Questions from this page use the current page as the primary answer context.
Summary
Players will have a chance to encounter Castaways while at sea
Castaways are NPCs that will occasionally spawn on Fishing Spots and on NPC Ships
Each Castaway has a target Town destination they must to be returned to
Rescuing
Players can accept a Castaway onto their ship by approaching within 8 tiles of it and using the "Accept Escort" shift-click menu option or saying "I will take thee"
Players must first trigger at least one Creature Spawn from a Fishing Spot before any Castaways at that location can be accepted from there
Players will receive a "Danger still lurks in the water and you must fish and uncover it first before you may do that" message if a Creature Spawn has not yet occured from a Fishing Spot where a player attempts to accept a Castaway
Players can accept Castaways from an another player's ship if that ship is unoccupied or the player is considered friendly to that ship
To rescue a Castaway, players must sail them to the Town listed for the NPC which is displayed on single-click
A rescue is completed if the NPC enters the Guard Zone of the listed town, or the player double-clicks a Dockmaster within the Town
The Guard Zone in some coastal towns do not extend far into the ocean, so the player should use a Dockmaster in these locations (each town should have several reachable)
When a player successfully rescues a Castaway, a random Ship Upgrade or Crewmember Contract added into their ship's Pending Salvage
Limitations
Players can have at most 2 Castaways on board their ship at a time
Players will not be able to accept a Castaway on a Ship if any hostile creatures are present on the ship
Failure
Players can Abandon a Castaway by shift-clicking and selecting the "Abandon Escort" menu option
Abandoning a Castaway will delete the NPC
If a ship ever sinks or docks, all Castaways on board the ship will automatically be treated as being Abandoned (deleted)