[ He can hear the strain, and he regrets it - wishes he could offer the easy comfort he'd somehow managed with Gunny - but there was a harder boundary between him and Clara, and trying to force past her comfort wasn't exactly going to make her feel better. So he just kept off on the edge, unsure of how to actually make her feel better. ]

That sounds pretty damn cramped. How much space did you have inside? Couldn't have been more than five feet from floor to ceiling, right?

[ Who knew boats would be open to the sky. ]

Honestly - I find it pretty impossible to imagine. But I'm tryin'.