Waterjammers

Hey, Leroy?

I've been reading the Waterjammer discussion, and I had a thought.

Tonnage refers to the ship itself, not what's in its gravity envelope - and
yet, water is so much heavier than air, it's a big stretch to think that
filling the envelope with water would not change things a bit. (Air has
weight, but water has *more* weight - quite a lot more).

How about this - the water adds *weight*, but not tonnage. I'm not sure how
to express my thought, exactly, but perhaps it would change things somewhat
like a Colossal-sized dragon grabbing the ship for a ride. (That's not the
same order of magnitude, but I'm sure you see what I mean). Or, loading up
too much heavy cargo into a starship might cause a similar problem.

Also, I think that a water-filled envelope would cause maneuverability
problems, unless the ship used steering devices other than sails. A ship
steered with oars might not be too much affected, but I'm thinking that
sails would be a BEAR to use inside a water envelope - so much so that I
doubt anyone would ever try it. A tiller oar would be a good alternative.

Just a couple thoughts tossed out,

Jim

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