It was a sloppy man shouting at the fountain.

He has curly flaxen hair and green eyes, but the eyeballs are cloudy and don't look clear.

He has a fat build, a short neck, and a round belly. The upper body wears an old shirt that doesn't fit well, and the lower body is paired with dark brown suspenders with an incomplete crotch button.

The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, revealing muscular knotted arms and large, knuckled hands that didn't fit his figure. There are obvious yellow spots on the fingers, and the nails are full of sludge.

Sludge is the main reason why Lorraine would think he is sloppy.

There is a shortage of traditional Chinese medicine on the sea voyage, and any regular sailor will pay attention to his personal hygiene as much as possible, even if he can't bathe often, and will not leave dirt between his fingers.

But after closer inspection, Lorraine reversed her original idea.

He's not sloppy.

Although the clothes on his body were embarrassing, they were clean, and even his hair was neatly tied.

As for the sludge on the fingernails, it may be some kind of perennial stain.

Sailors did not like suspenders at all, as they were not loose enough, and cumbersome suspenders and buckles would also affect the agility of sailors on board.

So this fat man is not a man of the sea......

Looking at his appearance, it is more likely that a person is middle-aged and suddenly wants to go to the sea to sail.

Lorraine touched her chin and hid in the crowd, watching the landlubbers shout in vain by the fountain.

"The Artis Chamber of Commerce recruits seafarers, recruits sailors, and welcomes young people who are willing to venture into the shares!"

"We are very strong, we have boats! There are big ships! ”

Suddenly a loud voice in the crowd asked, "Sir, have you ever been out to sea?" ”

The fat man suddenly became slumped: "Although...... I haven't been out before, but ......"

"Do you know how to swim?" Someone else asked, "If the honorable gentleman falls into the water, how many people will it take to fish you up?" ”

Laugh!

The fat man's face was red and dripping blood, and he barred his neck in the middle of the crowd and argued, "I can swim!" I've swam in the river in my hometown and fished! ”

The ridicule grew louder.

Amid a burst of laughter, Lorraine slowly raised her hand.

He asked, "Sir, I'll sail." I just want to be sure of one thing, do you really have a boat? ”

His voice reached the fat man's ears like a heavenly sound, and the fat man's eyes lit up and he nodded busily.

"There are boats! Stopped at Pier 13, it's a brand new big ship! A real sea boat! ”

Lorraine smiled: "I just have thirteen shillings on me, I don't know how many shares can I take if I use them for investment?" ”

……

As the sun set, the fat man of the day walked down the street with his head down, and Lorraine followed far behind, covering his nose to avoid the strange smell of his body.

The fat man's name is Lake, Lake. Artis, a native of Devon.

He ran an ancestral tanning workshop in Plymouth and was an excellent leatherman, as evidenced by the burn spots on his fingers and the strange smell of nitrate and rotten skin.

However, these things are of no value to a maritime merchant.

No matter how good his tanning skills are, he is still the landlubber who is not trusted. After a long day's work, only Lorraine, a half-grown son who was also not trusted, was willing to join the nascent Artis Chamber of Commerce.

Even apart from them, the Chamber of Commerce did not even have a decent sailor.

This frustrated Lake.

He had heard that it would take at least eight competent sailors to run his great ship, and he now had only one, and it was two to say that he was incompetent.

His desire to go to sea was yellow......

Deadhearted, Lake led Lorraine all the way to Pier 13, just to prove that he was trustworthy.

When he had seen the ship, he was ready to sell it, and use the money from the sale of the ship to pay off the huge debt of the tanner's shop.

Now, the time has come to break up.

Lake stood on the edge of the dock, pointed to a large ship moored in the sea, and whispered, "Young man, this is my ship, I didn't lie to you. ”

Lorraine slowly lowered her hand.

Under the fiery sunset, a big chubby ship quietly docked in the bay, gently undulating with the shore waves.

She is 30 meters long and 8 meters wide, with a pointed head and broad tail, and the only thick mainmast stands straight in the middle of the ship, 22 meters high, and the clean sail cable pulls down diagonally, connecting the mainmast with the slender 3-meter-long bow mast in the bow.

Lorraine recited softly: "The Hanseatic Kirk-type dhow, one of the most famous designs of the Nordic ship line, famous for its Hanseatic merchants, is characterized by the first aft central rudder. Up to now, the standard length is 30 meters, the width is 8 meters, and the mainmast is 22 meters. ”

"The Kirk has a wide inner compartment and a bottom for smooth navigation in shallow waters. Thanks to the use of a large cross-mounted square sail, it is able to maintain excellent speed in downwind conditions, but does not perform well in upwind conditions. ”

"After the introduction of the Arabian bow skew, its biggest defect has been compensated, the design has been finalized for more than 400 years, and it is still widely used in the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea with low cost and stable performance, with a standard crew of 8 people."

Lake's eyes lit up when he heard this: "Young man, you seem to be ......"

Lorraine laughed at herself: "I used to be a student of the Sea Academy, if it weren't for the changes in my family and the early study, I would probably have been on the ship by now." ”

Lake smiled bitterly: "I thought it was an ordinary young man, but I didn't expect me to pick up a baby...... It's a pity ......"

"Sir, are you worried that there won't be enough people to sail?" Lorraine asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Lake was poked in his heart, and he was a little at a loss for a while, "You...... Don't get me wrong, you're good...... It's just that if you want to do business, you have to get the ship out of the port first, and it's a matter of eight people to drive the ship, and then you can do it......"

"In fact, I can drive this boat alone." Lorraine touched the tip of her nose, "Because the design is relatively old, her operation is not complicated." ”

"Huh?"

Lake stayed there and watched as the boy ran, pedaled, and leaped onto the boat.

Lorraine flew to the bow of the ship, like a nimble monkey, and crouched on the tip of the mast with a cable: "Sir, I haven't asked yet, what is her name?" ”

"Beauty...... Beauty! Lake hissed at Lorraine as if he had woken up from a dream, "Her name is Artis Beauty!" ”

"Is it the beauty of the Artis family......" Lorraine gently stroked the smooth mast under her feet, and gradually smiled, "I didn't expect it to be a fat girl." ”

The Artis Chamber of Commerce, which consisted of only two people, was nervously busy.

Lake is responsible for procuring goods and hiring workers to carry them.

Lorraine was busy waxing the deck, oiling the anchors and rudders, and inspecting the sails, cables, cabins, and keels to make sure all the components were intact.

He was a disciple of Sir Leighton, and trusted only in his own knots and those of his companions, so that each knot had to be dissolved, re-beaten, and kept busy.

He even painted a two-metre-wide square in red paint in the very centre of the deck, stretching from the stern to five metres from the bow.

Lake came up with the goods and looked strangely at the glaring red frame.

"Little Lorraine, what's this box?"

"This is your captain's quarters." Lorraine slapped her face, "After leaving the port, there is so much for you to move around on the deck, and you have to put on a lifebuoy. Sir, you are so fat that I will not be able to drag you up if you fall into the sea. ”

"Huh?"

"By the way, since we're going to cross the strait, you should have already bought the corresponding charts, right?"

"Charts are expensive!" Lake looked calculating, "I've heard people say, as long as you go with the wind, ......"

"You'll soon be drifting to Holland, and if nothing else, the beauties will become the trophies of the coachmen, that's pretty much it."

"Huh?"

"Go ahead......," Lorraine waved lazily, "as the ship's first mate and helmsman and navigator and lookout and boatman, I also need monoculars, a compass, a pair of thick linen gloves and some supplies." Everything has Captain Law, thank you. ”