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So, I live on a steel boat. It’s pretty cushy for the most part because it has a permanent mooring on a canal (so no currents and no tides), but guys, there are things to consider when you write your Zuko’s crew fics.
In no particular order, bearing in mind that I am not an engineer:
Steel + water = rust; steel + salt water = super fast rust.
Boats like mine are traditionally lifted from the water or put in dry dock to be painted with bitumen every 2 years to prevent that. And that’s with fresh water and only the occasonal bump against another boat to worry about.
Anywhere water pools on the deck can have a rust issue (we don’t see any drainage holes on that deck with its solid walls. Let’s pretend they exist.) Anywhere that can get hit with salt spray can have a rust issue
The deepest pitting (rust pockets) will be around the waterline, places that get both water and oxygen. If one of those gets deep enough it can actually rust through and you are in a world of hurt.
Coal smoke is acidic. That’s also not great for steel.
Chimneys are another place that rust through pretty quickly, which can put you in a world of hurt because smoke kills, and so does carbon monoxide.
The second deepest pitting on a boat is generally found on the steel close to the chimney.
If water (rain or salt spray) can get in your chimney you’ve just accelerated that process.
Talking of coal fires…
Anywhere you’ve got a source of fire you’ve got problems if it isn’t well ventilated. Where is the boiler room? Does it have windows? Does it have vents in the door? How do they control air flow to the coal (and hence the temperature of the resulting fire)?
Where you have coal you have ash. Leave ash sitting too long and it will choke your fire. Leave hot ash in a confined space and you have another carbon monoxide problem.
They’re probably having to chuck ash into the ocean like, every day.
Historically there have been chemical carbon monoxide detectors, which is one possible way you might stop your entire crew dying of a deadly undetectable gas – if Zuko has access to it.
Let’s also talk propulsion
The engine is typically the heaviest part of your boat or ship. It’s normally positioned closer to the stern, which as a result will sit lower in the water than the prow.
Fire nation ships use propellors, which we know because Hakoda’s stink & sinks targeted them. Where the prop shaft exits the ship is another point where water can get in. There’s a thing called a stern gland which prevents this by forcing grease into the area where the prop shaft comes through the hull. This minimises the amount of water that can get in.
Minimum water is still not no water though! There will be a wall to contain water that gets in like this, and modern boats have a bilge pump next to the prop shaft to get rid of it.
This is another point particuarly at risk from rust! Break out the paint again.
If the bilge pump breaks and doesn’t get fixed you quickly have big problems (a neighbour actually sank because of this).
Dark paint + steel + sunlight = surfaces too hot to touch.
Also, interior temperatures that are way, way too hot for comfort.
However, the temperature drops rapidly below the waterline. I spend six months of the year wearing thick woolly socks and legwarmers and the other six months wanting to lie on the floor all the time. And I only have a 2 foot draft.
Cold water + hot boat interior = condensation, which represents guess what? – another rust risk!
Talking of bitumen paint? That stuff gives off fumes that stink and aren’t great for human health.
More to follow when I think of it and have time. I’d love to hear from actual ocean goers on this one because that’s the side of things I know absolute zip about.