Your ship

Every captain owns one ship, and every ship starts the same way: a forty-four meter deep-sea trawler, patched and rebuilt from whatever the yards could spare. What she becomes is up to you.

The wheelhouse sits up at the bow, two decks above the main deck, with radar and antennas on its roof. Behind it, the open working deck runs back toward the stern, with room for cargo, a crane and a small tender. Down the stairs from the deckhouse you'll find the engine room, the storage hold, the galley and mess, four little crew cabins and, right up in the bow, the captain's cabin. You can walk all of it while she's under way, and so can your friends.

At the helm

Take the wheel and she'll answer, though not quickly. The rudder needs speed to bite, so at full ahead she turns in a wide, stately circle, and in harbor you'll lean on the bow thruster to swing her around in her own length. If you'd rather not, open the chart, mark a harbor and let the autopilot take over. It follows the sea lanes, slows for rocks, shallows and other ships, and when you arrive it eases her into a free berth bow-out, ready for the next trip, with the gangway already out.

The autopilot doesn't save fuel, though, and it doesn't stop the engine wearing. Wherever you are, the sea is keeping score.

Keeping her running

Her tanks burn diesel in step with the throttle, so a hard run at full ahead costs far more than an easy cruise, and you can watch the gauge fall alongside your Credits, her engine and her hull. Fuel is one of the five goods the islands trade, and any trader will fill her tanks from what you've got. Run them dry in open water and she'll drift quietly to a stop, which is a lonely feeling on a dark night.

Every hour at sea wears the engine down, and rough water, scrapes and groundings take their toll on the hull. A tired ship is a slow ship. You can patch her up well enough at sea to limp home, but for a proper overhaul you'll want a shipyard. And if she's stuck fast or out of fuel with nobody coming, you can always pay for a tow home, as long as you don't mind the bill.

Making her yours

Upgrades are fitted at a shipyard, paid for in Credits and in goods from your hold. The harbor shipyard in Port Hallam works for anyone, and Breakwater Salvage's yard does the same work cheaper for its own members. Every upgrade bolts onto a fixed point on the hull, so the layout you know never changes, but you'll see the difference from a long way off.

A stronger engine makes her faster. Bigger tanks let her run harder for longer. Armor plate along the sides steadies her and takes the knocks. Deck cargo, then a whole container, fills out the hold. Better navigation shows salvage on the map around you, a salvage crane lifts extra finds aboard, a tender lets you trade from further off, and extra bunks make room for more hands. For captains who've met one raider too many, the yard will also fit a deck gun on the forecastle, and later a shield and better sights for it.

Then there's the paint. Give her hull a new color at the helm, register a new name by radio, and it's painted on both sides of the bow for everyone in the harbor to read. You can make any free berth her home, too: at a crew's dock you'll need to be a member or well liked there, but once she's settled that's where she'll wait for you and where the tow will bring her.

Her crew

You won't sail alone, and your hands aren't passengers. The helmsman holds her steady; without one she'll only make a little over half her cruising speed. The engineer saves fuel and engine wear, and is the one who runs for the extinguisher when the engine room catches fire. The deckhand patches the hull a little at a time from the Materials in the hold. They have their own stations and routines, and you'll find them drifting between the wheelhouse, the engine room and the galley as the day goes on.

The crews' contacts and the harbor clerk can find you more: a lookout to spot raiders before they spot you, a guard to stand at the rail, a medic to see to you between ports. Everyone aboard eats, though. Each hand takes a Food from the hold every half hour, and one who misses three meals in a row will pack a bag and walk off at the next quay.

Trouble at sea

Not everyone out on the water is honest. Raider boats work the empty stretches between the islands, and a slow, heavy trawler is exactly what they're hoping to meet. They'll come alongside and open fire, and if you don't drive them off they'll help themselves to part of your hold before roaring away. You can't fight back from behind the wheelhouse glass, so it means stepping out onto the open deck with your pistol, or manning the deck gun if you've had one fitted. A few hits on a raider boat's outboard and it gives up and limps away. If nobody is at the gun, a guard among your hands will take it, though not as well as you would. The Administration pays a bounty for raiders brought down and boats driven off, which some captains treat as a living and most treat as a consolation.

The gun is a weapon like any other, and the law treats it that way. Firing on someone who isn't wanted is assault, firing on another captain's ship is a crime, and firing anywhere near the Administration's guards is a good way to meet them.

When you log off

When you leave the game, she ties up safely at her berth with her crew and cargo aboard, and nobody can board her, raid her or take her while you're away. When you come back, she's waiting where you left her. Logging off won't get you out of trouble, though: if the Administration had already called on you to stop, you'll find yourself in the lockup when you return.