The water is deep enough far up from the sea to float her when empty, and if we choose some spot where the river runs among woods we might hide her so that she may to the last escape the attention of the Danes.
"We must get some men crafty in ship-building from one of the ports, sending down a body of our own serfs to do the rough work.

We will go to Exeter first and there choose us the craftsman most skilled in building ships, and will take council with him as to the best form and size.

She must be good to sail and yet able to row fast with a strong crew, and she must have room to house a goodly number of rowing and fighting men.

You, Edmund, might, before we start, consult King Alfred.
He must have seen at Rome and other ports on the Mediterranean the ships in use there, which are doubtless far in advance of our own.

For we know from the Holy Bible that a thousand years ago St.Paul made long voyages in ships, and doubtless they have learned much since those days." Edmund thought the idea a good one, and asked the king to make him a drawing of the vessels in use in the Mediterranean.