Originally posted by Itharus:

It occurs to me that if more nastier monsters are added to the sea biome, then returning by sea to your main base with your ore will become impossible as a solo player, as you cannot sail the boat and fight the monsters at the same time. If your boat cannot move, it's a sitting duck and gets destroyed.

This is frankly unacceptable :(

So... how would this be solved, other than by enabling ore through portals? Adding NPCs to sit in your boat with bows and protect it?

But your boat can move while fighting monsters. Your sail can be down without you manning the boat. It is acceptable.