Boats

Every captain owns one boat, and it grows through the boat tree. Its speed, handling, rider seats, deck size, the waters it can enter and its perks all come from the upgrades you have unlocked. Every upgrade is permanent and adds on top of the others, in any order, so early upgrades stay useful after you reach the deep waters. You buy upgrades with coins at the tree table in the Stables: pick a card to see what it adds, then BUY and CONFIRM. There is no way to buy boat upgrades with Crowns.

Three upgrades are passages. The Reef Passage opens Coral Reach, the Storm Passage opens Storm & Ember Waters and the Outer Passage opens the Outer Waters, and each one also gives you that region’s saddle and reins. Passages, together with Crew Deck, also make the boat’s hull bigger, with room for one more rider each time. The rest of the tree adds speed and sharper turning, or one of four perks: Treasure Nose makes treasure a little more likely when you fish, Keen Eye lets you spot fish signs from farther away, Lucky Wake gives a small luck bonus to fishing, and Sure Footing stops storm waves from slowing you down.

To fish a water, the boat carrying you needs that water’s region open. Other captains can ride along on your boat, and while they ride, they fish with your boat’s waters and perks; their own rod still decides how big a fish they can land. A boat carrying more riders than it has seats slows to a crawl. When you fish on foot at an island pond, your own boat’s waters count.

On land your boat becomes a pet. In the harbor, or once you walk away from the water, it shrinks and follows you around, and when you return to the water it grows back into a boat. You start every visit on the harbor plaza with your boat beside you as a pet. If you are swimming, grab your little boat and set it on the water, and it grows back into a boat beside you.

Every upgrade on the tree also unlocks a boat skin for good. A few more skins come from treasure chests, and three store skins are sold for Crowns at the Stables. Skins only change how your boat looks: any skin is drawn at your boat’s own size and works exactly like the others. You wear skins, saddle and reins looks, boat looks and wakes at the effects stand in the Stables, where your boat hops onto a platform so you can see each one on it.