Research

I ended up having to go to the library yesterday to get books on tall ships and sailing. I came away with The Mary Rose Story by John Christopher and Sailing Boat Manual by Dennis Watts. A third of the quest I have my heroes on is set aboard a tall ship and is their way of getting to each island, and towards the climax, I want to have them face off against a sea god and dragon.

How do ships move? What are the different parts of the ship called? What is each crew member's role? How many crewmen and women are there? I can't make any of this up, so I need to find out so that what I write onboard the ship sounds real. Because I am dealing with magical and mythical situations, the stuff that the reader can relate to needs to sound believable. Hopefully, that way when the fantastical happens the reader is on board and will go with me on the journey.

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