WHEE!! I'm so glad my post went over well. I'll let you all in on a secret:
It's not done. 
Honestly, what's up right now is emphatically a rough draft, albeit some parts smoother than others. I was getting thoughts down as I could, going on when I got stuck, and working hard on particular bits to get the vision I had in my head down right before I forgot it.
I unexpectedly had to go home for a funeral, so that's why it's still not done. Unless anyone's got a serious problem with that, I'm going to continue to hone it.
Hold it,
Himaran,
you are the one who sent what's-his-name into the brine. I was merely trying to make this battle a little more integrated with each other. But hold a grudge if you wish, by all means!
Maika, thank you very much for the commendation! I enjoy writing action/combat, but I find it takes a lot of thought: (1) To imagine the scene in my head (which isn't as easy for me as it is for others I know), and (2) To convey the scene in words. I love this challenge, because I'm trying to communicate a very complicated thought, which usually takes lots of specific words, but I also have to write simply - the language can't get in the way of what is happening. And for an example of this struggle, just re-read this paragraph.
Oh, do you have any preferences about what I do with Devon? I mean, about getting him back to the
North Wind? I'd hate for him to bleed to death on the
Pora Diy's deck, which is what is happening at the moment.
I
finally saw Master and Commander Thursday night. I love that movie! Wow, so good. And incidentally, Thursday night was after everything that's in my post to date - meaning I had no help in thinking these things out. Thank goodness for Horatio Hornblower - it is possible to write clearly about sea battles! That's another thing about writing action - I knew it'd take a while to write this post, but I hadn't counted on the complication of describing ship manuevers! There's so many things to keep track of when you're dependent upon the wind...