I don't think anyone claims it's hard it's just totally unnecessary to not allowing recalling there was a reason ever given?
It's the same stupid reason why you can't start with spellweaving... because they want to make you have to sail there otherwise it would be too easy ... which is also why the pirates are 900miles from the dock you need to turn them in at... which is why EVERYONE does Pirates in Tokuno...
The pirates should be closer to Bucs... IMO or the dock should be down near the serpent pillar... not where it is... but whatever...
Like the insanely stupid reason they gave why you can't imbue a spellbook... saying if you could then you wouldn't need an Inscriptionist... well if you don't need an inscriptionist to make the stupid book in the first place... then you don't need a tailor or smith to make the armor in the first place either... or a fletcher to make your bow to imbue... most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life...
I voted to move spellweaving to Haven with everything else at least so new players can at least find the quest giver and such but was told that it would make Heartwood obsolete... like it isn't obsolete already. I mean how many people do you ever see up there now?
There are 100's of obsolete things in the game... the dock isn't in danger of being one of those things. Making it obscure and harder to get to only punishes those with only 1 account... perhaps they are trying to encourage folk to have more accounts.
But like I said I just keep a mage at the dock all the time. If I need her for something like say ... gift getting or for her to go get her artisan gift, empty her bank box, or something I just temporarily swap her with one of my other mages. Or I send one of my other characters to pick up all her junk. She remains there to gate me to the dock whenever I need.
As for the boat paint... I'm with Petra and mine is painted with the permanent stuff you got with the Pirate package thing ages and ages ago. But that was when I also begged and pleaded to get better colors not pastels ... like crimson, black, deep forest green... and the like...
Now I don't know if anyone said this but if you put on more coats of the paints you get somewhat darker paint... however once again I have to say that they will fade so what is the point... I just leave any other boat other than my main natural colored and don't bother at all with painting it.