Once the self-declared “Admiral of the Tidemouth Drift,” Barnacle Tom built a raft from discarded barrels and fishing nets to rescue orphaned seabirds during the Great Gale of ’73.
He’s rarely seen without his spotted sea jacket - rumoured to be stitched from the sailcloth of a ghost ship - and his thick beard still traps the scent of brine and smoke.
No one knows where Tom sleeps, only that he appears when children gather at the dock, pockets full of whelks and tales about wave spirits who guide lost boats home. He’s a sentinel of sorts - quiet, wide-eyed, and deeply aware of the sea’s secret moods. When he does speak, it’s often to the ocean, not the people, as though the two have unfinished business.
