A bad day to be at sea

Captains log. April 23rd
Today was not a good day to set sail.
Unbeknown to be me the helms man had got a little tipsy at our last port, don't ask me how he did it since I don't allow my men to drink if they want to be in my crew, but anyway he wasn't right in the head this morning.
And since he was tipsy we couldn't sail until a few friends of mine helped me get him straightened out. Did I mention that it has been raining since last night?
So we finally leave port and then it really begins to rain hard. My helmsman starts to not feel good. So we try to take it slow, I mean we really aren't that far from our destination. So there we are going slow when one of my crew notices that we are taking on water. We get out the bailing buckets because the rain is really coming down now.
I think that this just might be the worst day I have had in a long time when another one of my men speaks up. Sven, the scholar of my crew pulls out this contraption that looks kind of like a huge conch shell. He calls it an Archimedes Screw. He sets it up and then begins to turn a handle at the top. The rest of us are thinking that this is a complete waist of time, I mean he had it set up so that the water would have to go uphill when everyone knows that water can't do that.
So there we are being skeptical when suddenly water shoots out the top of it and in to the water.

Of course we are all amazed, and we ask him where he got one of those things. Three hours later we know all about this greek fellow named Archimedes and how he practically saved a city during a siege single handed. Pretty cool for a scholar eh?
Well we made it back to port safely, and I am thankful for that.
PS gotta see what my helmsman has been doing in his free time...

Before the war

Before the war of ninjas and pirates was even an idea in the heads of prideful people.
Vikings ruled the seas. And not just the sea. They struck like a hurricane, devastating the coastal cities and even sometimes spreading their reign of terror to cities further inland. With their longboats they could go up rivers and back again quicker then you could call out a warning.
Vikings are dangerous.
Welcome to my ship. The land is in sight, so get ready to raid.