Civilization101Blueprint

On water

Floating, boats and finding your way, then canals and locks, ships, submarines and modern shipping.

Transport Levels 1–7 7 steps written
1
Level 1 · Foothold · 1 of 6 in this track

Boats and safe water travel

Unlocks Plank boats, oars and sailCanals and locks
2
Level 2 · Forge · 2 of 6 in this track

Plank boats, oars and sail

t2-plank-boats GuideBuildSheet ×8

Plank boats, oars and sail

Build boats of planks that carry a family and its goods, row them with oars sized by rule, and add a sail only to a boat that passes the stability test.

Needs first: Boats and safe water travel, Woodworking and the first machines (Tools), Blacksmithing (Tools)

Unlocks Seagoing sailing ships
3
Level 3 · Mill · 3 of 6 in this track

Canals and locks · Seagoing sailing ships

Unlocks Steam, iron hulls and the load line
4
Level 4 · Engine · 4 of 6 in this track

Steam, iron hulls and the load line

Unlocks Submarines and submersiblesModern ships and small craft
5
Level 5 · Current · 5 of 6 in this track

Submarines and submersibles

7
Level 7 · Frontier · 6 of 6 in this track

Modern ships and small craft

t7-shipping Guide ×2Sheet ×11

Modern ships and small craft

Move the world's goods by sea safely and with falling emissions, and build and equip small boats to the standards that keep their crews alive.

Needs first: Steam, iron hulls and the load line, Internal combustion and mobility, Radio (Computing), Polymers (Materials)

  • Guide Boats and water travel, Astronomy
  • Build none yet
  • Sheets 11 reference sheets on the step and its guides
  • Read FAO agricultural documents; Wikipedia, offline (Kiwix ZIM)

Everything in this track

Every guide, build, reference sheet and book reached from the steps above.

Field guides

Level 2
Navigation and the sky

North is written in the sky twice a day and all night. Latitude is one angle measured at noon. Everything else is counting paces and not lying to yourself about the count.

 Level 1
Boats and water travel

Which boat to build from what you have, how much it carries before it swamps, what keeps it upright, and the rules that keep its crew alive: from a log raft to a fibreglass skiff.

 Level 3
Engineering

Turning the sciences into things that work: machines, structures, water in pipes and channels, heat through walls, and feedback control. Each result with what it lets you do and who first found it.

 Level 3
Astronomy

The sky as calendar, clock and compass, then orbits, distances and the universe: each result with what it lets you do and who first found it.

Builds

A bamboo raft on the Li River, China, 2012, from above: whole culms lashed side by side, the load in the middle.
Level 1
Log raft

Eight dry logs, six cross-poles and cord: a raft that carries 400 kg across or down calm water, rated by sum and proved by a load test.
Hollowing a dugout with fire (US National Park Service): a small fire burns along the log, and the charcoal is scraped out between burns.
Level 1
Dugout canoe with outrigger

One sound log, fire and an adze: a two-person canoe with walls 2.5 cm thick, and an outrigger float that keeps it upright on open water.
A round basket boat off the coast of Vietnam, 2019, worked by one person with a single paddle.
Level 1
Coracle

A one-person boat you carry on your back: a woven frame of split laths, a hide or cloth skin, and pitch, built in about two days.
A flat-bottomed dory hauled out above the water in Nova Scotia, 2016: flared plank sides on a narrow flat bottom.
Level 2
Flat-bottomed plank boat

FAO's 4.9 m flat-bottomed boat: straight planks, three frames, a bottom planked across and nailed to a thick lowest plank. The simplest planked boat there is, for four people on sheltered water.

Reference sheets

Drawn overview sheets, each with its corrections printed under it. They orient; they are never the thing you identify from.

