Yes, I park the boat between two walls, then one floor above the storage space is enough and it's OK. The Vikings could manage even without an anchor and a mooring rope.
And what about the interaction between the ship and the pier : dock yes/no . I miss that, especially in the field, outside the base. We have gates, magic wands, a black forge, but the ship is in stone age condition. Well, that's probably for another section of the discussion. It's still a great game.
Good luck

It's possible - and imo desirable - to unload while not on the boat. If you can stand on a dock/shore in such a way that you can interact with the boat storage and a carts or chests storage then unloading becomes super fast and easy.

So I didn't miss anything. The ship moves when you unload material ashore without the support structure. The natives push it aside in an attempt to demolish it. You transfer metal materials across the map, and then this problem is, from my point of view, unimaginable. All ships normally have an anchor or mooring line.
You hatched 20 chickens in an area of 4 x 4 m. Then it was an interesting spectacle. Then she was everywhere. Almost under the ceiling, in the side boxes.
Chickens are tragic, someone give them at least 1 IQ.

A boat will stop moving if no one is in it. When you get to the shore, jump out, and it will stay there. But monsters love to attack boats, so it's better to destroy it yourself with the ax in shallow water and get the materials back.

Levitating chickens is a new one. I hadn't heard them do that. Usually they just hatch through walls and escape, sometimes right into the campfire.

Chickens are part sumo wrestler and have the same pushing power as a full grown viking. Good luck with getting them to move. If you want them somewhere else, your best bet would be to wait for them to lay eggs and move those instead.