Figure to go to sea, perhaps, in a vessel (4)
I believe the answer is:
vase
'vessel' is the definition.
(vase is a kind of vessel)
'figure to go to sea perhaps' is the wordplay.
'figure' becomes 'v' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'to go to' says to put letters next to each other.
'perhaps' indicates an anagram.
'sea' anagrammed gives 'ase'.
'v'+'ase'='VASE'
'in a' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for vase that I've seen before include "Jar for cut flowers" , "Container for cut flowers" , "Flower-display holder" , "Ornamental vessel (for flowers etc)" , "Ornament for flowers" .)