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In this post I discuss why I built a 1 chunk boat in minecraft and share 5 tips for your next boat build.

If you’re here for the tutorial scroll down; if you’re interested in my let’s play experience keep reading.

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Why I built a 1 chunk boat in my survival world

A while back my helmet broke, well multiple helmets broke. I decided that I wanted a turtle shell for it’s water breathing bonus. The first step was finding turtles to introduce to the waters around the island.

I set out to the south and was able to find some turtles to breed and gather their eggs. This was the easy part and the real challenge comes in hatching the eggs and collecting the scutes.

I decided I would do some fishing while waiting for the eggs to hatch. And let’s face it; if your serious about fishing you need a boat. I just needed to decide where to put it.

Music of the sea

I chose this location because it’s a lukewarm ocean. Having spent some time swimming around coral reefs in warm ocean biomes I wanted to enjoy the music of the warm ocean variants while fishing.

While I would later discover the music is actually triggered by being underwater (in any biome). Lukewarm ocean does mean there are tropical fish present and that adds to the atmosphere of this location. So it wasn’t a complete waste.

Also it has been a pleasure to look out over the ocean from the top of the mountain and see the boat below held up on it’s little sandbar.

I have ambitions of building up a little fishing hut and an actual scute farm in the future. If you have any suggestions let me know in the comments.

5 Tips for building a boat in Minecraft

If it’s your first time dropping by, I’m a big fan of 1 chunk builds. What regular readers might not know is that I’m a fan of rigged ships. My old minecraft worlds are full of half finished ships.

So as an expert in building half ships I want to share 5 tips to help you succeed where I have failed.

1. Consider smaller ship designs

16 meters (the size a chunk represents in minecraft) would be a respectable length for a caravel. The caravel, a ship of Portuguese origin, is a small fishing and trading vessel.

A ship of the line, carrack or galleon might be more impressive. But keeping your minecraft boat small like I did with this canoe; might mean you get it finished.

Some other ships to consider:

• Ketch, Schooner or Sloop (European)
• Totora reed raft (Inca)
• Junk (Chinese)
• Out-rigger canoe (the choice I went with)

2. Use different colours below the water line

Another block type can show wear, water logging or a protective coating. Coatings were there to protect the hull from water, parasites and to increase speeds. Now that we have a white wood variant you have lots of options.

I decided to use spruce to simulate wet wood at and below the water line. this gives the impression it is the same wood (oak) that is wet.

3. Include sheets (that’s ropes that control the sails)

Adding details such as ropes and other rigging help fill out the silhouette of your boat. I recommend a combination of fence posts, chains and iron bars to simulate ropes.

I recommend using grind stones as pulleys. I didn’t use those here but they look great on a larger vessel.

4. Texture your sails

I’ve seen many recommendations from builders to put sails on your ships in full sail. I think having the sails in rags on the masts or booms is a great alternative when the ship is not moving.

In either case I suggest using block variation to break up a sea of white or to simulate folds or wear. Banners add to the impression of folded or torn sails.

I initially used sandstone which can look good in combination with white wool. Sail cloth traditionally had a yellow undertone and sandstone provides access to walls, stairs and slabs.

With the pale garden drop I decided to replace the sandstone with pale oak wood. Quartz is another great block to consider If you have access to it.

5. Partial blocks

Stairs, slabs and trapdoors allow you to curve and shape your hulls. Trap doors have interesting textures depending on which type you use and can be placed on top of other blocks.

Chains, glass, iron bars, walls, fence gates and posts can allow you to shape your rigging and add details to your ships.

Wrap up

For me, minecraft is about building the worlds I dreamed of as a kid. I want to walk around impressive castles and travel the world on ships from the golden age of sail.

I propose completed projects surrounded with other details are more immersive than mega builds. By building a 1 chunk boat you can complete it and spend time decorating the area around it.

Give that build a game-play purpose and you’ll keep coming back and maybe find yourself getting caught up in a story that use to be a dream.

Build stats

Real Life Days: 33

Minecraft Days: 48

Hours: 4.5

The boat in this post was a 1 chunk build, if you’d like to see more 1 chunk builds click here.