Log, bamboo and mixed rafts: materials, cutting and sorting, laying the base with cross beams, square, diagonal and figure-eight lashings, deck and rails, checks, launching and use.
Build a simple raft On: Boats and safe water travel
Choosing and preparing the log, shaping the outside, hollowing, smoothing, the tools, side and section views, finishing, a paddle, launching and testing, and tips.
Dugout canoe construction On: Boats and safe water travel
Design, timber, tools and fasteners, seven stages from keel and frames to fittings, clinker, carvel, strip-plank and plywood hulls, sealing, fittings, safety checks, a finished 4.5 m example, and upkeep.
Building a wooden plank boat On: Plank boats, oars and sail
A cutaway of a submarine and its compartments, how it dives and surfaces, the ballast tanks, its key systems, the pressure hull and the pressure at each depth, military, research, rescue and tourist types, operating depths, and real examples.
Submarine: advanced underwater transport On: Submarines and submersibles
Twelve kinds of large vessel with typical capacity, length and speed: container ship, bulk carrier, tanker, LNG carrier, cruise ship, ferry, ro-ro, heavy-lift ship, offshore support vessel, research vessel, submarine and amphibious transport.
Advanced water transport and shipping On: Modern ships and small craft
Ten common boats, five traditional boats by region, five modern working boats, five special-purpose boats, a size comparison, which boat suits which need, and where each can go.
Types of boats and their uses On: Modern ships and small craft
A 3.6 × 1.4 m plywood rowboat for 2–3 people: design, materials and tools, stem, keel, ribs and stringers, planking, epoxy sealing and optional glass cloth, seats and oarlocks, finishing, launching and testing, and upkeep.
Build a simple wooden boat: a 3.6 m rowboat On: Modern ships and small craft
What a marine radar is and how it works, a display showing own ship, land, buoys and other ships, its uses at sea, the seven parts from scanner to power supply, X-band (9–10 GHz) against S-band (2.9–3.1 GHz), and a six-step home build.
Marine radar: detection, navigation and monitoring On: Modern ships and small craft
Select, design, build, test for floating, stability and load, operate and inspect: the kinds of boat and what each is made from, buoyancy and freeboard, stability, swamping, a plank-boat build, ways to move a boat, upkeep, safety limits and a checklist for before each trip.
Boats and water travel: the order of work On: Boats and water travel: At a glance: the order of work
Seventeen boats grouped by the water they suit (calm water, rivers, coast, open sea, special purpose and traditional), a comparison table of capacity, length, load, stability, speed and build difficulty, and the factors that decide a choice.
Boat types and use cases On: Boats and water travel: Choose the kind of boat
How a boat floats, the displacement equation W = ρ × V, a worked example for a 4.5 × 1.4 m skiff, freeboard, where to put the load, fresh against sea water, why adding up the lift is not enough, overloading, and a checklist.
Buoyancy, freeboard and load capacity On: Boats and water travel: How much it carries
Centre of gravity G, buoyancy B and metacentre M, three simple stability tests, freeboard and loading, safety equipment, weather and water, common hazards, an inspection checklist, maintenance and seasonal care.
Stability, safety, inspection and maintenance On: Boats and water travel: What keeps it upright
Departure and arrival checklists, launching and retrieving from a trailer, five anchor types and how to anchor, docking and mooring, route planning, charts and marks, camping from a boat, and emergency actions including man-overboard recovery.
Boat operation, docking, anchoring and water travel On: Boats and water travel: Wear a float, and if you go in
Paddle, sail, trolling motor, outboard, inboard and pedal drive; oars and rowing; sail types and points of sail; outboard and inboard parts; tiller, wheel and rudder; navigation tools, charts and marks; safe operation and a maintenance checklist.
Propulsion, steering and navigation On: Boats and water travel: Moving it
Paddle strokes, small-boat sailing and points of sail, eight knots for boats, anchoring and mooring, navigation and fixing your position, right of way under the collision rules, camping by water, and emergencies.
Water travel skills and survival On: Boats and water travel: Rules of the water

Books and archives

Other tracks in Transport

On landIn the air