I killed my first troll thanks to a raft. A troll had spawned near the coastal line and was attracted when I started building a lighthouse on a rock in shallow waters. I tried to lure him away and both panicked in the reeds (to swim or not to swim?) and didn't anticipate his reach. I built my first raft and returned half naked with a bow and arrows. Shooting from the raft was not easy, but the troll mande the thing easier when he stuck himself at the limit where he couldn't walk anymore. Almost a litteral sitting duck he was, and I abused it.

Later on, I used the raft to explore a little archipelago off my main island (I could see at the very limit of visibility); but only as a way to join both land ends (like a couple of irl mins a trip). I once endured a lightning storm by night while in the straits, Thanks for the game not having strong currents yet, I could stop the raft and just watch the elements roaring without getting sick by the moving vessel. I used this raft to bring hunting and chopping products back to the lighthouse.

I think I will use the raft for easy, coarse exploration around my island, as it is a good eraser for the exploration fog.