I've heard the only way to get on the boat is through a GM warping you... stupid imo to not have that option yourself to ride or skip boat, thats another discussion tho. Idk if you can just put the quest item in my invent or how this is done but anything that works is fine. Character - Expertise Qeust - Find the maple history book(one of the books are on that boat i think)
For now we're not warping anyone with the boat unless you need to go there for skills (e.g. Stance, etc).
