Sailing questions from a novelist

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by LittleWing77

Boatie! You are a pain in the patootie!

Lest we forget, you are a Delivery Skipper! You sail anywhere, anytime - even in the "wrong" direction.

Stop being such a contrarian for entertainment value. Fantasylsland is attempting to accumulate some useful info to write something close-to-authentic.

Although, Fantasy, that might be the set-up for your storm or mishap... that they chose to sail Bermuda to Azores off-season...

LittleWing77

LitttleWing.. I suggest many are misquoting their god..
https://www.worldcruising.com/arc_eu...itinerary.aspx

[double u]

avoid all the pitfalls with boaties like us, who will REALLY scrutinise your story:
use a medical problem!
Years ago a crew in the Indian Ocean succumbed to Botulism poisoning from canned food. If I remeber correctly there was/were fatality/ies.
Pregnancy gone wrong,...you name it!
Appeals to land folks too (& shows the irresponsibility of the sailor folk confirming the couch potato in his decision too stay home...)

[Sailor647]

Originally Posted by FantasyIsland

Ah. An odd bit of cliched advice for lazy writers, ultimately limiting and unimaginative.
Better advice: expand what you know to write what you want.
(You can thank me when you've tried it. )

Laughing out loud. The thing about forums like this is, most people don't know the background or occupations of the people who post here. Please be sure to post a link to your finished work on this forum so we writers and sailors can give it a read! I'm sure many people will be interested in it and excited to read it.

[Belezar]

Originally Posted by Sailor647

Laughing out loud. The thing about forums like this is, most people don't know the background or occupations of the people who post here. Please be sure to post a link to your finished work on this forum so we writers and sailors can give it a read! I'm sure many people will be interested in it and excited to read it.

That is true. Which is why your comment to me seemed condescending and nasty. I don’t know yours and you don’t his. As a user of books, most authors don’t seem really know their subject that well. They research and rely on their sources. But maybe the real heart of the matter is do they know humans, emotions, and what not, thus can craft a story around an event or area. Of course, these days everyone seems to a constitutional scholar, PhD in epidemiology, investment guru, round the world sailor, and lawyer. Busy folks.

[wolfgal]

double u has a point with the food poisoning. lots of things can go wrong in the middle of nowhere

these days, there are lots of now-belieavle external events:

it could be a case of covid: the ship captain, over sixty and a bit overweight could quickly succumb. the virus is airborne, so those sleeping below would easily share the air. (on second thought, i wouldn't want to read this story - am tired of covid!)

it could be fluke weather: was it last year that a hurricaine took a rare turn toward the azores? things get really flukey out there weather-wise, and so many are looking at their high-tech screens now, sometimes they forget to look at the skies, the horizon. not having paper charts is a problem when there is no power too.

-oh and do not forget that collisions and near collisions with ships do happen. one story, the sailboat was sailing parallel with the ship. he went below to the loo. she noticed at the last minute that the big ship had turned onto their path. she went below to warn him, died because her life vest blew up inside the cabin and trapped her below. he went through the forward hatch and lived, even though his life vest failed to inflate. tough story.

it is tough to be the survivor. that is why Adrift works, i think

and seriously, losing one's mate happens out there. have you read Dark Wind? such a sad story. he is out there still it seems, sailing on his own...

yes, it happens.

wolfie

[AiniA]

Bermuda to Azores is a pretty common route as part of a Caribbean - Europe trip. Biggest problem tends to be lack of wind from the B-A High. Traditional wisdom is to get north from Bermuda (32°N) to closer to 40°N to get reliable wind. Short of hurricane season, and considering how stout a HR44 is, not likely to be disabled by a storm.

[Rob_P]

Originally Posted by Belezar

That is true. Which is why your comment to me seemed condescending and nasty. I don’t know yours and you don’t his. As a user of books, most authors don’t seem really know their subject that well. They research and rely on their sources. But maybe the real heart of the matter is do they know humans, emotions, and what not, thus can craft a story around an event or area. Of course, these days everyone seems to a constitutional scholar, PhD in epidemiology, investment guru, round the world sailor, and lawyer. Busy folks.

There are tons of amateur authors out there and most don't know their scripts from their fonts.

That doesn't make them "bad" authors; it means that they need to learn and grow and be better in all the elements of what it takes to write an engrossing read. Not everyone can do this, especially when most people won't make the effort required because writing a novel takes months. And that's before the editing and rewrites begin.

