How to fix Willy’s boat and reach Ginger Island in Stardew Valley

Back when Stardew Valley received update 1.5 on PC and consoles way back in December 2020, it also received an entirely fleshed out new island called Ginger Island and let me tell you, there’s a lot to do there. Now with some new additions in the 1.6 update of March 2024, there’s never been a better time to find paradise.

To reach Ginger Island, which is essentially your home away from home once you’ve established yourself, you’ll first need to complete the Community Center bundles — or the equivalent JojaMart questline, if you’re a Stardew Valley player with a wild side.

This means there’s potentially a ton of setup if you’re a new player who hasn’t already gone through the game’s “main quest.” If you have, there isn’t too much extra work.

Trust me, though, it’s worth it — Ginger Island is one of the best parts of Stardew Valley.

How to fix Willy’s Boat in Stardew Valley

Once you’ve finished up your Community Center bundles or JojaMart payments, if you’re that way inclined, Willy will mail you a letter saying that he has unlocked the back room in the Fish Shop. It can take two days for the letter to show up, so hang in there.

Prior to update 1.5, this ominous black door inside the shop didn’t serve a purpose, but now it’s your ticket to Ginger Island. Inside the Fish Shop’s unlocked room, you’ll find a decades-old boat in need of repairs. As is often the case in Stardew Valley, your job is only just getting started.

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To get the boat in working order, you’ll need to gather up a selection of items which each take a fair amount of work to get. There’s no other way to reach Ginger Island without repairing the boat, so strap in because this might take a while.

Five Iridium Bars

You need these to fix the anchor of the boat, otherwise you’re going to float right on past Ginger Island and nobody wants to see paradise slip through their fingers or disappear over the horizon. There’s a few different ways to get your hands on these:

• By placing 5 Iridium Ore and 1 Copper into a Furnace. Iridium Ore can be found while exploring the Mines or breaking rocks within the Quarry
• Golden Fishing Chests
• Possible drops from the following monsters:
  • Shadow Shaman (0.2%)
  • Shadow Brute (0.2%)
  • Iridium Bat (0.8%)
  • Purple Slime (0.9%)
  • Iridium Golems
• The Statue of Endless Fortune has a 25% chance to drop one Iridium Bar every day, as long as it isn’t a villagers birthday
• Occassionally sold at the Traveling Cart for between 3,000 and 5,000 Gold
• Purchased from Maru at the Desert Festival for 50 Calico Eggs each

Five Battery Packs

There’s no use fixing the boat if you haven’t fixed the machine that will give you your ticket to Ginger Island. You’ll need 5 Battery Packs to fix the ticket machine and thankfully, these are pretty easy to get:

• Created by Lightning Rods during a thunderstorm
• Created by a Solar Panel after seven sunny days
• Occassionally sold at the Traveling Cart for between 1,500 and 2,500 Gold
• Possible drop from Iridium Bats (5%)

200 Hardwood

Of course the most important thing is making sure that the boat doesn’t sink before you reach your destination and for that, you’ll need Hardwood. 

This Hardwood is possibly the most challenging resource in this quest to get your hands on, but if you plant some Mahogany Trees on the farm they’ll grow into trees which eventually can be chopped down to get Hardwood. On top of this, the Secret Woods (to the west of Cindersap Forest) has daily regenerating Hardwood stumps, which can be broken to provide 12 Hardwood per day.

How to get to Ginger Island in Stardew Valley

After repairing Willy’s boat, you’ll be allowed into the Fish Shop at 8:00 a.m. every day. This is worth mentioning since time is money in Stardew Valley, and it’s important to maximize it until you can set up a new beachfront property. You don’t want to doze off.

Traveling to Ginger Island works in the same way as traveling to the Calico Desert once you’ve repaired the bus. Simply purchase a ticket, enter the boat and sit back while Willy does all the hard work.

One last note! Before you take off with Willy, make sure you bring a watering can on your first trip — it’s not necessarily a tool that you use day-to-day at this point in your playthrough, but you’ll need it if you end up poking around the Volcano Dungeon.

What’s on Ginger Island in Stardew Valley?

After an initial cutscene the first time you visit, you’ll be free to explore the parts of Ginger Island that are currently unlocked to you, but Ginger Island holds a myriad of secrets to uncover and areas to unlock.

Unfortunately, unlocking new areas and features of Ginger Island requires something a little unusual — Golden Walnuts. These can be exchanged with Parrots, who will grant you access to new locations. You’ll need at least 100 of these nuts held aside to unlock Qi’s Walnut Room, where you can find a few new things to keep you occupied, such as the Perfection Tracker.

There are also new NPCs to meet on Ginger Island, puzzles to complete, an entirely new collection which works in exactly the same way as the Museum back in Pelican Town, and a whole new dungeon to go diving into.

However, possibly the best part about Ginger Island is the climate. Not only is it a tropical paradise where you can feel the sun on your skin, the farm here also follows the same conventions as the Greenhouse back on the farm. You can grow absolutely any crops here, regardless of seasonal limitations which would usually apply back home.