Explain how it works?

@daedalflower512 tucking.

As others have said, it sounds like people sneaking aboard your Ship, hiding, and then striking when they feel like the time is most opportune for whatever they are trying to accomplish. This is part of the game, as the first person perspective leaves you with lots of blindspots (anywhere except exactly where you are looking), and there are numerous "Hide" emotes that hide your gamertag from being seen by others in close proximity meaning you have to notice them with your eyes.

This is a common tactic used by other pirates to get the drop on those who are unsuspecting. There are counters to it, of course, if you are vigilant enough. Some suggestions to help reduce the situation where you are taken off guard:

• Keep an eye out for Rowboats. If they are around, of course it could be one that was simply spawned in by the game, but they might also be a sign that other pirates are in the area and targeting you potentially. Don't get super paranoid about seeing them, because again they may just be spawned, but ones out in the water are more likely to have been used by another pirate. This might be cause to do a check of your Ship for stowaways.

• Keep an eye out for Mermaids in the water. Mermaids who are not there for you, and are there for other players away from their own Ship, will not have a visible smoke signal so you need to be much more aware for these. Skilled pirates are also able to position their Mermaids so that they may be less obvious by taking steps to get them to spawn a bit further from your Ship to reduce the chance of being noticed.

• Keep an eye on the horizon, and check it frequently even if it means pausing what you're working on to do a sweep in all directions. A Ship in the distance might not be as far as you think - those pirates might have taken a swim and made their way over to your location leaving their Ship further away to not raise alarms. Certainly not always the case, but at least worth a little paranoia. Again, this might be grounds to check out your Ship for stowaways.

• Check your Ship for stowaways as I have noted above. This means specifically checking out of the way places that you would be more likely to simply either not go most of the time or walk past without potentially seeing something at the edge of your vision. Some Ships actually have some spots that I would call exploits that people can make use of (for instance the beams that stick off the edges of a Sloop canopy where a pirate using a Hide Emotes will actually sort of disappear into the environment making them harder to see. Tucked close up to the edge of Canons is also common, up in the Crow's Nest, on the Crossbeam of the Sails, and many other places. You can make checks by walking around and swiping your Sword at locations and seeing if you knock loose a pirate that is tucked away. Another handy option is to toss some Blunderbombs around the Ship to knock pirates out of hiding. There is so much that could be said about checking for stowaways - might be worth watching a quick YouTube video on the topic to get some idea of where crafty pirates might hide out.

Hopefully these tips will help you reduce instances where pirates get the drop on you seemingly out of nowhere. It is honestly probably surprising to most people just how easy it is to overlook things like that in this game (watch a few streamers here and there and see just how often people walk right by them while they are hiding and don't notice them). The key is you need to always be vigilant and aware of your surroundings because there are always other players on the server with you, and you might be their target as opposed to them quietly doing Voyages and engaging in PvE as PvP and stealing from others is also a part of this game (and supported by Commendations and Achievements). More experience and time with the game will also help with all of this, so keep on learning.

Best of luck out there on the seas!