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Post by Axcel on Mar 26, 2012 3:08:25 GMT -5
It was good to know Bastion had the insight to know that the cannons were low priority and able to acknowledge the bamboo’s usefulness. “The stalks of bamboo is probably the most versatile thing we’ll find here—but there isn’t a lot, so we’ll need to make sure we make the most of the few we have.” Axcel wasn’t actually sure how to optimally use the bamboo stalk. He assumed it would serve as a frame of some sort, but he wasn’t sure if there was enough to do that.
“No, it wouldn’t be strong enough to hold underneath water, but if we need a mast or anything else that wouldn’t be necessarily supporting our weight or be underwater,” Axcel spoke as he crouched down and rummaged through some cabinets. It was full of empty glasses and plates, which Axcel just tossed behind him. The sound of breaking glass would repeat itself over and over until he eventually emptied the cabinet of all its contents. Afterwards he shuffled over to the next cabinet and repeated the process once more.
Bastion suggested gelatin to help hold the ship together, which was a more than viable idea. “Yep, we can use that. We can use the gelatin for a lot of stuff though, so we should try and use it sparingly depending on how much we have. . .” Axcel hadn’t actually seen any gelatin so he wasn’t sure how much they had to work with. Either way, they were beginning to make some progress.
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Post by HOTARU SATSUMA on Mar 26, 2012 15:52:31 GMT -5
Hotaru continued to bask in the sun, hearing the faint sound of voices followed by a cacophony of shattering porcelain and glass. The pirate captain couldn't help but giggle; the gravity of the ridiculousness was finally setting in. A boat made from food? It was a creative, elegant, and extremely difficult task to assign to even masters of their trade, let alone novices hoping to join a pirate crew. Still, she wanted only the best of the best aboard her vessel, and this was one way of weeding out anyone short of brilliant.
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Using gelatin as an adhesive is clever, however, unless it is either mixed with something else or refined further, it will be about as useful as a glue as jello is. As for the quantity, a whole barrel is tucked in the pantry, giving you enough to make a gelatin mold of an entire boat if you so chose. However, other options do exist for holding a vessel together, you just have to think outside the box. [/blockquote]
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Post by BASTION on Mar 26, 2012 16:01:50 GMT -5
I’d decided there was enough bamboo to make a general framework for the ship. We could use coconuts on the corners, where the bamboo came together, probably, leaving the rest as ammunition for the cannon I would most likely be building. Other than that, though, the design was very incomplete. And everything thus far had been raw food, uncooked, which was probably an issue in testing Axcel’s skills. So thinking and searching needed to continue.
From within the wreckage I heard the crashing and breaking of who-the-hell-knows-what, but didn’t care much. It wasn’t what we needed, anyways.
Can’t believe I’m actually doing this . . . I thought, scanning the coast line myself a bit more to be sure we didn’t miss anything. Most of the vegetation that remained was either inedible or useless in building a boat. Then a thought hit me.
“You know, Axcel, I think I heard something about using milk to make glue before . . .” I said, loud enough for Axcel to hear me. “I think it was milk, vinegar, and maybe baking soda?” I wasn’t sure. It was something I heard long ago, as a slave, and didn’t pay much attention at the time. After all, I didn’t really have a need for glue made out of food. Didn’t really think I ever would. “I wonder if that’s stronger than a gelatin based glue? At least, if we have enough of everything.”
Still, finding a strong adhesive only got us so far. There were a lot more things to think about. Like generating movement and constructing a solid floor that would hold our weight and withstand the salt water.
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Post by Axcel on Mar 27, 2012 2:26:29 GMT -5
Axcel scratched his chin at the notion of combining milk, vinegar, and baking soda in order to create a sort of glue that would hold their ship together. It made sense in theory, though Axcel wasn’t sure it would turn out exactly how they wanted. Despite being a cook, he was no chef by any means. He was still inexperienced in the art and his ambitions didn’t involve his ability to cook whatsoever. It was merely a skill he had picked up as he grew up. Basically, what that meant was that Bastion’s idea could work, but there was a lot of room for error on Axcel’s part.
“We can try it. If it works, then it’ll definitely be stronger than the gelatin,” he said while looking around the ship some more. “Then we can use the gelatin for something else. . .” Although he said that, Axcel wasn’t entirely sure what else they would use the gelatin for. It didn’t matter though, because considering the options they had he was certain that they would use it for something in the end.
