They're meant to be sailing, thus the swabbing the decks (like, mopping or scouring them). It would most certainly have to be done on his knees, with his shirt undone and all sweaty from the heat.
WHY IS THIS SO HOT. It shouldn't be. It is WRONG, right. Right. Wrong.
(And now I am going to continue to write about wrestling ink-stained boys, because I have no boundaries or sense of moral decency.)