Doomsday Drifting Begins with Shipbuilding

Chapter 17 Trying to Control the Sail
Chen Xuan was lying on the bed at the moment, with one arm resting on his head, and the light in his eyes flickered, as if he was thinking about something.

He is thinking about sailing related issues.

Whether he can reach the Times Building, he himself is not sure about this matter.

After all, as far as the eye can see, there is only the endless sea.

Without any reference, he simply cannot guarantee that the navigation route is always correct.

A small difference, a thousand miles lost.

It would be nice to have a compass, but unfortunately there is no "magnet".

In addition, the factor of wind direction must also be considered.

With the wind down, the force of the wind would propel the raft, accelerating it in the direction he wanted it to go.

Once the wind blows from the side or even against the wind, it will have a huge impact on both the sailing speed and the sailing direction.

When encountering such a situation, it must not be solved by just relying on him to put away the sail and row the oars desperately.

Sailing on the sea mainly relies on wind power rather than human power.

Previously, since there had been no strong sea breeze and there was no clear goal, he didn't have to think about this issue.

But knowing that the doomsday is coming and most of the world is basically submerged in water, it is very likely that he will need to go through a long voyage now and even in the future

Learning how to control a sail has become a necessity.

Chen Xuan remembered that he had watched a documentary about sailing on the Science and Education Channel before, which introduced the principle of how sails propel sailing.

However, because the time was too long, and because he was not very interested at the time, he didn't look at it too seriously, and he couldn't think clearly about the details for a while.

Who would have thought that one day this knowledge would really be needed.

Chen Xuan rubbed his temples with both hands, slowly awakening the memory in the corner of his sleeping mind.

Perhaps it was because of his excellent memory, after a while, the general content was actually recalled by him.

According to the documentary, the sail can rely on two forces to propel the sailboat to sail.

One is dynamic pressure and the other is static pressure.

Dynamic pressure is the force formed by the wind force on the sail when the wind is downwind. This is relatively obvious and easy to control.

And static pressure is much more magical.

It enables the sailboat to gain forward propulsion even in the case of headwind and crosswind.

To do this, simply orient the sail so that it is nearly perpendicular to the direction of the wind, but not quite.

Through the principle of air pressure difference, a thrust to one side of the sail can be formed.

And, by sailing this way, it is even possible to go faster than with a tailwind.

However, the wind direction at sea is changeable, and the angle position is also very important.

This requires a certain skill.

But as long as you know the general principle, the rest can be explored by yourself.

For him who has been teaching himself handcrafts all year round, this is not difficult.

Now it is tailwind, and when the wind direction changes, he can start practicing.

While waiting, Chen Xuan conveniently made a small arrow with a wooden board and fixed it on the raft with a wooden stick, forming a weathervane.

In this way, the wind direction can be accurately determined.

The wind vane has optimized a durable feature, which is relatively general.

After a while, the wind direction finally changed.

Chen Xuan began to try to control the sail to make the raft head north, which is also the direction to the Times Building.

According to the law of the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, it is easy to determine the correct direction.

He intends to take the TV Tower as the center point and sail back and forth to test the effect of controlling the sail and whether it is maintained on the sailing route he wants.

In order to prevent a person who accidentally deviates from the course and cannot find his way back, he did not untie the telescopic rope connecting the mast and the TV tower.

The retractable rope can be extended all the time, so it will not affect the navigation, and it can return to the limit.

And this can be regarded as an insurance measure. If you deviate from the channel, you can quickly know it through the feedback traction on the retractable rope.

However, not long after the raft sailed out, Chen Xuan felt that something was wrong, and when he turned his head to look back, the TV tower was no longer in the due west, obviously the raft deviated from the waterway.

The results of the first practice were disastrous. He could hardly keep the sail and the wind at the right angle, and naturally there was no static pressure.

After summing up the lesson this time, Chen Xuan gained some understanding, and soon began to practice for the second time.

This time it was a little better, but it didn't reach the limit of the stretch rope.

In the third practice, Chen Xuan finally maintained the correct route and reached the limit of the retractable rope, but deviated from the route during the return process.

the fourth time…

the fifth time…

...

As time passed, half a day had passed since Chen Xuan had just started practicing sailing, and it was already evening.

The setting sun was like blood, and the shining sea was crimson.

After several attempts, Chen Xuan finally mastered the knack of sailing and got a glimpse of the way.

Now he can basically keep the general direction of the raft under most of the different winds.

In the face of uncontrollable situations, he can first choose to sail and stop the ship.

With the increase of sailing time, he is confident that he can completely control the sail in all conditions in the future.

After all, his current physique is not what it used to be.

The night gradually shrouded.

Chen Xuan went back to the newly built nest. He decided to go to bed early today and set off early tomorrow.

The night passed by, and the newly built nest made him sleep very soundly.

In the early morning of the next day, Chen Xuan finally counted the supplies again.

It's time to set sail.

But before hitting the road, there are a few more things to do.

Chen Xuan looked at the coconut and instant noodles in the arbor, with a trace of hesitation in his eyes.

But in the end, he still took out three coconuts, wrapped them in newly made fishing nets, and wrapped them tightly around the top of the TV tower.

This is not to say that he was self-denying.

Chen Xuan has his own considerations.

With the fresh water collector, water resources are not so scarce, and this coconut juice is just a change of taste for him now.

Moreover, this coconut is really too big and takes up a bit of space.

The small fishing net can't fit, and you have to worry about falling into the sea at any time.

It's better to leave some here and wait for someone who is destined.

Looking at the spire of the TV tower exposed on the water, Chen Xuan felt a little emotional.

I came here by accident by a giant tuna, found food, and discovered the reality of the end.

In the future, there may also be a person who encounters an existential crisis who happens to come here, and these things are the straws that can save him.

As if he remembered something, Chen Xuan made another linen cloth, and then turned out a thin wooden stick.

Then process the tip of the stick with flame to turn it into charcoal, so that the small wooden stick becomes a "pen" that can write charcoal black characters.

He took a wooden stick and wrote on the sackcloth: "I am Chen Xuan. For those who read this passage, I want to tell you, never give up hope."

Then stuff the sackcloth into the fishing net together.

Finally, Chen Xuan stopped and stared in the direction of the tall buildings under the water, as if he was recalling the past, his expression was full of nostalgia.

After a while, he untied the rope that had been connecting the mast and the TV tower, raised the sails, swung the oars, and slowly left this place.

The shadows of former buildings and previously unknown creatures stand quietly on the bottom of the sea.

If no one goes deep, they will never appear in the human field of vision again.

(End of this chapter)