Re: Mammoth -> Horseshoe Crab

>From: Dreamer <dreamer@??????.?????.??.uk>
>Reply-To: Spelljammer Setting Discussion <SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com>
>To: SPELLJAMMER-L@??????.???????.com
>Subject: Re: [SPELLJAMMER] Mammoth -> Horseshoe Crab
>Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2005 09:56:23 +0000
>
>In <URL:news:local.spelljam> on Mon 12 Dec, jamesriley wrote:
> > Thank you for your prompt assistance in the matter regarding the 
>Horseshoe
> > Crab. I worked out the hull on the shipyard construction exel file found 
>on
> > beyond the moons with minimal rigging and it gave me a total of eight
> > riggers plus cook/healer and officers for a total of 14 crew, but that
> > didn't tell me if it was based on shift work or if that was total 
>required
> > for one shift.
>
>The google search said that 27 crew was the minimum, up to 90
>maximum, presumably on the 1 crew per ton limit. I would guess
>that your 14 crew would work for the 'day', then have a 'night',
>where everyone rests and only turns out in an emergency. With
>Furnace or Pump Helms you might be able to do that as long as
>they are minimally supervised, possibly with two crew (one
>officer, one crewman) on night watch.

I've always been under the impression that ships (in the real world, at 
least) have three shifts that each serve 8 hours. I think all the crew 
operating all day and going to sleep at night, would be a recepie for 
disaster. Who is going to raise the alarm if anything goes wrong? Now you 
may think: "12 crew in the day and then 2 at night," but you are still in 
trouble if someone manages to kill those two crew members silently (perhaps 
using magic or invisibility).

If I had your ship crew of 14 I would have two watches of 5 crew members 
followed by one watch of 4 crew members. I would serve three square meals* a 
day (so everybody gets breakfast, lunch, dinner).

After each shift finishes their work I would give them 8 hours of recreation 
time (that overlaps with the following shifts work). This would give me 
another 4 or 5 crew members that could respond quickly to an emergency 
quickly. The third shift would be asleep, but I would only have 4 or 5 crew 
asleep at a time.

This way I would be ready to detect an attack around the clock and my crew 
would be equally alert at all times. If anything nasty happened the off duty 
shift could be brought on deck and the sleeping crew could be woken up.

If anything was so dangerous that 9 or 10 crewmebers could not hold it off 
long enough for the sleeping crew to get dressed, then you probably would 
loose against it anyway.

Finally, if I was doing anything that was known to be risky, such as 
landing, docking or meeting another ship, I'd have all crew on deck, while 
it was happening.

David Shepheard
easyEverything internet cafe
London UK

* = Square meals come on square plates used on board ships (British Navy 
ships I think) - that is where the phrase "square meal" comes from.

BTW: Salors that wanted to get extra food added fiddly bits of wood to their 
plates to make them bigger - hence the term "on the fiddle" for people that 
cheat.