If you're not actively manoeuvring (or fighting etc), sailing involves a lot of downtime. Once you're at sea and heading in roughly the right direction, there's

If you're not actively manoeuvring (or fighting etc), sailing involves a lot of downtime. Once you're at sea and heading in roughly the right direction, there's not a lot of actual sailing work to do, and only so much make and mend that people can stomach. A few pints of strong beer would presumably keep the men happily idle. It's basically early modern suspended animation.