destination, begin to "shorten sail" (lower sails) early, by half or so at first, and more as you get closer. For a ship with more than one mast, consider "dousing/furling" (lower entirely) all but one. The rule-of-thumb for approaching the docks is: don't approach faster than you are willing to hit them.
* Steer the ship such that you can "lay alongside" (align parallel to) the dock, as closely as you can, without colliding.
* When close enough to your intended berth, select a **mooring rope** "coil" from the side of the ship closest to the docks, jump over to them, and secure the line to the nearest "attachment point." Then jump back aboard the ship and secure a second **mooring rope,** if another "attachment point" is available. Once lines are made fast, you can haul them in to pull your ship closer to the dock, so you don't need to be very close before you attach them; once it settles, you can begin unloading your cargo or taking your liberty ashore.

### A Note About Damage

The game does not currently model damage to the ship or the docks. If you approach at a bad angle or too fast, you can collide with the docks without concern; this will stop your momentum safely.

## Wind and Weather

### Wind Behavior and Telltales

The behavior of the winds is of extreme importance to sailing, for obvious reasons. "Prevailing Winds" refers to the tendency of the wind to come from a particular direction in a given region—each map region in-game has its own prevailing winds (see accompanying image). Even so, the winds will shift in any direction over time, with some areas shifting more frequently than others. The only way to determine the current wind direction aboard the ship are the flags, pennants, weather-vanes, or strips of cloth, collectively called "telltales." It is good practice to check them regularly.

### Apparent Wind

"Apparent wind" is the result of air passing over and around the ship as it moves through it, and can cause the ship's telltales to appear to indicate an "incorrect" wind direction, especially in light winds—this can make it seem as if the wind is coming from ahead no matter the course.

### Leeway

The wind will press against the hull, and lightly push the ship away "to leeward," even when the sails are furled. This drifting effect is called "leeway." This is usually not much use for maneuvering, but may be encountered when the ship is un-moored, and may affect long-distance navigation through a strong crosswind.

### Storms

A storm is the most dangerous encounter (currently) in the game. High winds and treacherous waves will threaten to sink your ship, requiring constant attention at the helm, and management of the sails. Storms will form randomly, though more frequently in some regions than others. If you keep an eye on the skies, you can usually see a storm starting to form when the clouds gather in one area in the distance, in plenty of time to decide how to approach it. Note that storms will move with the wind: If a storm forms behind the ship, while the wind is blowing from ahead, the storm will move away from the ship, and not catch it up.

## Sail Angles

### The points of sail with lateen sails:

with lateen sails, you have small area where you can't sail. In the game, angles can be even steeper to the wind than illustrated in the picture.

### The points of sail with square sails:

The points of sail with a fully square rig are much more constricted. You might be able to sail a little tighter than illustrated, but not by much and you will be very slow upwind.

### The points of sail with junk sails:

Please reference "The points of sail with lateen sails" further up, as the sails are quiet alike.

## Tacking in game

If all else fails, you can try jump into the water and push the front sides of your ship or the rear, after locking the wheel.

### For the Dhow or Sanbuq:

Because of steep sailing angles possible, not much momentum is needed to keep turning through the wind. Either vessel will not slow down, if you tighten the sail angle all the way.

### For the Cog or Brig:

Build up momentum first and then proceed to turn into the wind and lock the wheel. Because of the square rig catching too much wind, it's beneficial to furl the square sail completely during the turn and only use the jib(front sail) or spanker (rear sail, if installed).

### For the Kakam or Junk:

*Please describe your way of turning through the wind*

### General reminder

If tacking proofs too difficult in the current vessel and tacking is not an option there is another way to get to the opposite side without crossing the wind. Almost furl your sails to go slow and turn towards the wind direction, avoiding turning against the wind.

## Common Problems and Solutions

### Caught in a storm

In the event of a storm, especially if you have wind from the side, there is the danger that your ship leans too much to one side. This can lead to capsizing in the worst case or the hull taking on much water. To counter this, furl the sails or turn them out of the wind a little.

### Ship is flooded

Do what you can to not make it worse, and wait a bit. The flooding will drain away on its own.

### Ship is stuck into the wind

If you get stuck during tacking or sailing and couldn't get the ship back into the wind, so your sails fill with air, there's still hope. There are a few strategies if your bow faces flat to the wind. For starters, you can try setting the front sail (on multimast ships) or the main sail pushing you reverse, so you can maneuver out of your precarious situation. For Lateen sails you can always push the boom if you unwound it fully on the winch. Ships similar to the Kakam and Cog can use it's front sails for reversing.

### Ship has run aground

If your ship has run aground, there is still hope. First things first: reef your sails so they don't make things worse. Tides are not yet implemented, so waiting till high tide won't work. However, you can "get out and push."

The waves will make the water level go up and down, and while the level is up, your ship should lift off the sandbar you're stuck on, this is when pushing will have an effect. The side and direction of your push matters, so get "uphill." Pop your head underwater to see more clearly where the land you're stuck on is, so you can better judge where to push from. Although it might be cathartic to mash wildly at the mouse when stuck, it works just as well to hold the mouse button down constantly.