"we love each other, but do I dare to reveal my secret to you in hopes that you'll still love me as a woman?" Now there's one you can't do in a conventional opposite-sex romance!

Really? A woman passing as a man stows away on a ship, which is populated by a couple dozen lonely men, who have gotten used to occupying themselves on the high seas with one another. She falls for one of them, who seems to return her affection but trips her gaydar; will he still like her if he knows she's female?

Only slightly less plausible than the gender-reversed version, I think.