I cannot get past the first puzzle, the crystals reset before I can get to them, it is difficult to say the least with a laptop trackpad and the scrolling screen, any advice? It takes too long to reach the crystal from when you step on the trigger button.
Once you recruit the pirate, she'll take you to the base island. You can take the ship from there (walk south) sail to the left, up then right and you sould see a number of the islands, land on the one with the tree (I'm recalling from memory) finding the islandsis the least of your problems.