Can I refer to my catamaran as a ship?

[CatNewBee]

Originally Posted by sagablu

If he is calling his boat a ship, I will be calling my dink a yacht.

... some have a yacht as tender ...[emoji108]

[masonc]

Originally Posted by Mr B

I call my boat, (Catamaran, ) A pussy, at 34 feet its not big enough to be called a Catamaran,
But it is called a sailing vessel, if I need to talk to any one in Authority,

Going thru customs or Immigration, I am the master of the sailing vessel, #######
Thats what I have to write on the forms, Sailing Vessel,

I dont think I would like the hassles if I wrote Ship on my paper work,

Falsifying paper work can get your boat seized, Calling it a ship could be construed as false information,

But go for it, Its your boat, Hahahahaha

My 33ft boat is registered in the UK ships registry.

[GrowleyMonster]

Originally Posted by MikeDofFreo

I agree that you can call it what you like. Call it a tent or an RV perhaps. However, why would you want to?

Although there are many uses of the term ship, the correct technical definition is a three masted vessel square rigged on all three.


As to masters certificates, they do not all say "any tons". Mine says "unlimited Tonnage" and "unlimited waters".

regards
Mike

Sorry I was not thinking about possible differences on foreign licenses. US licenses say "Any Gross Tons" and "Upon Oceans". But the principle is the same. There are unlimited tonnage licenses and limited tonnage licenses, is what I was getting at, and generally in the industry we think of a vessel requiring an unlimited tonnage license, in ocean commerce, as a ship.

[astokel]

In Canada, it is a vessel.

[CatNewBee]

Originally Posted by astokel

In Canada, it is a vessel.

SV (sail vessel) or SY (sail yacht) - that is the question, SS (sail ship) sounds strange for a cat...

[CatNewBee]

...I guess:


- if you use to stay at the dock in marinas and yacht clubs, it's probably a yacht.
- if you anchor most of the time, it's for sure a vessel,
- if you need a harbor, than it's very likely a ship.

[danielamartindm]

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?

When verbally describing dinghy position or maneuvers to crew or shipmates, I find myself referring to "the dinghy, and the mother ship." Who ever heard of a mother boat, or a mother vessel?

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by anacapaisland42

Only if you wear a Captains Hat with braid

Every ships captain I've ever met doesn't have hair long enough to braid.

To the original question: In common usage, it's a poorly defined term and you will not be incorrect to use it but it may look silly.. It's only when you get into specific uses is it defined but thee are wildly different definitions depending on what the situation and country is.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by CatNewBee

SV (sail vessel) or SY (sail yacht) - that is the question, SS (sail ship) sounds strange for a cat...

I've always understood SS to stand for "steam ship"

[CatNewBee]

Originally Posted by StuM

I've always understood SS to stand for "steam ship"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_prefix

[GrowleyMonster]

Originally Posted by StuM

I've always understood SS to stand for "steam ship"

Me too, having actually sailed on numerous steam ships that were "SS" this or that.

[Davie J.]

If you own a catamaran, you can call it anything you want: a ship, floating RV, raft or shore hopping party yacht.

[Montanan]

Yes, indeed you can call your vessel a ship. Recall the S.S. Minnow, which "if you sit right back" and "hear a tale" that "the weather started getting rough, the tiny SHIP was tossed" and "the SHIP set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle".

BTW, S.S. stands for a Steam Ship, albeit the engine aboard the Minnow was apparently not steam but rather either gasoline powered as in one episode the Professor tried to make new spark plugs out of sea shells, and another episode where the glue they fabricated failed and the planks fell off and a diesel engine was depicted. Hence the correct prefix should likely be M.V. [Motor Vessel] or M.Y. [Motor Yacht].

In the case of the Minnow, if it had not "set ground" on the isle, it may have indeed been an S.S. - Sunken Ship.

[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

[Stonecutter36]

In the navy the only boats they have that are called BOATs are submarine