It has been a week when I seem to have spent more time on research than actually writing.

In the 1650s what sort of boat would you use to transport five men and a couple of medium-sized barrels, as well weapons, upriver from London? A standard wherry would seem a bit too small. It could take up to five passengers OR goods, but not both. A Thames barge would hold more, but was too big and heavy to rely on oar power. It would have had sails, but that meant it would be dependent on the whims of the wind, particularly upstream from London, where the river was narrower and tacking against the wind more difficult, if not impossible. I needed the boat to take a reasonably predictable time to reach its destination.

So I ended up with a ‘large wherry’, assuming that there would be at least some variation within that classification. I then wanted to know how fast it would move. My boat would have four rowers and would set out with the tide in flood, but they would have many hours of rowing. Unfortunately, while Google maps would tell me how long my journey would take on foot or by car, it doesn’t seem to have the option for a rowed boat, or to say that the route should be entirely along the river. It doesn’t even give me the option for horseback, or only to cross the river at London Bridge. Now, I ask you, what sort of a tool is that?

This was the era in which the skiff, a slimmer, lighter version of the wherry, was born. Between two and eight oarsmen, most commonly four, it was faster than the wherry and used for messengers or low weight, high value transport, or even for pleasure and sport. But how much faster? If the wherry set off an hour before the skiff, how long would it take to catch up?

I admit that I avoided AI in answering these questions, mainly because I was not at all sure I could rely on the answers, but also to avoid any taint of AI in the finished work.