GeistSR: I think Ultima 2 has the most difficult start of any RPG. As you say, you can easily wander until you run out of food before meeting another monster to kill to pay for more food. A ship helps, but to get a ship you first need a blue tassle from a thief, and who knows how long it'll be before one appears and actually drops it for you.
I recommend the first thing you do is go to 1990 AD and enter the town next to LB's castle. Inside you will find a food shop (McDonall's) where you can repeatedly steal food and escape town before the guards can catch you. In a few minutes you can have thousands of rations of food, which should last you the rest of the game unless you get spectacularly unlucky with the tassle and/or ships.
You could also try stealing weapons and armor if you want, but the success rate is lower, and the quality of what you get seems to depend on your agility, so unless you started as a thief, it may not be worth your time.
Thanks, and yes, the start of ultima 2 is unforgivable, even more than wasteland.
It's also quite amazing how it holds up so much poorly than the original.