Currently, the Epheria Sailboat and Frigate gear do not have safe upgrade options after +5; any failure after that point results in a downgrade, with no force-upgrade options or Cron Stone options. The newer ships like the Caravel have the option to use Cron Stones and force upgrades.

It would be nice if the older ship gear would be updated to make them easier to enhance to +10. I still like using my Frigate from time to time due to its speed and smaller size, and I'm sure some others do too.

I've got some market pre-orders up, but no one's sold even one in the past month (for obvious reasons), so it's unlikely I'll get one anytime soon, if ever.

No, work on it like other adventurers before you, enough free stuff, easy ways and pitty systems.