WIP - Battlemaps for Curse of the Emperor's Stone...

[Crayons]

Caravel huh. Lateen rig. Never sailed one, so most of the following is observation from images and deduction.

When moored up it looks like the sail is usually bundled up against the yard (the diagonal spar the sail hangs from). Since the yard looks both too slender to support a human properly and doesn't seem to have ropes for a man to stand on to do so then I imagine the whole yard is lowered, the sail bundled, and then raised again to get it out of the way.
It looks like each yard has sheets at both ends, possibly with pulleys, these would not be unshipped but left and probably tightened and the excess rope belayed away as above.
You would probably only have the rope ladder arrangement on the tallest mast and only if there was a crow's nest up there. There would be no need for regular access up the mast otherwise for the above reasons. Maintenance access would be by temporary rigging of a bosun's chair or just plain climbing the mast.
It looks like there are 3 or 4 stays (the ropes/wires used like tent guy-ropes to hold the mast upright) per mast. These will be more or less permanently tied off and unlikely to have much excess length as they remain static.

S'bout all. Hope it's vaguely useful?

[jtougas]

I was just thinking about the barrels stowed in the bow. Normally these wouldn't be stored there as they would make the ship/boat "plow" through the water. More likely they would be stowed amidship.

[Crayons]

Actually, rather conversely, the very bow section of the hold is usually where the anchor chain "lives" - heavy stuff . Behind that is usually for sail stowage.
Compared to the ballast, the effects here are minimal really

[mearrin69]

I have no idea what any of that means but I appreciate you sharing it. I'll go read up some more and look up some of the terms you used. Not going for super realism here (mainly because I can't) but I hope folks won't fault me too much for it. The encounter, at least, should be exciting - assuming the PCs make decent enough perception checks to take part in it!
M

[jtougas]

No one will fault you for it M they look great and as a PC thats all that really matters oh and "is that flammable?"..

[Crayons]

[Dull definitions following]
Since ships seem to be a popular item perhaps I should write a quick "intro" tutorial on them!! Actually, I'm sure there must be someone more qualified than I to do that.
Simply put -

Some ropes
Halyard - a rope used to pull things (sails, flags, people!) up a mast
Sheet - a rope used to control the position/angle of a sail (confusing, a "sheet" is not a sail itself)
Hawser - a rope used to tie up or tow a ship
Stay - a rope used to hold a mast upright - basically a permanent structural item like a tent guy-rope.
other ropes:
Painter - basically a hawser associated with dinghies and rowing boats
Spring - a hawser but used as a term for when it is used to position a ship on leaving.
Warp - a rope used to tow a ship

Obviously the same rope can sometimes be referred to by different names depending on its current usage, I can only assume that in an age of shouted orders the need for explicit definitions was vital. I call to mind Vizzini in "The Princess Bride" shouting "Move the thing! And that other thing!"

Some woodwork
Gaff - a horizontal spar attached to the mast at one end and used to increase the height of a fore-aft sail - eg Gaff Rig
Yard - a horizontal spar attached to the mast somewhere along its length more usually for square, lugsail or lateen rig.
Boom - a horizontal spar attached to the mast at the bottom of a sail

[Marken4]

Really impressed by your battlemaps. Have to try that some time..

[mearrin69]

Thanks. And thanks, Crayon, for the nautical education. I'm going to try to get up to speed enough to at least finish this up somewhat realistically. Honestly, I'm not even sure about the arrangment of the decks, since I was unable to find any plans at all. You'd think there'd be a deckplan of the Pinta or something on the Internet somewhere...but I haven't found it if so.
M

[Crayons]

I don't think there's anything written in stone about layout. It's all practicality.
I would say that deck hatches are usually on the centerline of the ship, the fore hatch in front of the foremast, and this is often used for stowing sails, anchors, extra rope etc in the forward cargo area. The main cargo hatch would be as you have it but on the centerline again?
Looking at the cabins, I wouldn't really expect to see a corridor on a ship this small? I'd have the captain just have to go through one of the other rooms to get to his cabin, I guess. A dining room seems a little "posh" but would probably double up as sleeping accomodation for crew in hammocks.
BTW, you might want a small galley/kitchen - these are rather carefully designed as fire is obviously a serious hazard. It would also usually be placed forward as the wind will blow the smoke away from the rear steering position. If you want some detail to add, you need something for steering. This could be old fashioned, like a steering oar as used by vikings, greeks and so forth on their ancient ship designs, a simple wooden bar attached direct to the rudder, or a wheel, usually housed in a "binnacle" and involves chain or rope drive with "gearing"?

Anyway - I feel I've bored you all far too much here already! Anything else, please ask!

I had a look for plans too. The Cutty Sark is a much larger and possibly more modern Clipper design
http://www.sassineri.com/Cutty%20Sark_map.jpg
but it's about the only sailing cargo vessel I can think of at the moment! Might give you some ideas?

[mearrin69]

Don't know if it's reasonable or not but I went with bunks for the crew quarters. The room sleeps 16 and I've said the crew complement, including Captain and First Mate, is 26. That leaves 8 crew on duty at any given time...or else bunking on the deck or on a crate or something. Not finding time to work on much of anything that doesn't directly pay the bills at the moment but I'll try to get some time to work on this more tonight. I want to finish it soon and move on.
M

edit: Oh, the bunks don't have any bedding at the moment. Will add it soon.