Sailor, southeastern, at a distance, I hesitate to say (8)
I believe the answer is:
seafarer
'sailor' is the definition.
(seafarer is a kind of sailor)
'southeastern at a distance i hesitate to say' is the wordplay.
'southeastern' becomes 'se'.
'at a distance' becomes 'afar' (I've seen this before).
'i hesitate to say' becomes 'er'.
'se'+'afar'+'er'='SEAFARER'
(Other definitions for seafarer that I've seen before include "Sinbad?" , "One travelling by ship" , "man being attracted by waves?" , "Salt" , "A traveller on the ocean, like sailor" .)