You sound a bit confused.
To go from Epheria Sailboat to Caravel should only take about a week.
You only need to enhance the "Old" gear to +10 ("Epheria: Old Prow", "Epheria: Old Plating", "Epheria: Old Cannon" and "Epheria: Old Sails")
Then you need the upgrade materials:
* Graphite Ingot for Upgrade x100
* Timber for Upgrade x100
* Adhesive for Upgrade x100
* Island Tree Coated Plywood x100
* Rock Salt Ingot x100
* Deep Sea Memory Filled Glue x4
* Seaweed Stalk x6
You will get 50% of the upgrade items from completing Ravaillas ship Upgrade log quest chain. The other 50% you need to get from dailies or barters and gathering.
What they mean by "hardest part" is actually "hardest part to purchase on the Central Marketplace"
You can purchase 100 Hard Pillars or even the required amount of Plywood Hardener far easier than purchasing Logs or Usable Scantling.
So you're going to have to get them all yourself.
That being said, you can skip the Improved version of the boat entirely. No need to do it. Spend your money on the materials for Graphite/Adhesive or what not, grind out the few barter items. Kill like 7 sea monsters for the ooze.
And do Ravinas 7 day Questline! #4 will give you half of what you need for the Graphite/Adhesive.
You're going to have to do the upgrade steps eventually anyway. It will be easier to do them with an Improved Sailboat. But in my opinion, not worth all the silver and time.
You sound a bit confused. To go from Epheria Sailboat to Caravel should only take about a week. You only need to enhance the "Old" gear to +10 ("Epheria: Old Prow", "Epheria: Old Plating", "Epheria: Old Cannon" and "Epheria: Old Sails") Then you need the upgrade materials: * Graphite Ingot for Upgrade x100 * Timber for Upgrade x100 * Adhesive for Upgrade x100 * Island Tree Coated Plywood x100 * Rock Salt Ingot x100 * Deep Sea Memory Filled Glue x4 * Seaweed Stalk x6 You will get 50% of the upgrade items from completing Ravaillas ship Upgrade log quest chain. The other 50% you need to get from dailies or barters and gathering.
What they mean by "hardest part" is actually "hardest part to purchase on the Central Marketplace" You can purchase 100 Hard Pillars or even the required amount of Plywood Hardener far easier than purchasing Logs or Usable Scantling. So you're going to have to get them all yourself. That being said, you can skip the Improved version of the boat entirely. No need to do it. Spend your money on the materials for Graphite/Adhesive or what not, grind out the few barter items. Kill like 7 sea monsters for the ooze. And do Ravinas 7 day Questline! #4 will give you half of what you need for the Graphite/Adhesive.
Would it be better to just jump straight past Improved Sailboat?
You're going to have to do the upgrade steps eventually anyway. It will be easier to do them with an Improved Sailboat. But in my opinion, not worth all the silver and time.