unexpected shipboard GM bunny

A plot bunny just jumped out of my memory. My partner and I visited Nova Scotia a couple decades ago. We stopped at an great maritime museum in Lunenburg. At the dock was a great wooden (3-masts?) sailing ship, the last fishing vessel using the old technology -- retired around 1939 IIRC. The docent, who sounded EXACTLY like Robert Shaw in JAWS, said he was the ship's boy during its last active year. He said all the sleeping berths were double-bunked (?), meaning, two guys shared the berth. Simultaneously. Being the ship's boy, he got to sleep with the captain. Actual sleep, and nobody undressed for bed aboard a fisher.

The plot bunny is GM, told from the boy's POV. The captain is protective of him, non-abusive, but the boy observes adult sailors' buggery in the bunks. LIT's rules demand he be 18 in order to join the action -- but how about to report on what he witnesses? Or, if he's underage, can he hear but not see the action? Anyway, a gay sailors' story could be built on this framework. But not by me -- my plate is full.

Possible spins could include:

(FANTASY) Encounter with a pod of were-seal (Selkie) women (or men)
(CELEB) The ship is hired for a movie shoot and celebs join the action.
(FANTASY) The ship is hauled by a kraken to a magical undersea world.
(TRAGEDY) The ship is slowly sinking; life-and-death games are played.

I'm slow this morning. That's all I can come up with now. Have fun!

So, this ship is full of seamen?

A buddy of mine served in the submarine corps. He uses the term "hot bunking," aka "hot racking" which means that several (two or three, depending) crewmen share the same bunk, but not at the same time. They only get eight hours to sleep anyway, and there are three shifts, so it makes perfect efficiency sense. The bed is still warm from the previous occupant when you lie down in it, hence the "hot" term.

Of course, hot bunking could lead to all sorts of merry mix-ups.