Sailor made to go, possibly without leave (6)
I believe the answer is:
absent
'go possibly without leave' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'sailor made' is the wordplay.
'sailor' becomes 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman).
'made' becomes 'sent' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'ab'+'sent'='ABSENT'
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for absent that I've seen before include "elsewhere" , "lack of attention" , "nowhere to be seen" , "Forgetful, with mind on other things" , "Missing or dreamy" .)