"In a civilized country like where I come from," said Eustace, "the ships are so big that when you're inside, you wouldn't know you were at sea at all."

"In that case, you might just as well stay ashore," said Caspian.

It is the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and as in all great voyages, the ship herself is a character.

I'd like to hear what others thought of the Dawn Treader.

Here's a few of my own thots:

I've trained horses, a couple of sled dogs, kayaked, and mainly been a landlubber. I have, however had the honor to sail aboard a few local (Chesapeake Bay, USA) vessels (historic reproductions); a Viking Longship and a few colonial era vessels. I thought the film version of Dawn Treader was a nifty takeoff from Pauline Barnes' illustrations in the books (seen at the end of the fillm). Loved the colors, the carvings.

One thing I noted: the headroom below (rather like the reproduction HMS Bounty, which I have been on) was rather high (Bounty was built that way to accomodate large the cameras of the time the film was being made). For a more realistic sense of the headroom belowdecks on a ship of that type, check out Master and Commander: Far Side of the World.

Second thing: there are basically two types of sailing rig: square or fore and aft. Fore and aft is what you think of when you picture a "sailboat", more or less triangular sails which lie, like fins, from the front part of the ship to the aft part. Square rigged vessels have more or less squarish sails which lie across the ship. DT is a square-rigger (rather like a Viking ship). Both kinds of sails can be moved; a "fore and aft" rig can be swung out to the sides (wing and wing)...a "square rig" can be cranked around to lie along the centerline of the ship (if the wind is coming from the side of the ship). Every time we see Dawn Treader, she is running downwind with her sail square across the deck and billowing. She would certainly be sailing on some other points of sail; in sailing, the fastest way between two points is definitely not a straight line.

http://www.swordwhale.com/journeys.html
About halfway down this page you'll see our Viking longship with her sail hauled around to starboard, sailing on a reach.

Third thing: the wheel wasn't invented...at least for steering ships... until sometime in the American colonial period. (those ships in Pirates shouldn't have had wheels either) Tillers attached to the rudder (or tiller attached to steerboard on a Viking ship) were the norm, even for fairly large vessels. The wheel went through a few stages of development, and Dawn Treader's seems to be one of the earlier ones (there were double wheels, again, look at Master and Commander), and is really plausible. Since it is, of course, Narnia, we can expect that their history, and some of their technology, is different from our own history.

All in all, a very pleasing design. I nearly cried when she got busted up at the end...they should have included a scene of her getting repaired!

If you're near Delaware, USA, come visit our own "Narnian" ship. (pics on this page).
http://www.swordwhale.com/random-shots- ... e-bow.html