1) looks great, though maybe the smaller ships could be less than a square long. The HellHound is almost twice as long as the Revere and Thunderer but looks the same size in the game. Maybe we could shoot our ships at 45 degrees from above to show better detail but still use the grid, like Sid Meiers pirates. This would mean taking shots at different angles but would look sweet.
2) Works fine but those tables will need to be made public so every one can get a better idea of how it works.
3) we need to work something out here maybe, 45 degrees max pivit when using broadsides as it's too easy to get into position at the moment.
4) I think this works as is.
5/6) Pirates/ islanders/Redcoats/Blue coats all sound good to me , maybe it could be any of these factions with a single rule set. The game master can choose one that fits the map/battle.
7) why not it makes sense to me.