Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 29: Sailing

Views:

Old Sonny's single-sail fishing boat also has a name, called Swordfish, which means as fast as an arrow and as nimble as a fish in the water. It's just that there are too many such fishing boats in Bailu Town, and no one will remember the names of these fishing boats. Even when registering residents' private property taxes at the town office, it was also recorded that there was a single-sail fishing boat belonging to old Sonny's family.

There are three cabins under the deck of the fishing boat, and you need to lift the covers when going down. The two cabins at the front are one large and the other is large. There is a single wooden bed in the larger cabin, which is used for the crew to take turns to rest when fishing at night on the water. The cabin is used for storage, such as charcoal, firewood, pots, bowls, buckets, etc. Sometimes you can cook directly on the water.

The last cabin is the live cabin, which is also the largest of the three cabins. The function of this cabin is to store water and raise fish. There is a trap in the bottom cabin, which can be opened to let lake water into the cabin. As long as all the fish caught are put in this cabin, even if the fishing lasts for two days and three nights, the fish in the cabin will not die. still remain viable and fresh.

Lake Beringa is very large. It is said to be a hundred miles long and a dozen or nearly twenty miles wide. One end is connected to the sea and the other end is connected to the Kermida Swamp. To be precise, Lake Beringa should be the intersection of the freshwater river and the sea. However, the terrain is gentle and broad, making it a deep-water strait lake near the sea.

Therefore, the water of Lake Beringa is also very strange. The one third near the Kermida Swamp is fresh water, the one third of the waterway connecting to the sea is sea water, and the one third of the lake in Bailu Town in the middle is It's a little cloudy and tastes salty.

It is precisely because of this unique geographical environment that the catch produced in Lake Beringa is unique, and even when made into dried food, it is particularly delicious. For example, most of the long-tailed swordfish from Lake Beringa is made into dried fish and sent to the royal capital as a tribute to the Sterling royal family every year. There is no other way. The long-tailed saury cannot survive three hours out of the water, so it can only be made into dried fish.

"The Swordfish is about to set off," Erikson shouted seriously as he held the wheel at the ship's helm.

Verricro untied the cable from the pillar of the pier, and Claude pulled the hemp rope on the mast pulley to raise the tattered sail that had been repaired countless times. Bockaar took the boat pole and pointed it at the stone wall of the pier. The fishing boat swayed away from the pier and slowly floated towards the lake.

Bockaar stood at the bow of the boat, stretched out the middle finger of his right hand and licked it on his tongue, dipped some saliva in it and stretched it into the air. After a while, he turned to Erikson and shouted: "There is no wind, why raise the sail?"

"It's okay to raise it first. The wind will pick up if you get further away from the shore." Ericson pointed at Claude and Viricolo: "Don't be lazy, you two. Hurry up and set up the oars and paddle faster. It's so slow. It’s already midnight when we wait.”

Claude had no choice but to place the wooden oar on the deck on the side of the boat, and he and Verricro started rowing on the left and right.

After paddling for more than ten minutes, we were already a hundred meters away from the shore. Only then did we feel the breeze blowing across the lake. Erikson said happily: "That's it. Adjust the sails and pay attention to the wind direction. You two don't need to row anymore."

Together with Vericro, he took back the two wooden oars and put them under the side of the boat. Claude sat down on the deck, rubbed his shoulders and complained: "I'm so tired."

"You lack exercise. Look at Vero, he is fine." Erikson replied.

Bokoal fixed the sail with ropes on the deck in the direction of the wind, and then asked: "At our current speed, how long will it take to reach the scheduled landing point?"

Erikson pretended to look at the extent of the wind on the sail: "It may take two to three hours. The wind is not strong, the sail is not under full force, and the speed of the ship cannot be that fast."

"Why do we have to land on the other side of the waterway opposite the stone sentry post? If we cross Lake Beringa directly from here, isn't it at the foot of the Bailuzhou mountain? We can land anywhere. If the boat is fast, it may not be necessary. An hour," Bock'ar complained.

Erikson smiled and shook his head: "Boa, you are not a fisherman or a sailor. Everyone who has made a living on Lake Beringa knows that the shore between the foot of Bailuzhou and Lake Beringa is It is basically a swamp, and the boat cannot dock. It looks like it is covered with water plants and shrubs, but once a person steps on it, at least half of his body will sink into it, making it impossible to move.