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Rigorous Science

Comments on What would it take to build a ship capable of crossing the Pacific?

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What would it take to build a ship capable of crossing the Pacific? [duplicate]

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Closed as duplicate by Canina‭ on Nov 24, 2020 at 19:23

This question has been addressed elsewhere. See: What would it take to build a ship capable of crossing the Pacific?

This question was closed; new answers can no longer be added. Users with the reopen privilege may vote to reopen this question if it has been improved or closed incorrectly.

In my story, I have a small extended family of 30 to 40 individuals ranging in age from 0 to 50 who are on the run from Chinese and Japanese forces in 1400AD. No place in Asia is safe for them. By a series of lucky chances they have found a very quiet location that appears to be untouched by humans. Escaping by getting out to sea is of the utmost importance. Trade of any kind will give them away so they must do all their preparations in secret and by themselves.

They have access to plenty of wood and iron ore deposits. Their location is sufficiently remote that they have up to 5 years to complete their ship and get out to sea. The refugees are traders, not craftsmen or metalsmiths. Iron is known to them but they don't have anything other than introductory knowledge of how to smelt iron or form tools.

What will they need in terms of construction supplies and construction facilities in order to build a ship strong enough to get them across the pacific? How likely is this little band to pull of this kind of a project? Commentary about provision requirements to put in the ship or the required ship size is also welcome.

Equipment List

  • Small herd of horses, 5 cows and 1 bull.
  • They have the iron tools required to maintain their tents and herds but they don't have any blacksmith tools. (They were in a bit of hurry to get out and didn't bother to kidnap a blacksmith or shipwright.)
  • Ceramics are their primary eating and cooking implements.

Note that this is a [tag:hard-science] question. You must account for the laws of physics when figuring out the size of the ship, the nutritional and water requirements of the crew. If you must handwave, please provide some justification for your guess.

Helpful Information

While the following information is unknown to this little band of fugatives, please incorporate it into your answer.

  • It takes about 2.5 years to drift from the shores of Japan to California so their voyage won't take any longer than that.
  • They don't know it but they are attempting to get from Japan to the West Coast of the United States along the northern portion of the Northern Pacific Gyre. North Pacific Gyre
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1 comment thread

General comments (7 comments)
General comments
Canina‭ wrote almost 4 years ago

Hi Green, and welcome. I see you have posted a few questions to the Rigorous Science category. Do you actually require that level of rigor in answers? See Writing a Rigorous Science Post. We can move your questions to the standard Q&A category, should you decide that you prefer that; in that case, please flag the questions and request a category change. Either way, I hope you get the answers you are looking for.

Green‭ wrote almost 4 years ago

@canina Rigorous Science please. I want to minimize handwaving as much as possible.

Canina‭ wrote almost 4 years ago

@Green Not a problem; whether to post in standard Q&A or in Rigorous Science is your decision.

Sigma‭ wrote almost 4 years ago

Where in Asia is your group starting? Thailand and Kamchatka have very different resources available and would require very different skillsets and fixed resource costs.

How familiar are your traders with navigation, geography, and the ability to handle a ship? The West-East crossing is perilous today for sailing vessels with full navigational equipment.

Sigma‭ wrote almost 4 years ago

Does your group even know North America exists? I have a hard time coming up with a reason they would prefer to travel into the unknown east rather than west along semi-familiar trade routes.

Sigma‭ wrote almost 4 years ago

Can you be more specific about introductory knowledge of blacksmithing? It's practically impossible to build a ship without cutting boards. If they don't know how to smelt iron (or other) they're in trouble.

Sigma‭ wrote almost 4 years ago

Can you change your title to specify that you're focusing on the West-East crossing? Following the trade winds is a much different animal (c.f. the ConTiki).