You can also build a cheap MF, just the hull and QJ5, to gate between your worlds. This ship almost never travels across space, it just moves stuff from one gate to the next. It's cheap and early in the game you have the slots to have 2 cargo ships, one a PVT to expand and a cheap one to gate around.

Edit: The swashbuckler is normally gone the first time you need a slot for something else, as you noticed it's just too heavy to be of much use.