Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Building in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is something that players will quickly find to be a huge aspect of the game. Even on the tutorial island AKA the Great Sky Island that Link wakes up on and must complete before touching the ground of Hyrule, players will be heavily incentivized to build or combine all sorts of different things to overcome different situations.

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One of the earliest challenges, for example, is reaching one of the four tutorial Shrines with a large lake blocking the path, the In-isa Shrine. To do so, he needs to make a raft with a sail that can catch the wind. So, let’s go over how exactly players are meant to do that in LoZ: Tears of the Kingdom and what other options they have to get across, if any.

Updated October 11th, 2023 by Jacob Buchalter: Originally when this guide first came out, Tears of the Kingdom had just been released. Players were still being introduced to the building system in TotK and only just starting to experiment with all the wacky things they could do. Nowadays, however, anyone starting the game is likely already going to be familiar with the fact that it has a complex building system before they even boot it up. Still, for those who are just starting out, or even for those who are coming back to the game and need a refresher, let’s go over how to put boats together.

Crafting Boats, Rafts, & Everything In-Between

First off, to craft a boat players will need to get familiar with the ‘Attach’ function of the Ultrahand ability that Link receives from Rauru very early on. Using Attach will allow players to stick all sorts of different objects together, up to a limit of 21 different items being glued together. When they first approach this lake blocking their way to the In-isa Shrine in the tutorial area, there are a few sails and tree trunks intentionally placed nearby for fresh players to see, cut down, stick together, and make a boat out of. Not exactly the hardest ‘quest’ in the game, but one that takes players a bit more time than expected.

Now, the most iconic and ‘stereotypical’ raft/boat players will likely make is the one that slaps three trunks together, side-by-side, with a sail on top. This will work in almost every scenario that Link will need a raft in, as there are almost always trees nearby to cut down. But, in the rare scenario that players can’t find something that will function as a sail (even a vertical piece of wood works as one, by the way) there are plenty of other options that utilize different materials or even Zonai Devices.

Other Boat & Raft Options

All that said, there will be plenty of circumstances where players won’t have any wind that their sail can catch, or there is wind but it’s incredibly slow. Alternatively, they may even need a boat that fights against a current or can maneuver around obstacles.

In all these situations in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, it’s much easier to rely on the Zonai Devices that Link can find spread out all over Hyrule (instead of Sheikah tech, oddly enough) or gather from the Device Dispensers found in a few key areas on the ground (and plenty of different areas in the skies). For example, here’s a brief (and not all-encompassing table of what items can work as a sail and what items float and can be used as the actual ‘floor’ of the boat/raft:

Of course, that’s not every single item that can be used as a boat’s sail or floor. But, in general, anything that creates a ‘gust’ of wind when fused to a weapon and swing will likely work as a sail, and anything that’s put into water and well…floats, can usually also carry Link’s weight as well.

There are a few other creative ways to give their rafts some forward momentum such as using a sideways balloon to ‘lift’ them horizontally or even using wood and some Zonai Wheels to create a paddleboat of sorts. And, once players find Tarry Town and have access to a Device Dispenser with Steering Sticks, they can also make pilotable crafts. In all honesty, almost anything besides a boulder or something made of heavy iron will work as a raft if players are creative enough.