Research materials

[Quiver he/him]

So, I've been thinking for the past few days that I would kind of like to do a fantasy story with a major naval theme. I've kind of started plotting out some basics for the world, but while I'm finding the idea of a 'water world' interesting, I have no experience with boats or large bodies of water in general.

Can anyone give any advice,either on things to consider while world building,nor places to get some naval/aquatic information?

(And if anyone is worried (yeah right), I'm not dropping my at Tamith stories. This is just another idea that's been bothering me lately.)

[Two McMillion he/him]

What technological level are you thinking of? Clipper ships and steamers, battleships, or galleys?

 

I would suggest starting with wikipedia and TV tropes. Here are some of the relevant TV tropes pages:

 

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HistoryOfNavalWarfare

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NavalWeapons

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/TypesOfNavalShips

[Quiver he/him]

Thanks, sorry for not replying sooner, but... it's tv tropes. What did you expect lol

Well, when I pictured the idea, I thought of a... Renaissance-era sort of setting, since when I think ships, the first thing that comes to mind is Spanish Armada. The story I'd thought of was going to deal with colonialism a bit, with different island empires trying to colonise and control each other, so that seems like an appropriate place to start.

That said, if anyone has any more specific eras that might be worth checking out, please, let me know- most of whatcI know about boats and naval history would fit on the front of a postcard.