Willy stuck "Gone Fishing" and can't access Ginger Island

[tayloi]

Using the CBL Cheats Menu and the CBL Item spawner on one of my saves, and on this specific save I cannot get Willy to stop fishing. I'm in Summer, and have the letter from Willy about the boat repair. Even when I didn't have the mods active, Willy's shop could not be entered. I don't know what to do- I can obviously warp to Ginger Island using the cheat menu, but I can't freely explore it due to the turtles blocking the paths.

[lizardmang]

That's the message given before he sends an introductory letter to the player in the beginning of the game. Did you never receive that letter? Have you been in his shop before during this playthrough?

[tayloi]

im pretty sure i did go into his shop at least once??? to buy a higher quality rod before i got the mods working. i checked my letters and the only willy ones i have are the new items 1 and 2 and the boat quest one..... how did i managed to skip the letter????? i never skipped days, i always just slept

[lizardmang]

I've read quite a few reports of this bug now, but it seems to be unknown what causes it or how to fix it.

The only thing I can think to try is checking your save data for the event ID for when Willy gives you his old rod, which is when his shop becomes available. Delete it if it's there; add it if it's not. This post explains how to do that and contains a list of event IDs: https://community.playstarbound.com/threads/save-file-editing-guide-for-solving-some-common-issues.110762/

[Withered bonnie]

https://forums.stardewvalley.net/threads/missing-willy-quest.19233/#post-97243

This thread helped me.
didn't have the code in my save file that ConcernedApe provides in the safe file editing guide, so I had to find a code to get the letter from Willy instead.

I commented this under it:

I figured it out. I already had code in my save folder for mail that I was going to get for tomorrow.
Looked like this: <mailForTomorrow /><mailbox><string>robinWell</string></mailbox>

I copied the above code right after the robinWell code with no spaces:
<mailbox><string>spring_2_1</string></mailbox>

I loaded my game and I had mail from Willy that said he had come back from fishing and to meet him at the beach. I went to the beach and it triggered the jumpscene where he gifts me a bamboo pole.