After daybreak, the privateer sailed out of the island of St. Eustatius, still the lead of the Banshee, and the rear of Chen Shouxu. Further south, the island of St. Eustatius officially enters the waters of England, St. Christopher and Nevis, Antigua, and Montserrat.

Small unarmed English merchant ships haunted the Banshee like unclothed beauties waiting for the men's luck. The pirates swallowed their hungry saliva, withdrew their gaze from the beauty, and continued south.

The Liamuiga volcano on St. Christopher's Island, more than 1,000 meters above sea level, guided the privateer's route, and Wilkinson didn't want to get into trouble and carefully stayed away from the island's port of Basseterre, the home port of the cruiser Determination.

After setting sail from the island of Sint Eustatius, the course of the fleet turned to the southeast. The prevailing northeasterly wind blew from the port side, and the angle between the wind direction and the course was 10 compass points, and although it was still a little countercurrent, the fleet sailed into the side tail wind, which was relatively comfortable for the sailboats. There is no need to change sides to the wind as often as before, and the sails and steers of the boat are much simpler.

Taking advantage of this rare tailwind section, Chen Shouxu asked his two oldest children, Rhaegar and Robert, to practice their boat skills.

"Remember that, Rhaegar and Robert, no matter where the wind blows from the hull, if you want to make the most of it, the sails must be in the middle of the angle between the direction of the wind and the course. In this way, the maximum speed can be obtained by cooperating with the steer. Chen Shouxu stood on the stern and instructed the students in practice.

"Yes, teacher."

"Teacher, what should I do if the angle between the boat and the wind direction is too small and the sail can't turn when sailing against the wind?"

"That's a good question." Chen Shouxu replied, "No matter what kind of sailboat, if the wind direction is within about 4 compass points on each side of the bow, then this area is an absolute no-sail zone. For sailboats, this angle is expanded to 6 compass points because the boom cannot be turned to such a large angle. But when you're actually sailing, it's best to leave some margin for yourself and don't sail into an area within 7 compass points of headwind. ”

Chen Shouxu pointed to the Banshee in front of him, "This ship has a sail, which doesn't have much reference value. If you look at the Banshee, it's a brig, and the boom can turn at a greater angle than a schooner, so the windward angle can be 1 or 2 more compass points than a schooner. We can crisscross the Caribbean Sea without fear of the pursuit of warships, and many times rely on the advantage of course selection brought by the more compass points of the headwind angle. ”

Maiden leaned against the bulwark, sharing the stern with Chen Shouxu through the rudder. He looked at Chen Shouxu's teaching in surprise, "Are you really only twenty years old?" I've never seen someone your age summing up sailing so finely. ”

Chen Shouxu responded casually, "It's nothing, I'm good at math." ”

Maiden felt that, like that ancient and mysterious country, the Orientals in front of him were also full of unsolved mysteries.

"Rhaegar and Robert, it's good to sail this way, you keep the same course as the Banshee."

At this time, Chen Shouxu noticed the long pole he had set up on the deck, and the shadow of the long pole had reached the shortest scale of the day. At noon, he said to Maiden, "I'll go and take a break, help me watch the children, and call me if something happens." ”

Chen Shouxu walked down the stern, opened the narrow hatch near the port side, and went down the vertical ladder to his cabin.

This Danish warship did not technically have a stern. Presumably, in order to make the most of the cabin, the rear hull was raised under the rudder rod by simply using the length of the rudder rod, creating a captain's cabin above the rudder that protruded from the main hull. The roof of the captain's cabin forms a small stern deck, and with the addition of bulwarks around it, it can barely be called a "stern".

Under the stern is the captain's room, which is more than 3 meters wide at the stern, less than 1.5 meters long and 2 meters high. Just along the hull of the ship lay a bed, a narrow nautical table and a cabinet. Although it is very narrow and it is very inconvenient to enter and exit through a vertical ladder, Chen Shouxu is already very satisfied. The cabin used the bulwark at the stern to open two windows that could be closed, about the size of the gun door, and the air was much better than that of the crew cabin. The most important thing is that he finally has an independent space.

Descend the staircase to the cabin, and turn around to the only table. Chen Shouxu carefully plucked a necklace from his neck, opened the white silk wrap tied to the end of the necklace, and took out his most precious item, the Eco-Drive watch. Spread out the large atlas on the bed and turn to the Americas. Calculated the time difference between the time at 12 noon and the Greenwich Mean time on his watch, and obtained the position where the ship was currently sailing at 63 degrees west longitude, and the latitude measured by the rectangular instrument, Chen Shouxu found the sea area where he was. It was not possible to measure longitude at sea in this era, and it was not possible to measure longitude at sea until Harley and his teacher perfected the standard catalog decades later.

Chen Shouxu checked the results through repeated measurements of the Liamuiga volcano, and the calculated longitude error was within a tolerable range. Conversely, the effect of the error in measuring longitude on the determination of the course can be visually corrected by the mast on both sides of the route at critical times. For navigation at this time, to a certain extent, this is equivalent to opening a map during war.

Putting away his tools, Chen Shouxu closed his eyes and lay on the bed, and the chart composed of longitude and latitude appeared in his mind. Combining the information of ocean currents and wind directions, Chen Shouxu fell asleep in his imagination of outlining the route.

The flotilla continued south.

The flirlis flags that appear in front of you clearly show the identity of the merchant ships, which belonged to France, the first power on the European continent under the rule of Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu. The Banshee's previous raided merchant ships brought news of the European continent, and that France had just inflicted heavy damage on the Spanish navy last year and repelled a Spanish and Holy Roman Empire's attack on Paris.

Ten years ago, Richelieu had revived its religious war against the Protestants in the country. With the capture of Montauban by the royal army, the Huguenots in France lost their military and political power. Although Richelieu reaffirmed the freedom of belief of the Nantes Amnesty after the war, many Protestants in France fled to England, the Netherlands, and North Germany, and many of them to the West Indies. The arrival of new immigrants stimulated the development of the French West Indies colony.

Whether it is the first power on the European continent, the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the birth of the future Sun King Louis XIV, and other information has nothing to do with pirates for the time being.

Meaningfully, the French merchant ship that was fleeing in front of him, the Banshee had already hung up its full sails and chased after it. Chen Shouxu's ship was too slow, so he could only try his best to keep up and not fall behind.

Chen Shouxu could only chat with Maiden and Walter to pass the time, "I heard that Captain Marmont is a Huguenot? ”

"Yes, he also participated as an officer in the Siege of La Rochelle." Maiden said.

"The pirates of the Bahamas have such a background." Chen Shouxu crossed his fingers and sighed, "You are the close subordinates of the Generalissimo of the HRE Empire, and Marmont participated in the heroic defense of La Rochelle. Does he still know the Duke of Buckingham and d'Artagnan? ”

"That's not it, Marmont's level is not enough to deal with the Duke of Buckingham. D'Artagnan, as familiar as it sounds, seems to be the surname of a French nobleman. ”

Seeing that Maiden seemed to be caught up in the memories of the genealogy of European nobility, Chen Shouxu interrupted him, "Don't worry about d'Artagnan. Do you know Captain Grover's background? ”

Maiden made eye contact with Walter for a moment, and said slowly, "We don't know the exact background of Grover, only that we heard that he is a member of the royal party, and some of the proceeds of the privateering will be remitted to London." ”