n. — historical; Newfoundland, Transport
a boat that carries supplies, passengers and mail to small settlements not served by the coastal boats that stopped at more accessible or larger settlements.
Type: 1. Origin — The term bay boat describes a vessel that stops at various coastal settlements, 'outports', around Newfoundland (see DNE, s.v. "bay" (4)). A bay boat may carry passengers (see the 1906 quotation), mail (see the 1900 quotation) and supplies (see the 1975 quotation) along a designated route. Bay boats serve as the primary means of transportation to remote areas. Many of its earlier written attestations relate to petitions created by smaller settlements which desired better access (see the 1904 quotation). The term bay boat derives from the fact that boats were travelling to and from different bays along the coast, such as Placentia Bay (see the 1928 quotation), explaining the spelling variant of "the Bay boat" (see the 1938 and 1975 quotations). Bay boat is used in opposition to coastal boat, which does not stop along most bays (see the 1914 and 1938 quotations).
See also COD-2, s.v. "bay boat", which is marked as "Cdn (Nfld)" and DNE s.v. "bay" (4).