skiff n Cp OED ~ sb1 1 'a small sea-going boat, adapted to rowing and sailing; esp one attached to a ship; hence a small light boat of any kind' (1575-); DAE (1638-). See also BAITSKIFF,
BOAT, ICE SKIFF, TRAP1: ~ SKIFF.
1 A large partly-decked fishing boat, propelled by oars or small sail and used in the coastal fishery to set and haul nets and traps and for other purposes; freq merges with sense 2.
1611 Willoughby Papers 1/3 It[e]m 6 newe boates [and] one skiffe. [1712] 1895 PROWSE 272 Confirmed last year ... that Mr Jacob Rice, minister of St John's, should have as follows: From shallops three quintals of dry merchandable fish, From two-men boat two [quintals], From the skiffs one [quintal]. [1774] 1792 CARTWRIGHT ii, 34 At noon I went in a skiff and hauled the nets. [1822] 1928 CORMACK 97 A light skiff or punt is therefore the safest mode of conveyance along this horrific coast. 1842 JUKES ii, 30 The boat was a small unpainted skiff. T 43/7-64 The skiff would be on the collar an' you'd put this collar punt on when you'd take [the skiff off] an' go on. M 68-3 Around 1890, however, the fishery underwent a slump and it became increasingly difficult to obtain fish close to home. This caused a change in the boat type and the barque gave way to the 'big skiff' (about twenty feet in the keel and carried a four man crew). 1972 NEMEC 574 A 'skiff' was a large boat which could handle upwards of several thousand pounds of cod at one time. P 9-73 ~ One or two-men fisherman skiff, used for handlining in Fall time fishing in early 1900's. It had three sails.
2 A small vessel of up to twenty tons (18.1 mt).
[1808] 1976 O'NEILL ii, 504 [advertisement] Packet Boat—For Harbour Grace, Carbonear or any of the Out-Harbours. The subscriber respectfully informs the public that he has provided a New Skiff that rows six oars for the purpose of conveying passengers etc. to any of the Out-Harbours. 1957 MOUNTAIN 6 [They have] one mast, a low, snug mainsail, jib and driver at the stern, though occasionally two masts, and foresail as well as mainsail. The latter is called a skiff, the former a 'punt and driver,' to distinguish it from a punt without that appendage. 1925 Dial Notes v, 342 ~ A small, two-masted boat. [1923] 1946 PRATT 182 "The Drag-Irons": He who had learned for thirty years to ride / The seas and storms in punt and skiff and brig, Would hardly scorn to take before he died / His final lap in Neptune's whirligig. T 455/6-672 Fishing boats well, we used to build them, skiffs we call 'em. They'd be 'bout fifteen, sixteen feet keel, rigged with four sails. 1967 Bk of Nfld iv, 248 [We had a boat] about twenty tons with three sails; there were bunks and a place to cook... This boat was called a skiff... She had two spars with three large sails. We had a little five horsepower engine in her. 1974 Federal Licensing Policy 41 The [salmon] drift-net fishery started in the 1930's, when small 'skiffs' (single dory schooners) using cotton nets began stringing shore-nets together and 'drifting' through the inshore areas as much as 15 miles out during night hours. 1975 BUTLER 55 A larger type boat from seven to fifteen quintal capacity was named a skiff. These boats had a fore cuddy. The skiff was decked over from the forward part to about eight feet from the stern... They had gaff sails and booms on the lower part of the sail and they carried oars for rowing when calm.
3 Attrib, comb skiff collar: anchor, chain and rope attached by means of a loop or bight to a buoy and used to moor craft in a harbour; COLLAR (M 68-26).
skiff(s) crew: from two to six men ([1774] 1792 CARTWRIGHT ii, 35).
skiff-load: the number or quantity of fish, etc, the craft can carry.
[1774] 1792 CARTWRIGHT ii, 37 A skiff-load of wood was brought out of the sound. [1870] 1973 KELLY 44 After prayers a large skiff load of people pushed off from the stage before us. 1902 Christmas Bells 4 'Twould be a pity, skipper,' he said, 't' goa hoame 'ithout runnin' a cargo—a skiff load now, zur—just t' smuggle a bit of a skiff load.' 1957 Nfld Qtly Sep, p. 6 I'm shipping a skiffload of fish your way tomorrow, and I want you to be able to see straight if it comes to your culling board. T 43-64 An' you'd be back again to the schooner with a skiff load o' fish. 1966 SCAMMELL 23 There you are skipper. Not a vitamin in a skiff-load. And we got doughboys an' 'lasses sauce comin' up.
skiff-oar
[1786] 1792 CARTWRIGHT iii, 142 Tilsed hewed out another set of skiff-oars.
skiffsail: in local place-names.
1951 Nfld & Lab Pilot i, 116 Skiffsail rock, with a depth of less than 6 feet over it, is situated 3 ¾ cables [eastward] and 2 cables southward of Skiffsail point.
