Just, don't stay outside? Rush into a crypt ASAP, the turd piles block off rooms and you can mine them down enough to shoot a bow through but enemies won't be able to path to you due to leaving some turd pile to block them.

By shooting enemies in the next room that can't even get to you, you can easily clear them out. Just run scrap iron back to your boat and ignore everything outside until you get full Iron Armor.