Windbound Boat Building Guide

There are various aspects to consider during your travels in Windbound but few are more important than boat building. Set across the Forbidden Islands, these mysterious lands are surrounded by a vast ocean, and while Kara can swim a fair distance, she cannot traverse these treacherous seas alone. That means knowing how to craft a boat is important.

Exploration is key and if you plan to go beyond your initial island, you must build a boat to reach new destinations. All you need to do to build a boat is gather the relevant materials, open the crafting menu, hit the sub-menu titled “Boat,” and create it by moving to shallow water.

In this guide, we’ll tell you what’s required to craft different boats, various accessories that can be added to them, and what they do.

Windbound Boat Building

Windbound offers three different materials for crafting boats, but to start with, Grass Canoes are your only option. As you might expect, Grass doesn’t offer much protection but soon enough, you’ll obtain Bamboo and Wood.

As a heavier material, Wood is slow but sturdy, though Bamboo offers a good compromise by balancing speed and protection. Boat building opens up significantly once you obtain either material, letting you create decks to build from.

Hulls can only be created when attached to decks, letting you add one accessory per hull.

Normally, Kara will row but masts turn this into full sailing, though this is wholly dependent on wind direction. If you try visiting an area that goes against the wind, your ship won’t move. It’s not like Breath of the Wild, for instance. You will have to dismantle the mast before you can row again, though that retains any previously used materials.

Boat Building Blueprints

• Bamboo Canoe
  • 1x Grass Rope, 3x Bamboo
• Bamboo Deck
  • 4x Bamboo, 1x Grass Rope
• Bamboo Mast
  • 3x Palm Fronds, 2x Bamboo, 1x Grass Rope
• Grass Canoe
  • 4x Thick Grass, 2 Grass Rope
• Grass Mast
  • 2x Thick Grass, 1x Stick 1, Grass Rope 1
• Grass Hull
  • 2x Grass Rope, 4x Thick Grass
• Bamboo Hull
  • 3x Bamboo, 1x Grass Rope
• Wooden Deck
  • 4x Wood, 2x Silk Thread
• Wooden Mast
  • 2x Leather, 1x Silk Thread, 1x Wood
• Wooden Canoe
  • 3x Wood, 1x Silk Thread
• Wooden Hull
  • 1x Silk Thread, 3 Wood

Accessories

Additional parts can be attached to your ship once crafted, providing benefits such as increased item storage. This comes with some common protections for your ship, so Hull Armour reinforces it against collisions with rocks and coral reefs, while Hull Spikes protect you from outside threats like Hookmouths by attacking them.

Like with boats, the effectiveness of boat accessories depends on which material was used to craft it but, in this case, you can also use shells or crude metal for stronger reinforcement.

Accessory Blueprints

• Anchors — Keeps your ship in place while exploring
  • 2x Rocks, 2x Grass Ropes
• Bamboo Bucket — Stores 5 items
  • 2x Bamboo, 1x Grass Rope
• Bamboo Hull Spikes
  • 2 Bamboo, 1 Grass Rope
• Gloomharrow Figurehead
  • 2x Wood, 1x Leviathan’s Heart Gem
• Gorehorn Figurehead
  • 2x Wood, 1x Sentinel’s Gem
• Grass Basket — Stores 3 items 
  • 4 Thick Grass
• Plainstalker Figurehead
  • 2x Wood, 1x Storm’s Eye Gem
• Scale Hull Armor
  • 1x Shell Fragment, 2x Grass Rope
• Wooden Hull Armor
  • 2x Wood, 2x Grass Rope
• Wooden Hull Spikes
  • 1x Grass Rope, 2x Wood
• Wood Chest — Stores 7 items
  • 2x Wood, 1x Crude Metal
• Metal Hull Spikes
  • 2x Crude Metal, 1x Grass Rope
• Metal Hull Armor
  • 2x Crude Metal, 2x Grass Rope
• Bag Rack — Secures another bag on your boat
  • 1x Bamboo, 1x Plainstalker Horn, 1x Grass Rope
• Fire — Lets you cook raw meat or fish on your boat
  • 1x Thick Grass, 1x Stick, 2x Rocks,

That’s all you need to know about Windbound boat building and accessory crafting. Now that you know how to build each boat and what each accessory does — from armor to spikes to buckets — you’ll be more comfortable exploring vast sea around. We’ll be bringing you more guides soon to make the most out of your Windbound experience, so stay tuned.