I go ashore in a ship when visiting them (7)

I believe the answer is:

islands

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'visiting them' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'i go ashore in a ship' is the wordplay.
'go ashore' becomes 'land' (I've seen this in another clue).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'a ship' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
'land' going within 'ss' is 'slands'.
'i'+'slands'='ISLANDS'

'when' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for islands that I've seen before include "Areas surrounded by water" , "Detached areas" , "Delos, Canvey and Taiwan" , "Sin, lads, you're surrounded by water" , "Eg, archipelago" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

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