Step 1: Find a suitable body of water to build your ship in, the bigger the water, the bigger you can make your ship.
Step 2: Swim to the bottom and create a column up to the surface. This is needed to give us the ability to create our ship in the middle of the water.
Ladder Style Bookcase
Step 3: build one strip of blocks 3 blocks under the water and 25 blocks across. Any wood based material in Minecraft is suitable however you could make a variety of different themed boats if you wished by trying different coloured blocks.
Step 4: Destroy the original support column, we now have horizontal row of blocks floating in the water to build upon.
Step 5: Start expanding the hull by building 3 rows across the original 1 row.
Step 6: Expand the hull further by building a row of 5 blocks across the 3 we build in the previous step. This row should have broken the surface of the water.
Step 7: Hollow out your hull into a "V" shape, the reason for filling in the hull originally is to force all the water out, make sure not to break the ends as this will flood your boat.
Step 8: Build another layer on top that goes out by 1 block and up by 2.
Step 9: Close off this bottom part of your boat by filling in the ends and adding a ceiling. It may seem bare at the moment but we will return to it later.
Step 10: Start building the middle section of the ship by going 1 block outwards and 4 upwards.
Step 11: Close off the middle section with a ceiling and then close off the sides this will plunge it into darkness until we add some lighting.
Step 12: Add an opening in the ceiling of the middle section and build some stairs leading out onto what will be the main deck of the ship.
Step 13: Build some cabins in the middle section for your crew to sleep in and spend their spare time.
Step 14: Hard working pirates love their grub, if you have room you can build a canteen to fill up the rest of the space in the middle of your ship.
Step 15: Start decorating the rooms, my cabins have 2 beds, a bookcase, a shelf, a painting and 2 chests but feel free to set yours up to suit your pirates.
Step 16: Create a stairway from the middle down into the original lower parts of the ship we built in parts 1-5.
Step 17: Fill the lower section of the ship with chests to hold all your pirate booty, you can add lighting if you want or keep it dark for a more authentic creepy pirate feel.
Step 18: To add a personal touch to your ship place name plates on all the cabin doors with your pirates names.
Step 19: Decorate any left over space in the middle of your ship, add things like lighting and windows to make the place feel cosier.
Step 20: Back on the top deck add a perimeter 1 block out to prevent any sailors going overboard during rough seas.
Step 21: At the back of the ship start constructing your own cabin, ideally this should be much bigger and grander than the other pirates bunks down below.
Step 22: Decorate your cabin, fill it with items like bookshelves, art, a fancy carpet and anything else you think a captain deserves.
Step 23: Start building the mast, build a tall middle mast with 2 branches coming off. The 1st branch will be where the sail starts and the 2nd branch where it ends
Step 24: Add the sail, try to build it with a curve so that it gives the impression of having wind behind it. You will probably fall off a lot doing this section, build a ladder up the centre of the mast to quickly get back up.
Step 25: Right at the top of the mast build a small crows nest so your pirates can keep an eye out for land and other ships to plunder.
Step 26: Start building out the front of the deck to give your ship a pointed face. This is another part of the build that will involve you falling overboard accidentally. It may be worth building a ladder back up onto your ship.
Start 27: Add some stairs from the deck onto what is your captains cabin. This will be the location of the command deck.
Step 28: Decorate the command deck. Unfortunately Minecraft doesn't have many things that can represent a wheel but replacing it with levers gives the ship a slight steampunk feel.
Step 29: Decorate your deck. If you use your imagination most blocks can be turned into something with a nautical theme.
Step 30: Add a figurehead to the front of the ship. You can spend time building a large one or just use the jack o' lantern.
Step 31: No pirates ship is complete without a plank to force your enemies to walk off. Cut out a hole in the side of the ship and make it as long as you want.