Back onto the topic: He's here, he's trying. That it's funny he's missing the point about all the critical details merely shows that he needs to learn that there is no easy way to the top of the mast. This is what a rejection slip is for. I suspect, as envisioned and laid out in his posts, that the OP will be earning one for this novel because at this point it is impossible to "suspend disbelief" that the universe he's attempting to create is anything near plausible.

Why? Because the thing about books/scripts in the vein of what he's trying to do is that even if the decisions the imperiled characters make are the "correct" choices, fate makes those decisions turn out to be just as bad or worse than incorrect ones. You cannot have your characters make "good decisions" if the entire universe the novel is set in is based on implausibilities.

BTW, you can indeed write about what you don't know. It takes a team of researchers, good editors, and a lucky streak a mile wide, but it can be done. There are a lots of books on the NY Times Bestseller list that were written exactly that way.

[wolfgal]

off topic but my feeling is that the OP is female

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by wolfgal

off topic but my feeling is that the OP is female

Too much intellect to be male.???

[Paradoxus]

Perhaps consider a series of minor issues that slowly build to a catastrophe, instead of a single disastrous event. Small leaks shorting the battery, crew getting sick, food spoilt, watermaker defect etc.

[wolfgal]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Too much intellect to be male.???

good try, but we haven't seen much by way of the OP's intellect yet Boatie

all we've seen is that the OP has an interest, ir open to options, and is making an effort to understand

but, for sure, it is not easy to get a grip on everything sailing, and it is another job simplifying for a wider audience.

the steep learning curve definitely applies here too

i'm thinking the OP should interview you: you've got quite a few amazing stories

wolfie

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Paradoxus

Perhaps consider a series of minor issues that slowly build to a catastrophe, instead of a single disastrous event. Small leaks shorting the battery, crew getting sick, food spoilt, watermaker defect etc.

Lightning is always a good one..
I recall on my first Transat from the Caribe I ran into a 12hr period where there was a lot of individual white cotton ball clouds that were intermittently spitting bolts of lightning on and off.. a strike would have resulted in pretty catastrophic damage to both mast and electrics on board leaving the boat inoperable to a large extent.. this was a sunny day with very slight seas and maybe 7 to 10kts of wind.

Wolfie.. My comment was because so far the OP has been responding with some positivity and less macho disdain as is usual when folk come on asking a question.. also has actually done some research themselves before starting the thread.. ie the reference to Cornell and Herb.. Good signs.

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by Paradoxus

Perhaps consider a series of minor issues that slowly build to a catastrophe, instead of a single disastrous event. Small leaks shorting the battery, crew getting sick, food spoilt, watermaker defect etc.

E-zactly, Paradoxus!

That's why I was suggesting All is Lost as a reference. Certainly not because it's especially accurate, but because the stuff that goes wrong is a slow cascade of events, which, as they accumulate, make the situation more and more dire...

(Whoops! Maybe I ought to have specified that in my original post...)

I thought that aspect of the film was especially relevant for FantasyIsland.

Fair winds,
LittleWing77

[Paradoxus]

Originally Posted by LittleWing77

E-zactly, Paradoxus!

That's why I was suggesting All is Lost as a reference. Certainly not because it's especially accurate, but because the stuff that goes wrong is a slow cascade of events, which, as they accumulate, make the situation more and more dire...

(Whoops! Maybe I ought to have specified that in my original post...)

I thought that aspect of the film was especially relevant for FantasyIsland.

Fair winds,
LittleWing77

The other reason for using a slow cascade of events is that it could make for a better plot, since such events can all be caused by human error, and thus impact on relationships on board, for example, “if you had not forgotten to change the fuel filter, we would not be in this mess”. Then you drop an external disaster on an already frayed crew and there is your story.

[wolfgal]

if someone was to fall overboard (easy to do while wearing heavy gear, while coming up from below, out of the companionway, before getting the chance to lock in, just as a wave comes over and sweeps that poor soul away), and the boat has to quickly turn around... this is when things can get hectic!!

even if the captain and the crew know the drill and have practiced together, so much can go wrong with the sails, with the lines... it is a super stressful event

from there, the boat's course (the angle at which it safely goes into oncoming waves) must change and, in doing so, it is exposed to huge waves to the beam (oh wait, this is the scenario Outlander chose to use. remember when he dives down and frees her from the mast that was taking her to the depths of death? i held my breathe the whole time! so exciting!!!)

anyway, yes, a man-overboard event can be that moment when other stuff goes wrong. a fallen and trailing line can get wrapped around the prop, which would take out engine use, right at the moment the crew is rushing to get the sails down. something gets stuck and the sail rips, and at this moment the boat exposed to a huge wave on the beam... and here comes the roll!

obviously, i cannot wait to read the book and see the movie