[Jenny Gump]

Originally Posted by Mr. Kotter

http://www.word-detective.com/021402.html

...The later Dutch form of the same word, "schip," had a derivative, "schipper," which meant "captain of a ship" and lives on in our English term "skipper." Meanwhile, the German form wandered into first Italian (as "schifo"), then French ("esquif"), and finally settled into English in the 16th century as our modern "skiff."

Thanks Skipper.