Can I refer to my catamaran as a ship?

[Coltrek]

A ship has to be drydocked, or hauled on a large Rail. A boat can be hauled or lifted.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Wayfarer1008

Technically the "Ship" designation is used for boats in excess of 100 feet. You can call your boat a ship here is nothing stopping you but navy's and government agencies will not recognize it until your over that 100 foot measurement

Websters Dictionary has a few definitions. None subscribe to a specific length. The USCG usually differentiates by gross tonnage.
- a large seagoing vessel.
- Boat, especially one propelled by power or sail

There is no universal technical definition and if you call your boat the SS Minnow, I can pretty much guarantee the govt ships will respond just as well as if you called it something else.

[GlobeRounder]

Originally Posted by Whiz-Bang

Just wondering what qualifies as a ship. Can a sailing yacht be a ship? Does it have anything to do with the size of the vessel?

Old adage... You can load a "boat" aboard a ship but can't load a "ship" aboard a boat... Apparently if you carry a dinghy on board you can call your vessel whichever you like. (Presumably this applies even if your dinghy is a deflated inflatable.) Have fun!

[olivert]

You can call it what you may. But why?

[hip82]

Originally Posted by Lihuedooley77

Submarines, are not known as ships, they are called boats.

Very true, even when they're over hundreds of feet long.

As any good submariner can tell you, there are only two types of ships.... Submarines, and targets.

[Montanan]

Ship is either a noun or a verb.

As a verb, a vessel [ship, boat, dinghy, etc.] that is taking in water over the side.

The occurrence of such action is an instance where size truly doesn't matter when water is coming overboard.

Too much ship and the vessel earns the prefix designation of S.S.

Sunken Ship.

[GrowleyMonster]

Originally Posted by Wayfarer1008

Technically the "Ship" designation is used for boats in excess of 100 feet. You can call your boat a ship here is nothing stopping you but navy's and government agencies will not recognize it until your over that 100 foot measurement

Do you have a reference for this? Because it is kind of funny. I have certainly never seen it in the relevant CFRs.

[GrowleyMonster]

One might well be forgiven for referring to any vessel with two white masthead lights as a ship, at night, and a single white masthead light as a boat. At over 50 meters LOA a vessel is required to show range lights, i.e. two masthead lights, one well forward, the other aft and higher up. No way to tell a 50m LOA vessel from a 1000' tanker at night from a distance, but you can certainly tell a 50m vessel from a 49m vessel.

[wjhutchings]

Ships carry boats boats don't carry ships

[ozdigennaro]

Truly magnificent. What a world we live in!

[fieldmedik]

Originally Posted by LoudMusic

I've heard a few definitions that I like but my favorite is that "Ships carry boats". Does your catamaran carry a boat?

My "ship" carries my "boat" (dinghy). 😅

[Mr B]

Ask any Marina if you can park your ship in their Marina, And at what cost, Hahaha

[captainjim47]

A ship is a boat that can carry another boat. But as you approach the minimum that becomes contradictory to the purpose of language, to communicate information. A more informative definition maybe along the lines of... a ship is a boat that is normally expected to be capable of carrying a boat in due course of its purpose.

[StuM]

Justice Potter Stewart:
I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description , and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it,

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Wayfarer1008

Technically the "Ship" designation is used for boats in excess of 100 feet. You can call your boat a ship here is nothing stopping you but navy's and government agencies will not recognize it until your over that 100 foot measurement

Maybe your government / navy wherever that may be, but it isn't universal...