The weather is clear, and the pale blue sea and sky are lined up in the distance, and the light and pure white clouds are dotted in it, which is refreshing. It seems that the long shots that purify the soul are enough to make countless young women and petty bourgeoisie take off their bikini swimsuits, or want to refuse and welcome, or take the initiative to get on the top, or wait with their backs, but they can always make people reach the other side of desire. Just as the seemingly changeable wind direction affected by the islands is actually ruled by the northeast trade winds all year round.

The humid air has a light salty taste, and the temperature in the early 20s should be very pleasant. But no matter how beautiful the scenery is, it becomes meaningless after a long time. Chen Shouxu, who has been in this world for more than two months, no longer thinks about the 60-foot sailboat and two Eastern European beauties he left behind on Paradise Island, and surviving in this treacherous era is his only belief. It is gratifying to note that his previous sailing experience and good physical fitness allowed him to quickly adapt to the basic skills of 17th-century sailors.

At present, the oval mast at more than 20 meters high makes him the person with the best view of the whole ship, and with the ups and downs of the hull, the mast shakes rhythmically, looking around, except for the sea or the sea. There were still no ships until now in the morning.

"Hey, Oriental Boy." A white lad climbed onto the mast and said, "How's it going?" ”

Chen Shouxu shook his head, "No boat, Fraser." Is it time? ”

"Ha, you're always expressionless. Hurry down, and I'll teach you how to sail when I go down." ”

Chen Shouxu stood up and patted Fraser on the shoulder, "Thank you." I'll leave it to you, and I'll invite you to drink later. ”

The Blue Banshee is sailing south along the Florida Peninsula, and the flag flying southwest on the flagpole on the main mast indicates that it is now a northeasterly wind. The spinnakers of the Blue Banshee's mainmast and aftermast were blowing full wind on the starboard side and were heading southwest. The hull is naturally tilting to port.

Chen Shouxu grabbed the thick side support cable of the foremast and climbed onto the deck from the port side, and his movements were not fancy. He's not like Fraser. Gail is the son of a fisherman from Norfolk, England, who is a sailor at heart, and juggling on a mast is simply an innate skill.

After landing on the deck, the boatswain came over and handed Chen Shouxu a beer.

"Thank you, Mr. Wicks." Sailing from the Chesapeake Bay to the Florida Strait, the only catch was to pick up Chen Shouxu, a Chinese who fell overboard, not far from the mouth of the bay. Nearly a hundred young men were crammed into the small brig, and there was no gain for such a long time, and the mood of anxiety surged on the boat. So today the captain announced that each person would be given three glasses of beer, and the mast sailors would add another one, which drew thunderous cheers from the sailors.

Boatswain Weeks, who was about the same age as Chen's father, was known to sailors as "Daddy Weeks" and was said to have been with Captain Grover for 20 years, when they were still serving in the British Royal Navy.

"I'm afraid you don't have time to rest, the captain is waiting for you."

Curled up on the cramped mast for a morning, Chen Shouxu was sipping on beer while moving his arms and knees, when he heard the boatswain's command, "Yes, Mr. Wicks." After taking two sips of the rest of the beer, he put down his glass and trotted into the tail building. The Blue Banshee is considered large in Slupp, but the aft tower can't be compared to the Galen, so half of the aft tower is actually below the main deck.

Chen Shouxu stepped down a few steps, "Report." "Perhaps because the captain had served in the Crown Navy of England, many of the formal rules on the ship inevitably carried traces of the army.

"Come in."

Chen Shouxu pushed the door in, and the aft floor was the captain's bedroom, which was also the ship's conference room. At this time, the officers on board were all there, Captain Grover, First Officer Wilkinson, Second Officer Stirling, and Captain Chatfield.

All the officers stood around the captain's sailing table, "Gentlemen, do you understand?" At today's pace, tomorrow we will make a left turn and head for the Bahamas. ”

“aye-aye，sir。”

Going to the Bahamas? Although he has not been in this world for a long time, Chen Shouxu has already learned from the old sailors that the current Bahamas is not the Paradise Islands that he later had. The unpredictable winds, undiscovered reefs and complex currents that can easily shred apart a wooden sailboat in the archipelago, even the Spaniards, who ruled the New World, saw it as a daunting path.

First mate, second mate turned to leave the cabin, Captain Grover looked at the charts and didn't look up, "I need you and Philip to reconfirm our latitude." ”

"Yes, sir." Chen Shouxu picked up the rectangular instrument placed next to him and followed Captain Chatfield to the bow of the ship.

In this era, even in the English royal navy, there were not many officers who mastered navigation calculations and nautical charts, and latitude calculations were one of the simpler ones. In the evening, the magnetic declination is measured in terms of azimuth and celestial infestation amplitude, and fewer people have mastered it. Originally, only the captain and the captain had these navigational skills. Wilkinson's first mate was a good lieutenant, and Sterling was the nephew of one of the captain's friends who had fallen to the officer, but neither of them would be. First mate Wilkinson preferred to soak himself in a barrel rather than a boring function calculation, while Mr. Stirling had not yet learned, and the captain took him as a disciple. These gossips are often mentioned in secret chats of sailors.

At this time, there were no quadrants and sextants, and the angle of the sun was observed with a rectangular instrument in the harsh sunlight, and Chen Shouxu and Chatfield calculated three times respectively, the difference was very small, and after taking the average, Chatfield went to report to the captain.

At the beginning of being rescued on the ship, Chen Shouxu did not understand why these white men treated him well on 17th-century sea ships. Slowly, he learned that it was a privateer, well, another name for a pirate ship. Not only did they not intend to sell him into slavery, but on the contrary, they allowed him to keep his personal package. There's a Seiko Eco-Drive diver's watch and a large waterproof world map.

Of course, there was no idler on the ship, he was not sick, scrubbing the deck, climbing the mast to raise the sails, checking the sails, cleaning the gun chambers, all these sailors' work had to be done. Navigation skills are also a learning process for Chen Shouxu, which comes from a discussion between Captain Grover and the two of them about the route.

All this casts a layer of mystery over Chen Shouxu.

Seeing Chase (the sailors are all referred to as Chief Charter) gone, "Mr. East. Several 11- and 2-year-olds gathered around, "What are we going to learn today?" ”

It was only when he was with these children that he felt a real sense of ease. Don't be surprised that there are children on board, in England it is very common to be a sailor at the age of 12, and the legendary Sir Drake was already a captain at the age of 17.

This is the greatest Age of Discovery in human history. Everyone is hungry for wealth, everyone is absorbing everything that works for them, and the fast pace of life is changing the world. The story of a penniless poor boy who made his fortune in the East Indies or the New World inspires everyone, maybe today you are a ragtag sailor, tomorrow you can be a captain of a ship, or even a governor of a colony.

"Parker, today we're going to continue to learn plane geometry." Chen Shouxu said with a smile.

The textbook was exchanged by him for half a month's supply of beer from Stirling.

The mystique didn't help him much for a long time in this world, and from his father, he learned that only exchange should be an eternal theme.

At the stern, Captain Grover and the Navigator walked side by side to the aft deck and gave the helmsman a military salute, while the captain raised his monoculars to observe the course ahead.

"Captain, can our Mr. Oriental really bring a new route to the East Indies?" ”

Grover leaned on the helm and removed the pipe from his mouth, "Only God can direct a new course, Mr. Charter." ”

1. At this time there was no Royal Navy, RoyalNavy.