Finding a bunch of pumpkins, Axcel picks up one and turns towards Bastion. “We can probably use these for something—they’re not very dense so they should float like coconuts, right?”
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Post by BASTION on Mar 27, 2012 2:56:34 GMT -5
Axcel was right, the gelatin would probably find a way into the design somewhere, considering its many uses. I’d deal with that when the time came, though. For now, I’d work with what the boat needed first, and move up from there. And, it seemed, what it needed most was a steady material to construct the base from, that would float, hold our weight, and withstand being submerged. That was a hefty list of requirements, especially considering our limited stock of construction materials.
I turned to Axcel to see him holding a pumpkin up and suggesting a possible use for it. The pumpkin would likely float, though I didn’t think we’d be able to make a base from it. If our framework was made from bamboo and coconuts, then I wasn’t sure where we’d use it, but it was definitely possible if the chance presented itself later.
“I think so. I think the most important piece to find right now is the base of the boat. If I make a framework out of bamboo, using coconuts or pumpkins to add extra buoyancy at the corners, then we’re left with the center piece that we will have to stand on. Something that can resist being submerged, hold our weight, and, preferably, will float.” I figured it was time for me to explain the basics of what I was thinking, so that we were on the same level. In the end, how Axcel planned to prepare the food didn’t really concern me unless it changed the properties of the items.
“We can fish if we need to, but I’m not sure how much that helps us . . .” I said, mostly thinking outloud. “I’m going to go check out this bamboo. Maybe there’s enough to make a steady base, if we use coconuts or pumpkins to line it . . .” The bamboo was on the far edge of the beach, and I made my way there to ascertain how much we had at our disposal. That left Axcel to continue rummaging through the cargo if he wanted, or whatever else he thought we needed to do to prepare.
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Post by Axcel on Mar 28, 2012 2:25:33 GMT -5
”If we’re using bamboo for our framework we can just use the pumpkins as our base. The boat might rock a bit, but it’ll get the job done.” He spoke, no longer searching the cargo for any other possible ingredients to use to make their ship. If the glue they intended to make was as strong as it seemed, then they could just cut the pumpkins and create a makeshift boat made out of patches from pumpkins. If they do that, then they could line the ship with coconuts.
“We could use the coconuts as a supporting measure to help the pumpkin boat, and even attach other ingredients to them to keep the weight even at both sides,” he spoke while continuing to think of other possible ideas. He wasn’t the shipwright here, but he was fairly confident when it came to knowing whether the ingredients would hold up or not. “If we empty the flour bags, we can easily make a sail to help us reach our destination faster than just paddling. . .”
“As for the peanut butter—we can keep it with us just in case our ship gets a hole, then we patch it up real quick.” [/blockquote]
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Post by HOTARU SATSUMA on Mar 28, 2012 11:41:55 GMT -5
Bamboo will work for the framework, however, constructing the base out of nothing but pumpkins could be risky. Unless they are stuck together tightly, it'll be difficult to walk around on your vessel. They also wont be able to create a water tight seal because of their odd shape. They will, however, float. This can also be said for the coconuts, since their spherical shape wont easily fit together with the pumpkins or other coconuts.
Your baking soda glue is a clever way to hold things together, however, if it spends time in the water it will quickly dissolve and fall apart. This makeshift paste could be used for other aspects of the boat, but you're better off working with the geletin or coming up with a brand new idea for how to hold the bottom of the boat together so the bindings do not fall apart while you're sailing.
As for the flour bags, you cant eat them so they cannot be used as a method of propulsion. Oops. Look around the cargo hold or on the beach for something that may be light enough to be used to catch the wind and push you out to sea!
As it stands, your non existent boat doesn't seem to stand much of a chance at floating lazily off of the beach, let alone sailing to an island out in open water. Maybe you should start construction soon and take a more active approach in deciding how to build your boat. As for the pieces you seem to be having trouble making, why not cook something? [/blockquote]
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Post by BASTION on Mar 29, 2012 1:56:53 GMT -5
There wasn’t much bamboo. Enough for a frame, but not much more. Meaning we had to find a substitute for the body of the vessel itself, which was exactly the problem I had been pondering earlier. Turning back to the wreckage, I managed to catch Axcel voicing an idea, and I took time to think it over before giving my thoughts.
