Swamped

You're not sure there's any place on the ship that's crucial to its movement. With how badly broken it is, it shouldn't be able to move at all, so whatever's moving it must be something like magic.

So hitting any specific structure would be no better than a wild guess. Maybe you can instead think about how to make the fire spread as much as possible.

And then it strikes you. The bugs. They're crawling all over. They could spread the powder for you. You see a large mass of them near the base of the mast.

Now there's the matter of traversing the distance. Sustained flight is out, but you might be able to get away with a momentary push from a strong concentration of wind ether. You're fairly sure that wouldn't interfere with the flight spell on the ship, but you also have no real experience using that sort of spell. You can't be sure of how far the barrel will go.

Well, you're trying to spread the fire as much as you can. So perhaps, with the right preparations, it's good enough to just pass over the ship. You ask for an empty shell, and cast a small enchantment on it so that you can channel force through it later. Then you mix it into the middle of the shells in the barrel.

Then, you tap the barrel and whisper "Lightweight." You pick it up easily, and get ready to throw it.

But then Colleen grabs it from you.

"Not sure how you're planning to get it all the way over, but I'd wager I can throw farther than you," she says.

"Fair enough. Aim as best you can for that pile of bugs near the mast. Don't worry about distance or trajectory, just the direction. I'll handle the rest."

You wish you'd thought to ask. The push you'll need will be a lot easier to calculate if you're not also trying to throw the barrel. In fact, you can begin focusing on it now.

Colleen throws the barrel, and just as it starts to fall, you move it with a burst of wind, angled upwards to give the barrel a little bit of extra momentum on the way down. It jumps a little bit closer to the ship, but you can see that it won't make it. Desperately, you try to summon another gust.

You manage, but just barely. Now the barrel's too far away to do that again in time... and it still isn't quite reaching the ship.

But it's close! If you set off the prepared shell, some of the powder would hit, at least. But much of it would fall uselessly in the ocean, and you aren't entirely certain your own ship is out of range.

Still, you only have a few seconds to think of a better plan, so you might have to settle for that one.