Sailing into boiling water

[Quasqueton]

What would happen to a ship and crew that sailed into a sea heated to boiling? Can a crew protected itself from the rising steam? What happens to wood (ship) in boiling water? (I don't necessarily need scientific precision, here.)

Quasqueton

 

[Ry]

Well, the crew would be taking damage from the heat of the steam for sure. And I'm not sure the air over such a sea would be breathable.

 

[Bayushi Seikuro]

In my nonscientific opinion, I would say that the wood of the ship would begin to warp, at bare minimum. I guess I figure it's the extreme version of what humidity will do to doors in old houses.

As far as the breathability of the air, I agree that the crew would begin to take damage from the superheated oxygen. It'd be wet, hot, and hard to breathe. Depending on how close they were to the exposed, boiling sea, the insides of their lungs would begin to scald, I would think, and they might have to see if they're affected by some semblence of heat stroke.

Now, in game terms, I'm not sure how it'd play out, but I'd categorize it as a Very Bad Situation. Fortitude saves to halve damage, fortitude saves to remain concious; I'd reckon the ship's joints and seams would begin to crack and swell.

Just some thoughts.

 

[Doug McCrae]

This is a totally ignorant non-scientific opinion:

In addition to the points made above, metal parts on the ship would heat up and warp due to expansion. The vessel would spring leaks due to this and the warping wood. Massive bubbles rising from below and turbulence would possibly cause a capsize.

 

[Sound of Azure]

Well, the crew would be taking damage from the heat of the steam for sure. And I'm not sure the air over such a sea would be breathable.

Yeah, but think of clear the crew's pores would be!

<---- Works in a kitchen

 

[painandgreed]

If it was a rolling boil, it would also be possible for the water to unable to support the ship anymore and it would sink. There have been cases of gas released from the ocean floor lowering the density of the water to the point that a ship will swamp.

 

[Cathix]

In older shipmaking methods, wood is heated with steam to make it soft enough to bend. I'd guess there'd be a small amount of time to get out of that boiling water before the ship lost its structural integrity.

 

[Felix]

I think that the danger should be more to the crew than to the ship; though the ship might warp and take on water eventually, I would think that to make it a survivable situation, place the immediate danger on the crew: Fortitude saves as if in a hot environment, low visibility. Without magical assistance the crew will die, but they'll do so long before the ship takes much damage. Eventually the pitch and oil sealing the wood of the hull would melt and the ship would take on water. The sails and any other cloth would become saturated with water and not catch the wind as well as would otherwise.

I'd also say that the wind would be fairly strong; if all that hot air is rising, that's going to displace a lot of cold air, so you'd see wind somewhere. Hurricanes would be common around the area of boiling seas.

 

[WayneLigon]

Aren't most ships in the time periods most people use waterproofed only with pitch? I think the pitch would melt and the ship would sink long before any other effects took place.

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

Aren't most ships in the time periods most people use waterproofed only with pitch? I think the pitch would melt and the ship would sink long before any other effects took place.

He wins the prize!

Pitch was what sealed the seams of those old wooden ships, and in boiling water it would quickly lose consistency and allow water in. The ship would sink and do so rather quickly even if it wasn't a rolling boil just a steaming boil.