Questions about the game mechanics

[Barakus]

Ahoy fellow captains,

I just managed to buy my first ship (hurah!) a rotten Bermuda sloop (eh, hurrah?) which is a bit faster, has a larger hold and overall is a bit more decent than poor ole Melvile.

Now, accompanied by a hunter, a sailor and a scientist I'm about to set sail for more adventure, but already I got my sights on bigger ships and, hopefully, better things.

My first question, therefore, is this:

I see that the prerequisites for buying a larger ship involve some technologies that are gained through the various branches of carpenters. Short of firing or losing to the perils of the sea one of my fine crewmates -perish the thought- is there another way to gain access to a carpenter, so that I may research the technologies required for buying a level 2 (6 crewmates) ship?

[Barakus]

Well, answering my own question here, but I think the way around (since I don't see any way of increasing the number of crewmates in small vessels) is to assign to the captain a skill point in the area(s) missing for future upgrades to larger vessels. So, in my case, I'll add a point in crafting, so I can get a medium vessel down the road which can turn blubber to oil.

Also, I had my hunter/soldier (he's an expert in fighting humans, not creatures) unlock cannons, for future use.

[pmcollectorboy]

Unless you want to spend the time leveling up your captain to get every compartment skill you could possibly need, there's no avoiding the fact that you'll have to fire people to hire a crew member with the job tree you'll need to research the proper tech, buy the bigger ship, and then rehire another crew member in a similar class as the guy you just fired to fill up the slots in your now bigger and badder ship.
In my playthrough, I gave my captain the captain's cabin skill to put a single point in the captain's cabin compartment, and then upon the next level up, I switched to something else. However, since captain's cabin is ONLY found in the big three mast ships, it was a bit premature of me to do so, and I probably could've spent my points more efficiently. In my opinion, I think you'll need both a cook and an oil master at the same time so you'll have your pick of the medium ships, and then when you're ready for the biggest ships, get a carpenter and a doctor for the sick bay and kitchen compartments.

[Barakus]

I did hire a crewmate just to get some upgrade, but I'm also using my captain. In my current game, I got the oil works through him, possibly the med bay as well. I need to get the captain's quarters to move to a large ship, but I'm in no hurry, I'm taking my time discovering whale spots and routes, while I'm switching my captain to a dual hunter/warrior to take on the secondary green mission.

I'm doing ok with my medium ship now, but a large ship would be sweet, a clipper in particular.

[pmcollectorboy]

Clippers are fantastic but don't spawn as often as the barques so you'll have to sail around until you find that one port that sells it. Cargo space wasn't my main concern. I wanted to move around fast, so the clipper was my ship of choice as soon as I could afford the three mast ships.

[pmcollectorboy]

Oops. I made a typo. The cook helps you access the kitchen. I'm almost fairly sure some of the medium ships require a kitchen to be able to buy. Correct me if I'm wrong. Carpenters aren't really useful until later on when they excel at hull repair much better than the regular craftsmen, and they also have a skill that let's you choose a dice side. This is a stronger skill than you might realize.

[mordolek]

There are 2 things worth to note regarding research: First trier (lvl0 -> lvl1) is always researched instantly(!) and skill is required only to start the research so you can fire the guy just after you contract research.

At this early mid game (around lvl5) I've also practiced with great success habbit of sailing small ships (namely Cutters) with just 2 crew mates: harpooner and carpenter. Me as captain being sailor and medic in one person (usually with Emergency kit and Perfect Balance skils) hunting Bowhead and Humpback Whales. This configuration lowered crew's lay and allowed to hire required person just for the time when Shipwright had to start new research.