Chapter 332 Sailing
Guangfengshui has three sailboats that can sail offshore, and this is the first time for Huo Xi to board them.
After leaving the outer city pier, Huo Xi began to look at it curiously.
Before fishing with Huo Erhuai in the inland river, the family boat was powered by sculls. There are scull boats and paddle boats for inner city cruises. And this sailboat uses wind power to generate power, and its speed is at least twice as fast as that of a scull boat.
The size of the ship is different, and the number of masts set by the sailing ship is also different. There are single-masted, two-masted, three-masted, and multi-masted.
In front of me, this is a flat-bottomed single-masted sand ship, with a length of ten feet, a width of more than two feet, a depth of one foot and five feet, and a single mast. The mast is set in the middle of the ship, the sail is about one foot wide and the mast is nearly three feet high.
The larger the wind area of the sail, the greater the power. My boat is a small and medium-sized sailing boat sailing offshore, so the sails should be enough.
Otherwise, if the sail is too large and the wind is too strong, the boat will lose its balance, and it may capsize. So the bigger the sail, the better, it depends on the size of the boat.
Sailboats are driven by wind power, and the area of the sail is adjusted according to the wind force.
When there is no wind or insufficient wind, it will not be stranded. The sculls will be driven by manpower to push the sailboat forward and berth. The bigger the ship, the more sculls there are. The scull board is framed on both sides of the ship, and the fulcrum is set on the side of the ship.
Huo Xi raised his eyes and looked up the mast, and found a tub-shaped thing on the top of the mast, thinking that it must be the mast tower, which is what the sailors called the crow's nest.
The mast tower is not only used to retract the sails and fix the wind ropes, but also a place for the crew to climb up and look out. If there is danger, they will also climb high and raise arrows to shoot and kill the thieves.
"Is it the first time for my boss to sail on a sailboat?" Cao Jin, the captain and the boss of the boat, came over and said with a smile.
Huo Xi smiled and nodded at him: "Uncle Cao, don't make fun of my lack of knowledge."
"Hey, how many people have the knowledge of the boss."
Not to mention the creation of Guangfengshui at a young age, it only took a few years to establish a foothold in the capital. Several generations of his family have been living on the water, and it was a coincidence that they voted under the name of Guangfeng Water.
"Let me introduce to my boss." Cao Jin took Huo Xi to visit various places.
Sailing boats are very similar to scull boats, like the Huo family's scull boats, a single scull board is enough for one person, and at most one more person can be added to change the oar. And sailing boats require a lot of manpower.
In addition to the crew chief, that is, the boss of the ship, there are also helmsman, sailor, anchorman, fighter, helmsman, sailor, chief feeder, etc.
The helmsman is the person who controls the rudder and steers the ship. Generally, the boss of the ship is an excellent helmsman, but the boss of the ship wants to control the whole ship. Cao Jin is the helmsman invited by Guangfengshui, but now he is the boss of the ship, and his son Cao Cuo is the helmsman.
The sailors who control the sails and ropes are called Liaoshou, and there are two Liashous on this ship in Guangfengshui.
And large merchant ships also have special fighters, who are sailors who climb on the mast and dominate the water.
As for the anchorman, it is the sailor who raises and lowers the anchor of the ship. The chief is in charge of the cooking, and there are two cooks for the crew.
In addition to these, there are four sailors who row the sculls when there is no wind, and do other work when there is no need to scull the sculls.
Guangfeng water boats are small and medium-sized, and there are only so many people. A total of eleven people including the boss of the boat.
In the large merchant ship Fuchuan, the division of labor among the boatmen and sailors is more detailed. There are also incense workers who specialize in offering incense and tea to the ship gods, as well as sampan workers, and financial officials responsible for purchases and accounts. There are dozens or even hundreds of sailors performing their duties.
This time Huo Xi brought two sailboats to Ningbo. In addition to eleven sailors, each boat had five bodyguards and two Guangfengshui men. Plus she and Shen Qianzhong.
There are a lot of people.
Cao Jin estimated the cargo on the ship, and said: "With the wind, you can travel 80 miles in an hour. If our trip goes well, we should be able to reach Ningbo Port in four or five days."
"That's pretty fast." Huo Xi turned his head and said to Shen Qianzhong, "Then when we go back to Songjiang, wouldn't it take twice as long to use a sailboat?"
Shen Qianzhong smiled and said: "That's the reason, but our boat must be empty. Usually they all go to the north, and they just happened to be idle for the boss to catch up. If we have more money left in our account this year , we will buy a few more next year.”
It’s not impossible to buy such a ship now, that’s right, it costs a lot to hire sailors, maintain the ship and other expenses.
It is still necessary to make money. Only by making money can we buy more ships and form a larger fleet of Guangfengshui.
Nowadays, there is not even a treasury on board, and the purchase and accounting are all done by the boss of the ship and a few sailors. Also to save a sum of money. Of course, they do a lot of work, and the monthly salary they receive is also high.
After visiting on the deck, Huo Xi went into the cabin to check.
In addition to a few cabins below the deck, down the wooden ladder, there is another layer of cabins below, which is the warehouse for the cargo, and the rooms for the boatmen and sailors. The bodyguards also sleep below and always cook. Also in the cabin below.
Huo Xi saw that the two bosses were packing up the ingredients, so she went over to have a look.
"Owner."
Huo Xi greeted them with a smile: "Have you prepared enough ingredients?"
"Enough, we are not traveling far, only inland rivers and near seas, if there is not enough food, we can replenish it by berthing every day."
"That's good." Huo Xi was relieved seeing that there were enough rice noodles and ingredients. These twenty people have three meals a day, and they prepare a lot of ingredients for a few days.
The kitchen is full of piles.
After visiting the lower deck, I went up to the deck again. I saw the Shengshui Bodyguard Bureau’s dart flags on the bow and stern of the ship. Thinking about the things I prepared in the cabin, this trip should be safe.
Chatted with a few bodyguards, only to reassure her.
The head of the **** whispered to her: "Young master told me when you came here, the boat is with the people and we are with you."
Huo Xi was stunned, and said to him: "That's not necessary. Although the goods on the ship are important, the people are even more precious. If there is no firewood left in the green hills. If the pirates are more capable than us, we will try our best to save our lives. The money can be earned back later.”
Escort leader Lei Da felt warm after hearing this.
Before he came out, the young master specially called him to give him a lecture, saying that this was his first dart trip and he must be protected. So as to get the reputation of the Escort out. And this time the owner of the ship is an important partner of the young master, and the returned goods will also be shipped to the young master's shop for sale.
Then the owner of the ship is one of his own. In addition to protecting the cargo of the two ships, people must also be protected.
"With us here, the owner can rest assured."
Huo Xi nodded, Mu Yan introduced these ten people to him, presumably they all have some skills. Thinking of something, I asked again: "Are you all good at water?"
Don't just fight in close quarters, you will suffer if you are a landlubber.
"Don't worry, the owner, we are good at water. We are all good at land and ship battles. We won the water bodyguards. After the young master said, we will be the water bodyguards. The first thing for bodyguards is to train water skills."
That's good. Huo Xi was relieved.
The ship traveled for a day, and when it was dark, the two ships were ready to find a sheltered place to berth.
Thank you for contentment and happiness, book friends 2020116125355688 for rewarding. Other chapters come later
(end of this chapter)