Leaving on a Flood Tide

[Dobbs]

A few years back I came up with rules for handling a ship in a current.

Today, I thought it would be fun to have a soloplay adventure with Mother Nature as the opponent.

The scene:

March 30, 1779, it's the start of the 2nd dog watch and the sea breeze has yet to truly fill in. A full Moon means the flood tide will be at its strongest, but the local fishermen have said that a light mist settling in has encouraged the blockading squadron to back off from the lee shore. Neither the wind nor the tide is fair, but with overwhelming optimism, the time is right to attempt a breakout (incidentally, Suzanne declined to join the breakout attempt with Lexington. She said, "...against wind and tide? We've been there before. Why would you want to do it for fun?"

The wind starts at 11-16 knots out of the South. The Shifting Wind Table is in use. The tide is flooding at 1 knot.



The card on the left is used to indicate the strength of the current on the board. The right card is used to move the ship to reflect the effect of the current each turn.

The setup:

Saratoga is in the far left corner in the first picture with the open sea in the foreground.

In the second picture, Saratoga is in the back, right, with the open sea to the left.





A potential wind speed increase and a potential veering wind are on the table as the anchor breaks free.



The anchor's aweigh, the current catches Saratoga and the games begin.



The wind does veer, but the speed increase doesn't happen. Saratoga starts to move.



The wind threatens to back...



The sails are really starting to draw..



The wind does back. Helm's alee!



The schooner's captain looks on with disapproval as Saratoga crosses the wind.



The wind backs again. This could be the moment!



Unfortunately, a course change is in order to avoid the next anchored ship.



The wind backs again, now blowing out of the East! If only we had known that was coming!



The wind veers, and Saratoga luffs up and has to bear off to starboard.



The captain is starting to lose his nerve as we get into thicker shipping. .



We didn't turn nearly far enough into the wind, and with a southwesterly breeze the tack has us heading upstream!







Things are going pear-shaped. The long tack killed my headway and land is coming up!



Saratoga turns into the wind and loses all way.



It's time to anchor, even if we are crowding that schooner. Saratoga comes to rest with her stern just ahead of the schooner's bowsprit. I don't even need the speaking trumpet to call over the taffrail and let her captain know that we'll move at slack tide.



Hopefully once the full Moon passes there will be another chance...

For anyone interested in exploring my Current rules, here's the link:

https://sailsofglory.org/entry.php?6...cts-of-Current