How do you even raft with range after the combat system update? Is it easier than Thunder?
here what i think you should do ...
rb into smithing talent and attempt to complete refining
if you can find a few cheap refine potions you can skip the last few tedious ranks.
while your at it, you can also quickly finish mining for the +str
next rb go into warrior but rank up range attack and arrow revolver [if you can get the skill] thus allowing you to raft for exploration exp [more ap]! While your at it rank up any missing warrior base skills if you have any ap left [dont bother ranking fh/charge?/blunt/axe mastery/evasion/def?/counterattack unless you have the ap for it]
after that go into carpentry talent and start ranking carpentry. If it gets boring you can take a break and slowly train any leftover +str combat skills and use any extra ap you gain.