Anchors Up!

Monterey, California

March 21, 2021

Thanks to my friend Chuck for sending me a link that provided the following explanation of the difference between a ship and a boat (and a yacht, too). In honor of my friends who served on a sub, I refer to Hi Ho Silver as a boat.

ship

noun

a vessel larger than a boat for transporting people or goods by sea.

boat

noun

a small vessel propelled on water by oars, sails, or an engine.

yacht

noun

any of various recreational watercraft

A yacht is a sail or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, so the term often applies to such vessels that have a cabin with amenities that accommodate overnight use, America's Cup racing yachts being an exception as to not having accommodations. To be termed a yacht, as opposed to a boat, such a pleasure vessel is likely to be at least 33 feet (10 m) in length, give or take some.

The term, yacht, originates from the Dutch word jacht (pl. jachten, which means "hunt"), and originally referred to light, fast sailing vessels that the Dutch Republic navyused to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries.

A ship can have shipped aboard boats and yachts, whereas, a yacht can have shipped aboard a boat [a.k.a. a dinghy or tender] and a boat can not ship aboard either a yacht or a ship.

Ship happens. But does boat happen?

But lest we not forget that the S.S. Minnow of Gilligan's Island fame was called a "tiny ship". But it certainly did not appear to be a Steam Ship, albeit provided the S.S. prefix to the name.

Some other common prefixes for watercraft are:

Cable Ship – CS

Fishing Vessel – FV

Gas Turbine Ship – GTS

Lifeboat – LB

Motor Tanker – MT

Motor Vessel/Motor Ship – MV/MS

Motor Yacht – MY

Nuclear Ship – NS

Platform Supply Vessel – PSV

Research Vessel – RV

Royal Mail Ship – RMS

Sailing Vessel – SV

Training Ship – TS

Whereas submarines are typically called boats; their size doesn't seem to matter.