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Anonymous
Anonymous asked in Cars & TransportationBoats & Boating · 2 months ago

Is there any word for “driving” a boat?

When you drive a car it is called driving, and when you fly a plane it’s called flying, but is there any equivalent word for when you’re maneuvering a boat? There may be certain words for specific types of boats, for example sailing if it’s a sailboat, or rowing, but is there any general terms that applies to boats as a whole?

12 Answers

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  • 1 month ago

    The activity of driving the boat is likely regularly called "piloting the boat". You may likewise hear individuals say "directing the boat," exploring the boat" or a lesser-known "conning the boat. Yet, the basic term is "Piloting".

  • Anonymous
    2 months ago

      If it is your own, private vessel, you can say what you want.

    "Sailing" is sufficient  for crewing on,  commanding, and/or  steering a vessel; powered or not.

      You can call your 15' Sunfish a "ship", or  an "it",  even,   if you  wish.

      Technically; "Piloting" doesn't mean steering, control, or command of a vessel; like an Airplane's Pilot would. It means usage of  an external man  to guide  vessel  thru shoals, reefs,  or to a berthage.

  • 2 months ago

    The person who is in actual control of the direction of travel is called the "Helmsman". If it is a small boat the person might also be called the captain. On a ship (a vessel of greater then 100 foot keel) the Captain gives the orders to the helmsman and also to the engine room telegrapher. Even on a "crew racing boat" (a row boat) the tiller is controlled by the helmsman. On a row boat with just one rower, a second person might sit where they can see a head of the boat to direct the person rowing and is called the helmsman.

  • F
    Lv 7
    2 months ago

    I think “sailing” applies to all sorts of boats not just sailing boats.

  • 2 months ago

    Not that I know of. In general terms, you can just call it steering a boat or a ship. There are more ways you can describe it, such as saying that someone is at the wheel or at the helm of a boat, or at the tiller if the boat has a tiller.

    If you want to be poetic, you can say that someone is piloting a boat, but in some circumstances that could be misleading since a pilot has a specific function in marine situations; it's a person who has detailed knowledge of a port and is taken on board when a boat or ship is approaching that port, solely for the purpose of making sure the vessel gets into port safely.

    If you say that John is sailing a boat, that almost always means John is steering it. If you say that John and Mary are sailing today, that doesn't say who is steering the boat.

  • fuzzy
    Lv 7
    2 months ago

    coxwain steers a boat or ship, captain is in charge, pilot is taken aboard for entering/leaving ports, skipper is a generic term for the person in charge

  • Anonymous
    2 months ago

    THAT IST DRIVING AN BOAT: AN DIFFERENT TYPE OF VEHICLE THAT IST CONTROLLED BY THE DRIVER:

  • Anonymous
    2 months ago

    One pilots a vessel, captains a vessel, navigates a vessel, as well as sails, paddles, rows, motors, steers and commands.

    Source(s): SOURCES: DICTIONARY, THESAURUS, MANUAL OF STYLE, and DICTIONARY OF NAUTICAL TERMS. All available online.
  • Anonymous
    2 months ago

    Sailing - sailboat

    Piloting - a powered water vessel

    Operating is another term used.

  • Anonymous
    2 months ago

    navigating, steering, sailing, operating 

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