Archers and Crusaders: Historical fiction: Novel of Medieval Warfare by Marines, Navy sailors, and Templar knights in the Middle Ages during England's ... (The English Archers Saga Book 6) by Martin Archer Page B
Authors: Martin Archer
Tags: Historical fiction
Ads: Link
handed us - and sipping bowls of the ale that somehow came aboard before our sudden departure from Pula.
In a few minutes lighters and small boats will arrive and we’ll start taking on the supplies and water we ordered yesterday from the merchants who hailed us. While we wait we amuse ourselves by watching the efforts of a Venetian cargo cog as it tries to work its way into the dock space we hurriedly vacated yesterday when the mob arrived.
The cog came into the harbor under tow a couple of hour ago at daybreak and anchored off the dock just south of where we spent the night waiting for word from Cardinal Bertoli.
“Can you pull forward so the cog can come in and tie up” is the hail in Italian from one of the dockworkers.
I translate the request and Jeffrey nods and lifts his hand in agreement. A few minutes later we raise our two anchors and row a bit further out and towards the north and re-drop them.
“That should give them enough room,” Jeffrey mutters to no one in particular as two lighters appear our port side and throw lines up to our sailors. They’re the first of the half dozen or so that will tie on to us and begin unloading the water and supplies we ordered from the merchants yesterday.
A few minutes later we are surrounded by lighters and some of our sailors and Marines are on them handing up bleeting sheep and strings of squawking chickens with their legs tied together. Others are filling water skins from a big tub in the middle of a lighter and handing them up to our deck so our men can fill our water barrels.
Jeffrey walks back from supervising the unloading of the lighters. We stand together on our galley’s deck for a moment and watch the cog trying to dock. Jeffrey’s finished making sure his sergeants know where he wants the supplies stacked and stored and there really isn’t much else for him to do except watch until the lighters finish making their deliveries.
The cog’s captain is obviously in a hurry. As soon as we agreed to move out of the way a couple of small boats were launched from his ship to tow it towards the dock. We’re already attached to the lighters and loading supplies by the time the cog gets close enough for the sailors in the small boats to throw lines to the dock so the dockworkers can pull it into place against the dock and it can begin taking on cargo.
That’s cog’s plan and it works, but only partially.
Lines are thrown to the dock and a gang of dockworkers begins to haul in the cog. They get its bow almost to the dock. But somehow the line attached to the stern of the cog gets fouled or loose before the dockworkers can finish pulling the stern of the cog up against the dock and tying it into place – and then the wind changes and picks up.
We watch and listen in utter fascination as the stern of cog slowly and inexorably floats further and further out from the dock and begins swinging in a big circle around the cog’s bow which is tied to the dock. That wouldn’t be too much of a problem except that there is another cog lashed to the dock and taking on cargo in the next space in front of it. If the stern of the arriving cog is blown all the way around it’s almost certainly going to hit the stern of the ship loading cargo in the next dock space.
There is immediately much alarmed shouting and commotion aboard both the cog attempting to dock and the cog loading cargo in the next dock space. A new line is obviously being attached to the bow of the docking cog and we watch as running sailors haul it to the bow of the cog so they can throw it on to the dock. Too late. The stern of the docking cog has already swung so far around that pulling on it now will cause the stern to hit the loading cargo ship even harder.
Sailors with poles
In a few minutes lighters and small boats will arrive and we’ll start taking on the supplies and water we ordered yesterday from the merchants who hailed us. While we wait we amuse ourselves by watching the efforts of a Venetian cargo cog as it tries to work its way into the dock space we hurriedly vacated yesterday when the mob arrived.
The cog came into the harbor under tow a couple of hour ago at daybreak and anchored off the dock just south of where we spent the night waiting for word from Cardinal Bertoli.
“Can you pull forward so the cog can come in and tie up” is the hail in Italian from one of the dockworkers.
I translate the request and Jeffrey nods and lifts his hand in agreement. A few minutes later we raise our two anchors and row a bit further out and towards the north and re-drop them.
“That should give them enough room,” Jeffrey mutters to no one in particular as two lighters appear our port side and throw lines up to our sailors. They’re the first of the half dozen or so that will tie on to us and begin unloading the water and supplies we ordered from the merchants yesterday.
A few minutes later we are surrounded by lighters and some of our sailors and Marines are on them handing up bleeting sheep and strings of squawking chickens with their legs tied together. Others are filling water skins from a big tub in the middle of a lighter and handing them up to our deck so our men can fill our water barrels.
Jeffrey walks back from supervising the unloading of the lighters. We stand together on our galley’s deck for a moment and watch the cog trying to dock. Jeffrey’s finished making sure his sergeants know where he wants the supplies stacked and stored and there really isn’t much else for him to do except watch until the lighters finish making their deliveries.
The cog’s captain is obviously in a hurry. As soon as we agreed to move out of the way a couple of small boats were launched from his ship to tow it towards the dock. We’re already attached to the lighters and loading supplies by the time the cog gets close enough for the sailors in the small boats to throw lines to the dock so the dockworkers can pull it into place against the dock and it can begin taking on cargo.
That’s cog’s plan and it works, but only partially.
Lines are thrown to the dock and a gang of dockworkers begins to haul in the cog. They get its bow almost to the dock. But somehow the line attached to the stern of the cog gets fouled or loose before the dockworkers can finish pulling the stern of the cog up against the dock and tying it into place – and then the wind changes and picks up.
We watch and listen in utter fascination as the stern of cog slowly and inexorably floats further and further out from the dock and begins swinging in a big circle around the cog’s bow which is tied to the dock. That wouldn’t be too much of a problem except that there is another cog lashed to the dock and taking on cargo in the next space in front of it. If the stern of the arriving cog is blown all the way around it’s almost certainly going to hit the stern of the ship loading cargo in the next dock space.
There is immediately much alarmed shouting and commotion aboard both the cog attempting to dock and the cog loading cargo in the next dock space. A new line is obviously being attached to the bow of the docking cog and we watch as running sailors haul it to the bow of the cog so they can throw it on to the dock. Too late. The stern of the docking cog has already swung so far around that pulling on it now will cause the stern to hit the loading cargo ship even harder.
Sailors with poles
Similar Books
