Same! I'm going west to east, my current base a temperate forest at the edge of the desert (the ship is at the desert) with 10 colonists and some 30 animals.
I made the mistake of going straight to the ship after my second base, without enough food everyone was going crazy and dying. I reloaded an earlier save, using said third base as a launchpoint and farmland for the ship.
What's annoying about the ship is that when you arrive, your animals and colonist don't automatically unload everything. Will need to spend at least 2 years making a proper fort for the ship!
I made the mistake of going straight to the ship after my second base, without enough food everyone was going crazy and dying. I reloaded an earlier save, using said third base as a launchpoint and farmland for the ship.
What's annoying about the ship is that when you arrive, your animals and colonist don't automatically unload everything. Will need to spend at least 2 years making a proper fort for the ship!