It is possible to attack from one ship to another; it happened to me in
g1. I don't believe that it's known whether or not the defense bonus of
the attacking ship is added to its soldiers, another reason why galleys
don't seem like a great bargain. It is also possible to move from one ship
to another in a sea area without flight.
Ships work differently from other internal locations. Explore commands
issued in Yew Groves, for instance, would explore the yew grove, but
explore commands given in ships at sea explore the sea province for hidden
islands. (I believe that explore commands given in ships on land just
explore the inside of the ship, though.)
>>
>>> Also, do pirates (wouldn't marines be a better name, BTW?) operate
>>> at full strength on islands?
>>
>>Marines can't sail a boat though can they?
Yes they can. From the rules:
>The captain must have a crew to assist in the handling of the ship.
Galleys require fourteen pirates or sailors to row the
>ship. Roundships require at least eight pirates or sailors to man the
ship's rigging.
As for whether they can fight on islands, I've been wondering that too, but
I can't think of any way to find out unless Rich deigns to tell us.
The Carnival