Also, that raft is just a flimsy as it looks. Save the big ocean voyages until you can make something better.

Generally you want to drive your boat up onto land (you can hoe a flat spot if needed) and take your axe to the mast and bust it back into its materials. Stow that in a chest at the workbench until you need it again, and build it on demand. This is also how you portage the ship across land, and you can also go through portals this way to build the boat on the other end.
Get used to breaking up your boat, in other words.
also, after the raft, boats are made with large numbers of *nails* which *sink* in the water. It is, at that point, critical to always park in viking deep or less water so you can recover the nails when the inevitable happens.
People (me too!) build elaborate docks and ports and such, which by the way you can do with little more than a hoe and wood. There are merits to this at your main home if it has sea access and you like having the boat around for effect. That is fine, it just takes some understanding of the key points above (that you will still need to bust and build if you use portals and that you need to park in shallow water). What I do is raise terrain with the hoe until I have a large (about the size of those A frame homes you find everywhere) area that I can walk neck/chest deep in when the water is calm (swim when big waves come in). Then I raise a terrain wall from the shore out so you can park along side this and jump back and forth from the boat. Taper it off or add a ladder so you can get out of the water if you take a swim. Then add whatever buildings you need to that.

a pic of one of my early goes at the above concept; this one is not quite big enough for the biggest ship but I mostly use the middle ship anyway. The idea is easy to see. I clearly have stone working at this point but that is just cosmetics.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2413829330

Cheers for more info gang, appreciated

I never leave a boat in water, just keep a chest of boat parts in a boathouse near the shore and build it whenever you need it. Destroy it and re-chest the parts when done.

If the boat hits something it takes damage. That can accumulate pretty quickly, destroying the boat. Just leave it where it is and don’t put anything around it. It won‘t float away. Note: it still can get attacked or take damage from rocks beneath it.

Yes, this is normal. Each time the raft hits or sounds like it hits a rock in water, it will damage raft as well as night critters hitting on it. Best to keep a crafting table next to it and repair raft often. I have buildt a raised flat floor next to water and put raft on it when put in right place as to be docked. Then I destroy raft with axe, pick up pieces and drop in water when I want to use it.

Cheers for the info, as I said I'm new to this but loving it, just beat the Big Dear and made a Pick Axe

I don't think anchors exist unless they were just added.

A boat will not "drift" if you get off it. If you are the only one on the boat or playing solo the boat will stop as soon as you jump off it.

Out to sea and moving? Boat will stop dead the moment you jump off. Next to land it won't drift away or anything.

The only worry with a boat is with the waves banging it against stuff. The things you put around it may actually have broken the boat.

"Most" of the time they can be left without issue, but to be safe I find it better to pull into shallow areas and break the boat and carry it or put it in a box.