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We all know that pirates hold ports but many a pirate ship (and some other nations, far from a safe port) would have their ship essentially beached on a shore where at low tide the ship's lower hull would be accessible for repair, naturally some shores were best suited to this and other shores were useless and you'd end up completely stuck, run aground if you tried to careen. So what I propose is that if you are far from a friendly port and need your ship fixed and just so happen to come across an island you can careen your ship and order your crew to gather the required materials needed for repair. Essentially making it a free repair. Naturally this could be exploited so only the smaller classes of ships (probably up to a frigate) could be careened and as well as that it will take time (depending on repairs needed) you would also have the option to send a scouting party out on the Island in case there are any natives who might see you as lunch if you set half your crew on repairs and attack your ship. Scouting should take approximately fifteen minutes and your scouting party can either return completely healthy, with casualties (from hostile animals or native inhabitants) or not return at all, a sure sign that they've died and you should probably make sail with haste. You could choose to repair your ship if your scouting party knows where the native encampment is, however there would still be a chance of them attacking, which would be a lot like boarding mechanics, as for hostile animals; having your scouting party collect the necessary materials nearest the shore under guard with fires lit to scare off the animals, though if your scouting party missed cannibal natives the smoke could draw them towards you. So a quick recap Careening is where you purposely beach the ship at low tide to exact repairs when there is no port or the nearest is far, far away. You would be able to careen on many of the islands with shores but no ports dotted around the map It would be a free (but time consuming, based on the damage and size of ship being careened) way to repair a ship at sea It is not without risk, the island may be inhabited with cannibals or dangerous animals, you would have the option to send out a scouting party, or just exact quick repairs and hope you don't come under attack losing many crew (and potentially having your ship set alight if you lose) in the process Repairs shouldn't be as good as a drydock. 85% hull maximum should be repaired and this would be with a skilled carpenter onboard.