Dobbs that was an excellently written and entertaining story that I very much enjoyed reading, thanks for posting it.
It's a long time since I played this but I seem to remember there being a lot less sea room for the ships leaving the harbour. Your game involved much more sail handling and manoeuvre and was better for it. Your descriptions of the sailing side of the game was masterful and I certainly hope you will carry on with the campaign games.
Cheers and rum all round