Originally posted by MysteriousFace:

I'm not asking for for a hand hold. Just a subtle nudge in the other direction... It's a discouraging mechanic for people interested in making long sea voyages.

Well good, it should discourage people. New content only shows up in unexplored areas and all of the unfinished biomes only spawn past the half-way point towards the edge of the world. So players are really not supposed to be exploring out by the edge yet.