Salem

I've recently aquired the seamanship skill and constructed my first rowboat (after no small ammount of cricketeering, mind) and I'm a bit confused regarding the wear and tear when you use it, it doesn't seem to be consistent at all. Sometimes I go away to haul some lime or logs and it barely takes any damage at all, other times I use it to go foraging and come back with it at 50% even if the distance traveled is roughly the same. Are there other factors than distance traveled I should be taking into account?

You are probably deceived by the fact that the wear can sometimes be hard to see. The interaction between the red decay coloring and the boat's native red-brownish wood colors is a bit unfortunate. Decay is entirely consistent with distance traveled, and with that only.

Fair enough, thanks for the speedy reply.

do they decay while not on a claim like just about everything else? if so maybe you are away from it longer during your foraging trips than on your hauling trips.

Yes, boats do decay while not on a claim. I have a boat that I use in conjunction with my sled for a bigger carry load, so I've never used my boat on water. I've left it out a couple of times, and it's gotten up to 50% damage before I noticed and repaired it.