“A patchwork body made of pumpkins sounds dangerously prone to leaking,” I said, scratching the back of my head with one hand and raising an eyebrow. “You need to cook something, don’t you? After all, this is supposed to test you, too.” Still unsure of how to proceed, I starting gathering every stalk of bamboo I could from the coastline. Even if we weren’t sure how to proceed exactly, the bamboo framework was a key component to the ship’s design, so I could start on that while we brainstormed.
“Bread floats, right?” I asked, now carrying as many bamboo stalks as I could, wobbling to the center of the beach. With a huff, I dropped them all and scuttled backwards, headed to retrieve the remaining stalks while still speaking my idea. “What if we baked some bread and covered the bottom with something like, uh . . .” I hadn’t fully formulated the idea, and was mostly just throwing it out there. “Caramel? Something to stop the water from dissolving the bread too easily.” Once I had all the bamboo in place, I had to consider which type of glue I’d need.
“We’re gonna need a fire, I think . . .”
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Post by Axcel on Mar 29, 2012 4:09:24 GMT -5
”I only need to cook if it that’s what it takes to get us that flag and back. Don’t lose sight of the goal here.” The purpose of the task didn’t matter to Axcel. Hotaru had required them to retrieve the flag in order to join the crew with a few restrictions and Axcel didn’t care about how they went about doing it so long as they were successful. If Hotaru only concern was Axcel’s ability to cook, then she would have tasked him with cooking several meals. Despite that, Axcel did acknowledge that patching a boat with pumpkins would probably sink.
Whenever Bastion suggested baking bread and layering it with caramel, Axcel wasn’t really sure what to think of it. It seemed like an okay idea, but there wasn’t really any guarantee. “Hm, I’m not really sure. Let’s just try it and see what happens.” Axcel said as he began to gather some firewood outside. Once he felt like he had enough, he would pile the firewood on top of one another then light a fire using a couple of rocks.
Once the fire was up and burning, Axcel went to grab whatever bread Bastion had intended to use and began to bake it. Whenever it was finished, he would give it to his teammate. Likewise, if anything else needed to be cooked, he would take care of that as well. [/blockquote]
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Post by HOTARU SATSUMA on Mar 30, 2012 18:57:27 GMT -5
Hotaru peered over her sunglasses. Finally, the two had started the construction. The bamboo framework was put into place, but you need to hold it together somehow. There are a few more small stalks on the shore which can be made into tethers, however, there are other items and plants that could be used as well.
Making the body of the boat / raft out of some baked good is a good idea, and covering it with something waterproof will surely up your chances to complete the voyage. However, deciding on the kind of bread is probably a decision left up to the cook.
You have a few good ideas, but you still need a sail, a mast, and some way to steer. Keep building! [/font]
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Post by BASTION on Mar 30, 2012 19:34:11 GMT -5
The construction had begun. Our framework was laid out, but I needed a way to place it together firmly. That was where our glue came in. I asked Axcel to prepare what I needed: gelatin and milk-based glues, bread, preferably a hard bread of sorts (perhaps baked twice, or something), some sort of water-proof seal for the bread, like caramel or chocolate. These things would be integral to the construction of our ship and the success of our mission. Once the base of the boat was done, then we could take our time to consider the materials to use for the rest of the ship.
With the fire Axcel made and the pots we retrieved from the ship, I expected he had the materials to prepare almost anything I needed. So I didn’t hesitate to ask if I needed anything. Most pressing was the gelatin-based glue and bread with waterproof seal.
Once I had the glue, I applied it generously to the bamboo where needed. Deciding that I wanted the extra support, I retrieved few coconuts as buoyant support at each corner of the ship and glued them on as well. While the glue itself dried, I could fill the framework with the bread, its waterproof side down. More than a few times I burned my hands on the freshly baked food, but managed to keep everything intact and ready to float. What worried me most was whether or not the boat would hold our combined weight.
Soon, the base of our vessel was complete. A bamboo framework with coconut supports, and a hard-baked bread base with a sugary water seal.
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Post by Axcel on Mar 31, 2012 1:22:20 GMT -5
Whenever Bastion had asked for the glues, Axcel got to work immediately. If they were going to build a ship, the glue would probably need to come first if they planned on putting all the separate ingredients together. Axcel started with the gelatin based glue. After going through the necessary steps, the boy managed to create the glue. There was a lot of it, but that alone probably wouldn’t be enough, which is why Bastion also asked for a milk based glue. Making that was a bit easier, as Axcel had worked with dairy products more so than gelatin.
