How to Fish Boats, Engines & Island Travel
Keys, Radar, two engine shops, then a military RHIB. Flight is a dynamite gag.
The boat in How to Fish is a quest unlock, not a shop catalog of rowboats and cruisers. You earn Boat Keys by handing the Spider Crab Shell to the Lighthouse Keeper. You buy the Radar for $10 before you leave or the next rock never appears. After Patch 1.0.5 you may only sail to islands you have already unlocked. A faster engine does not write Radar coordinates. Dynamite under the hull does not skip the Forest, Desert, or Rocks.
There is no separate Starting Beach boat dealer selling a Speed Demon with a hidden flight toggle. Those names are leftover guesses from launch week. Live shops sell engine upgrades on later islands, dynamite on Island 2, and a military RHIB after the Mutated Bowhead Whale Fin hand-in. Ordinary sailing uses the keeper’s boat until that military craft appears.
Unlocking travel
- Finish Who stole my beer: full Beer to the keeper, Empty Beer Can as bait, Spider Crab, keep the Shell.
- Hand in the Shell for Boat Keys.
- Buy Radar ($10). Patch 1.0.10 removed the confusing X marker that was only your last death location.
- Load the boat and follow the live quest arrow to Island 2 (Forest).
If the boat will not start, you are missing keys, Radar, or a previous trophy—not fuel. The game does not document a stamina-style fuel tank that drains when you forget to sell fish. If the hull feels sluggish, you probably still have the first engine.
Engine upgrades
Two documented engine purchases sit on the story route:
- Getting an upgrade: Forest shop, about $230. This is the cheap engine achievement, not the fly stunt.
- I am speed: Rocks (Island 4) shop, about $860. This is the best engine for ordinary travel.
Neither engine makes the boat fly for I’m the bird now. If a video tells you to max horsepower and hit a Storm Island ramp, it is mixing two Steam tasks. The fly method is on Flying Boat: Island 2 dynamite (~$25) under a floating hull, then detonate from a safe distance. One bundle is enough. The boat survives.
What the boat is for
Use it to move between unlocked islands, dump loot on a dock, and park next to a Reel of Fortune. You can fight from the deck, but most bosses want you on land: Spider Crab on the lighthouse rock, Pufferfish rolling across desert sand, Albatross circling huts, Mutated Bowhead Whale on flat military ground. If you boat too far during the lava whale, the encounter can reset.
Patch 1.0.10 saves up to 64 ground items (weapons, tools, quest pieces, and creatures first). Leaving a rifle on the Lighthouse dock and sailing to Forest is now a real stash, not a disappearance bug—unless you overflow the cap.
Military boat and the sail home
The Volcano scientist wants the Whale Fin after the mutated fight. That hand-in produces military / RHIB keys and the mainland ending (We are so back). The RHIB is the story exit craft, not a secret third engine tier you buy with coins. After credits you can still roam unlocked islands for Fishipedia, skins, and gambling.
Co-op shares Radar unlocks. One host’s trophy chain is the lobby’s map. Mixed patches refuse sessions; verify files so everyone is on 1.0.10+. Private invite lobbies exist since 1.0.5 if you want a calm crossing.
Related pages
- Flying Boat — I’m the bird now with dynamite
- Walkthrough — trophy order that unlocks water
- Island Guide — shops per rock
- Achievements — Getting an upgrade and I am speed