Originally posted by GunsForBucks:

Do not leave boats in the water. Put them in a box.

Birds can land on a boat and the AI gets confused and the boat will literally fly off thinking it is the bird. <honestly I really want to see this, it is a known issue>

Not only that but if you teleport near it you can actually flip it over and it will destroy itself, if you don't have a bench around close enough the parts will despawn.

Just don't leave boats out at all, it is asking for trouble.

I would love to think the gulls are flying off with boats but the dev's say it just not possible. Breaking it down seems to be the best solution. If you have a lot of stuff just make more chests.