"i can still remember him, with love light in his eyes;
but the light flickered out and parted, as the sun began to rise"
Sara Bareilles ~ Stoney End
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_JNS4uzy1A
i believe that the person on the boat 'just chilling' was you...
you observe yourself there from a distance, as if in 3rd person.
your first person awareness is tethered to your 'small self'
identity, which seeks gratification for it's immediate "needs".
by dreams end, your greater self has reached the shores of
a new land, where you might learn of things incomprehensible
to that limited perspective.