Brave little boat capsized at point unknown (5)
I believe the answer is:
gutsy
'brave' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'little boat capsized at point unknown' is the wordplay.
'little boat' becomes 'tug'.
'capsized' is a reversal indicator.
'at' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'point' becomes 's' (S is an example).
'unknown' becomes 'y' (algebra).
'tug' back-to-front is 'gut'.
'gut'+'s'+'y'='GUTSY'
(Other definitions for gutsy that I've seen before include "Brave" , "Spirited; greedy" , "Courageous, spirited" , "Being full of courage" , "Plucky" .)