All the men on the ship raised their oars.
The waters here were so shallow, the bottom of their ship was already scratching on the bottom of the port. Putting the oars out would be akin to asking for them to break.
"Wait," the ship's captain called out, raising his hand to stop his men from acting up prematurely. "Hold the oars!"
His eyes were locked on the shallow water, tracking every detail and hint that the shallow waters revealed.
He calculated the time, the distance, the flow of what little water there was… And once he reached the most beneficial moment to act, he swung his hand.
"All ahead!"
A quick, sharp order. But the captain's crew didn't need anything else.
Like a single man, they all their oars back into the water, minding not if they would end up breaking them.
That's what spares were for, after all!
And like one man, they all pulled on the wood, forcing their vessel to climb the slowly raising waters in the port.
