Chart the Carroway Drift
Aether-lensed charts of the lavender currents, corrected nightly by the shipboard observatory, so no squall of star-stuff catches the helm unaware.
Nimbus Nebula Expeditions · Est. 1887
Chart the Nebula in Brass & Steam
Board the coal-fired deep-sky vessel Nimbus and drift the lavender currents of the Carroway Nebula with astronomers, tinkerers and adventurers of steady nerve.
Apparatus & Amenities
Every convenience a modern aeronaut demands, hand-tooled in our Greenwich workshop and riveted to the hull.
Brass-Driven Propulsion
Twin differential engines, pressure-tested to nine atmospheres, push the hull from harbor to the deep drift without a single sputter of complaint.
Expedition Logistics
Bunks, ration tins, pressure schedules and shore leave — all logged in the purser's ledger before you ever smell the coal smoke.
From Commission to Nebula
Three turns of the wheel stand between you and the drift.
-
Receive Your Commission
Sign the ship's ledger at any aether-post office; your berth assignment arrives by pneumatic tube within the week.
-
Calibrate the Apparatus
Report to the dock: we fit your pressure suit, trim your goggles and teach you the four bells of the engine telegraph.
-
Sail the Nebula
Cast off at dusk for a fourteen-night drift through the Carroway, observation domes open whenever the currents run calm.
From the Explorer's Log
Entries copied verbatim from the ledgers of passengers who sailed before you.
“The Nimbus held station inside the drift for six nights, and not one rivet sang out of tune. I have flown a dozen aetherships; I sign aboard none but her now.”
“Our charts of the lavender currents were considered fancy until this expedition returned with photographic plates. The Royal Society is speechless — a rare condition.”
“Fourteen nights, four engines, zero emergencies. The stew is good, the bunks are warm, and the nebula through the dome still leaves me breathless.”
Passage Tiers
Fair coin for fair passage, billed monthly in sterling or scrip.
Stoker
$12 / month
- Shared bunk in the forward hold
- Mess-hall stew & endless tea
- One harbor drift each month
- Engine-room tour at cast-off
Most Popular
Navigator
$29 / month
- Private berth with brass porthole
- Every nebula drift, any season
- Aether-lensed star charts
- Priority observation-dome access
- Sunday grog ration
Captain
$79 / month
- Officer's quarters aft
- Helm time with the pilot
- Your name on the commission
- Bring a guest on any drift
- Brass key to the chart room
Questions From the Quarterdeck
Put to the purser most often, answered here for all.
Entirely. The pressure hull is riveted brass over teak, gasketed with vulcanized rubber, and tested to nine atmospheres before every drift. Should a seam sing, the automatic patches slam shut before you finish your tea.
Wool, goggles and sturdy boots. Leave magnets at home — they argue with the compass — and bring any instrument you like; the chart room keeps spare mounts for brass telescopes of every caliber.
Not at all. Every passenger drills the suit, the bells and the gangway on the first afternoon, and an officer of the watch stands beside you the first time the dome goes dark and the nebula lights up.
Yes. Cancel fourteen days before cast-off for a full refund in coin or ledger credit. Inside fourteen days we hold your berth for the following drift, because the stew is already on the fire.
The Nebula Awaits, Aeronaut
Berths for the spring drift are limited to forty souls. Sign the ledger today, and the Nimbus will keep a light burning for you.