STEERING WHEELS on pirate ships were rope winches that turned the big steering rudder at the stern (the back) of the ship. The rudder turned the boat to the right (starboard) or the left (port). Larger ships had two or three steering wheels attached to this winch. When a storm was hammering at the rudder, four or six men might struggle to steer. Knowing where they were on the trackless ocean meant life or death for pirates, so there was no fooling around for the men on duty at the wheel. They watched the compass intently, steering a straight course, so the vessel's position could be plotted exactly. This work required so much concentration that the men at the wheel were normally changed every hour.Smaller was better for pirates. Draft which means how deep in the water a vessel floats was especially important for pirates. Big warships sent to capture pirates were usually deep draft vessels that couldn't chase the smaller pirate schooners and sloops into shallow water the small harbors and shallow creeks where pirates hid. Shallow draft pirates might also escape across shallow reefs that would tear the man 0' war's
bottom out.
Do pirates get seasick, well almost everyone seasick now and then, mostly at the beginning of a voyage. The awful feeling usually goes away in time. When sailors were seasick during a storm, there was nothing to do but throw up and keep sailing. After a long voyage, sailors had become so accustomed to the motion of a ship that walking on the solid land could make them landsick.
