skipper

noun, the captain of a ship, esp. of a small trading or fishing vessel (COD)

“I was skipper on the ferry boat for 30-some years, and our biggest concern were girls that were pregnant and coming up for delivery.”

“He was a skipper in the Canadian Steamship Line … And then he retired and he come on the ferry. He was an old gentleman.”

“There were a skipper, two mates, two wheelsmen … two watchmen, three deckhands. For aft you had two engineers, two oilers, three fireman, two cooks.”

“Captain is top of the pile. Mate is second. Skipper’s responsible for everything on the ship. And then the mate is next.”

“We went on and tried to go as far as we could, and we got by Saint George’s, and it was getting so the skipper says to the major, ‘We can’t do it.’ So we pulled out of the convoy and went in to Saint George’s, and we anchored for two days ’till the wind went down.”