The game has it's flaws, and some great moments, but so far one of the things my friends and I have have been loving is building a bigger and bigger boats and sailing them around.
The resource grind is a bummer, and the ship decay rate is absolutely infuriating. (We dont' like feeling forced to log in and repair hulls on a night we'd rather play something else). The PVP is not in a good place, it's buggy, and don't get me started on crocs that chase your boat/ship into the middle of the Ocean...but we keep logging in to hunt Ships of the Damned and Whales.
There are other things and experiences this game gives that really outshine the punishing difficulty of the "early access" bugginess of the game (for us).
:)