Afloat 2 : Floating on the surface of the water: a ship is laid to be afloat when there is a volume of water under her bottom of sufficient depth to buoy her up from the ground
William Falconer's Dictionary of the Marine, Glossary, Published by South Seas using the Web Academic Resource Publisher, London 1780. (http://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=glos sary, (Mrtm - Brit) {583}