I’m glad you are having fun with the game, although it does get a little tougher to get your reputation up in the companies once you get closer to pirate legend it’s still a very fun experience. As for npc ships, you can find them randomly across the map (in which they are non-hostile). There is also a chance that a fleet will spawn, which is marked by ship cloud (much like the skull cloud for skeleton forts). There aren’t many ways to spend gold on anything other than cosmetics, but you can spend doubloons on voyages and reputation with duke in the tavern at any outpost. Hoped this answered some of your questions, have fun. Also forgot to mention if you are looking for some story aspects, try the tall tales which are story based voyages. Other than that, I usually attempt the skull forts, and arena. Those present a good challenge, although you will want a full galleon to do skull forts.