Thank you for some great stories. In Stormchild you featured two 303 Lee-Enfield rifles.
This brought some good memories as I was born and lived in Australia until I was age 17. While in high school there was an Army Cadet Corps similar to the ROTC, We trained with the 303. An accurate but heavy beast. Years later I bought and still have a 1943 edition that had been modified by removing the wood forward of the stock.
I have boats all my life and your descriptions of sailing can only come from having been there. That hum from the tiller is something else.
Best wishes.
John Ledlie