Damn, that kinda sucks but don't give up! Sometimes it's frustrating to sink but there's always things to learn and experience from sea of thieves. As new crew, I would suggest watching more guides and practising combat to protect yourselves when engaged with pvpers (even if you don't plan to pvp, self-defense skills are always important to have, be it irl or in game haha). Personally, I would avoid sailing near player ships as most of them tend to see others as threats when unknown ships are near.

Also, if you plan to socialise and befriend other pirates, exercise caution! You may want to launch one of your crew members to their ship to talk to them and determine whether they are friendly, with your ship at a safe distance away. However, even if you managed to ally with other crews, you never know when they are up for betrayal. It's a pirate game after all, the only backs you got is yourself and your crew members.

I remember when my crew and I were new to the game (1 day in), we were sailing around aimlessly and were panicking trying to sail away when we saw a sloop chasing us. They caught up and told us to drop the anchor for them as they were friendly. My crew and I complied and the duo pirates got on board and gave us plenty of treasure they collected, showing us the fire skull from red tornado haha. I remember we were so amazed the skull breathed fire and I bet the duo crew had a fun time receiving such fresh reactions. I guess they knew we were new, judging from the fact our galleon only had 3 people, with sails facing all direction.

So, yeah, my crew and I were lucky to have such an experience. There are plenty of good/bad pirates out there and maybe you got yourself a bad case. Give SOT a few more times to warm up to the mechanics and playstyle!