Boat

A Boat is an item that first appeared in the "Seecret Friday Update 5" to Alpha mode. Currently, Boats can only be found in Alpha mode.

A boat can be crafted from 5 Wood blocks in the pattern below:



Boat Riding
Like Minecarts, a boat must be right clicked to enter or exit. Since Boats do not operate on tracks, they move accordingly to the player's will or a water current. The boat also moves significantly faster than a player on water but is slower than a Minecart. While some movement bugs are still present, it's possible to steer using the movement keys. Boats also have movement relative to the camera- if you press the forward movement key, the boat will turn itself (and you) so the front of the boat is pointing in the direction you were looking.

Fast-moving boats will have a "water spray" visual effect representing the bow wave.

Boats change direction when they come in contact with a player, another boat, or a mob. If you attempt to go through a spot with only 1 block of air between the water and ceiling, the boat (and you) will successfully pass through, but you will take suffocation damage.

You can place a boat in Lava, but if you try to ride it you will instantly die and the boat will break. Due to a bug, boats can be placed on a solid block. They can be ridden, although they move extremely slowly if you try riding and moving them on solid block. Like Minecarts, boats can be used in water slides. This video shows how a boat works.

In multiplayer, boats now are visible to other players as of 10th of November, 2010.

Fragile Vessels
Boats are fragile and cannot be picked up again. If you crash a boat into another boat, the boat being ridden will be destroyed while the other one will just bump away. If a boat collides with a block at a fast enough speed, the boat will break and drop 3 Wood blocks and 2 Sticks. The same will happen if you try to pick it up like a Minecart by hitting it with left click repeatedly. A crash will drop the player in the water if they are riding at the time.

If you enter sneak mode while on a boat, the boat will not break on impact while traveling at high speed. It's also recommended to bring a few spares if you are planning any kind of lengthy boat journey.

Dock
Boats do not break when crashing into Slow Sand, so it is recommended to make docks and harbors out of slow sand.

Boats can't be returned to inventory and must stay at a dock. The double doors are recommended to prevent mobs from pushing the boats away.

Canal
Canals, consisting of a series of trenches dug on land filled with flowing water, are a possible method of transportation across large distances using boats. A canal transportation system is more time-consuming to construct, but more energy-efficient than a rail transportation system. The double doors can be used as consecutive locks on the canal to control the direction of the flow of water in a canal to construct a flowing fully horizontal waterway. The locks can also be used for boat lift between different elevation of water. (For real life, see wikipedia's canal, lock (water transport), and boat lift.)

Due to a bug, a Boat will rocket vertically when it hits a waterfall. This can be used to the player's advantage, such as by using the elevator to reach a high place that mobs cannot. A video demonstration of this bug being utilized in the form of a Water Elevator can be seen here.