Parts of a Ship

Ever now and then, I have my characters travel on a ship.  Started in Prodigy of Rainbow Tower and it happened at least once in War of Nytefall.  The reason is because you can’t always stay on land when traveling.  You can come across a river, lake, or ocean because quests/adventures don’t pay attention to coastal borders.  This brings up the challenge of creating scenes that are in a very limited setting.  We’re not talking cruise ships here (although, you can go that route), but older traveling vessels that look similar to the picture above.  This isn’t easy, so what are some ways to make it work?

1. Try to use some kind of nautical terminology when describing the ship.  You always get a handful of readers who will call you out on being vague, but you also don’t want to get too detailed if you’re…