You'll want to keep this life ring, or one similar to it close to you until you get your sea legs. As always the horizon is off afar.

Captaincy

Manage your ship, mind your crewmen.
Your Ship is just a floating hull without a crew to man her. A crew works best when they are happy. Morale is rated on a scale of zero to a thousand, 1000 being the best, and zero being the worst rating achievable.

The Known Morale Scale:
1000 Loyal
800-999 Obedient
~675-799 Dependable
~650 Indifferent
~300-351 Careless
~150-299 Selfish
1~149 Angry
0 Mutinous

Currently your crew's morale only lowers when they are away from port for long periods of time, or when you travel through the whirlpool. Your crew's morale only raises when it is at one of the 8 ports.