I liked the sailing portions in Wind Waker, they’re pretty chill. My bigger problem with that game was the number of mcguffins you have to collect. Even if the ship was going lightspeed, most of the game is looking at your map where the next key/treasure/artifact is marked, sailing there, fighting one enemy, repeat. Even after all of the map was explored, it kept going. Member that tiny island you found first thing? Turns out there’s not one, not two, but three magic artifacts buried in the sand! Now go fetch, boy.
The only thing that kept me sane was the sound of rolling waves and gently swelling music
Sunless Sea mentioned! Most of its value is in setting, writing and atmosphere, which are all really well executed. The gameplay was fun enough, but combat is tedious and I tried to avoid it, like you’d do in a horror game. I see it more as a visual novel with some exploration and resource management. Focus on the story, the characters, the locations. Fetch a macguffin only because it makes the story progress or because it makes you go beyond the explored world, not because you’re so interested in the act of fetching.