Yeah, you look dead, Michael. None of this happened last time. We're not sure what's going on now.
The description of the ferryman's employer sounds like Imare/Pinkie Pie. Which... come to think of it, if it was underwater or similar that'd explain a lot. Why there's only rumors of it, why we couldn't find it, how there's a Houseless stronghold in the first place. Even why you'd want or need a ferry to get to it. As I recall there's a dungeon or something in the middle of the lake; I could totally see Pinkie building a party mansion inside a cave.
Speaking of which, I get the feeling "party" or "fun" or similar might be the password. Not that that's terribly helpful to us now.
Back to the topic at hand, it sounds like we can move our perceptions around, but... uh... I'm not sure if we have a "body" or not. We have a magicka pool, and we can "feel" things, like falling on the ground, but doing so doesn't actually bring the ground closer to us, so...
I say we try to move or push our perceptions towards the center of the lake. Pinkie Pie's got a decent chance of being able to sense us when we're dead, so if she's in there it might be worthwhile to try to get there.
Otherwise... dunno, maybe the rising of the sun will bring us back to life or something? Pretty sure it was day when we died last time, night this time. Celestia halp?
One other thing- our Luck is listed as "?" That seems pretty suspicious/significant. It was 58.0 prior to death.