Korzybskian Pirates: The map IS the territory

Basic Idea (fleshed out gameplay to come later): Each player has a plastic tray with inch deep "pits" arranged in a grid. There are various pieces of booty/treasure they can place into the pits. They then cover up the pits with little squares representing different types of terrain.

Different terrain affects movement/digging speed.

Each player then places their boards on the table. Other pirates then sail to their "maps/islands" and try to dig for treasure and such. Look out for pits/traps.

Full mechanics need a LOT of work. Pirate ship battles? Sailing to islands? Defending? How is the island a map? Are all these islands actually connected? Each player builds a quarter of the map?