By sheer force of will (and a bit of cooking), Axcel combined flour, water, salt, and some yeast in order to make dough. A lot of dough. So much dough that there was likely going to be an excess amount of dough after they had used what was needed. Axcel baked the dough into the bread needed to make the base of the ship.
As Bastion began building the ship, Axcel merely stirred two pots while watching. One pot was full of caramel whereas the other had chocolate inside. Whenever it was complete, Axcel would holler to the white haired male as he brought over the pots one at a time. There wasn’t much else for him to do other than help Bastion with some of the more mundane tasks. Most of his time was spent waiting, though.
“Alright, is this thing ready to sail?!” Axcel exclaimed, a bit excited at the sight of their edible boat.
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Post by HOTARU SATSUMA on Mar 31, 2012 2:01:52 GMT -5
Does it look ready to sail?
Hotaru thought sarcastically. They had spent so much time planning what to do it seemed they were burning out during the actual construction phase. Baking bread takes time, so you'll have to wait for it to finish. However, the glue seems to have been made successfully, and caramel (which she assumed was made by melting sugar, butter, and milk together in the same pot) and chocolate bubble on the hot fires.
The frame of the boat has come together easily, however, you still need some way to steer, a sail, and, if you still want them, weapons. Your work is cut out for you and the construction phase is barely under way. Will you run out of steam before you finish your boat? Or can a vessel made entirely from food actually be made? [/blockquote]
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Post by BASTION on Mar 31, 2012 2:48:07 GMT -5
Standing up, I gave a light sigh and looked to Axcel and then back to our makeshift ship. It was far from complete, but we were a lot closer. When he asked if it was ready to sail, I laughed for a good moment or two before bending down and investigating the design to make sure it was sturdy.
“I wish,” I said, checking most specifically at whether or not the glue would hold together well enough, and how sturdy the bread base was. “It needs a few more things. Mostly a way to steer and a way to move, which means either a mast, sail, rudder and wheel, or some paddles . . .” Stroking my chin, I looked back to the wreckage in thought. “A mast is obviously the better of the two choices under normal circumstances, but . . .” I trailed off, mentally sorting through our viable materials and their various uses.
“This is a small ship, and with our limited resources, paddles might be more realistic. We can use them both to propel and steer the ship.” I explained, hoping Axcel might have some ideas. "Anything large could be used as the head of a paddle, but a handle might be harder to construct out of food.”
Digging through the wreckage once again, I decided that pumpkins would make fine paddle heads. So, taking a single pumpkin, I’d toss it to Axcel and request that he cut it into two large pieces for use as heads of paddles while I pondered on what to use as handles. Then I remembered, the bamboo! I’d left a couple of stalks on the shore, and all I needed was a couple of strong stalks to use. With that in mind, I retrieved the remaining bamboo and fastened them using the gelatin-based glue to the makeshift paddleheads.
Realistically, we could set out if we wanted. But I had to make sure everything was in order. So as I checked over the ship, I decided to ask if Axcel had anything to add.
“I’m not sure we have the materials to make a cannon, aside from the creamer . . . any ideas for anything to add?”
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Post by Axcel on Mar 31, 2012 3:20:56 GMT -5
When Bastion threw the pumpkin at Axcel, he kept slapping the pumpkin back into the air as he attempted to catch it, taking a few moments before he finally held it in his hands. Grabbing the nearest knife capable of easily cutting the pumpkin, Axcel began to carve the orange sphere. Axcel was definitely handy with the knife in comparison to other cooking utensils, having been fond of blades since before he began to learn to cook. With relative ease, Axcel had finished the shaping the pumpkins into handles that would be more than usable for the paddles Bastion intended to make.
Whenever he was done, he threw them back towards Bastion and retook his seat on the white sand. Although from his position it looked like Axcel was watching Bastion modify the bamboo to function as a paddle, Axcel was just staring out into the sea. After he retrieved the flag by sailing on a boat constructed from food, Axcel would be able to join a pirate crew and set sail on the sea once more. It wasn’t until Bastion spoke to him that he ceased daydreaming.
“What to add, eh?” Axcel glanced at the ship and wasn’t really sure if it needed anything else to function. He was no shipwright nor had he been on a ship in ages. However, despite all that, he was certain he could contribute one small idea.
“It needs a name,” he spoke while rising to his feet. “The Fleeting Heart Attack!”
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