>
> Quite possibly it is a Dutch dialect word (not that I can quote one)
> for a type of ship also used by Dutch colonists and Capt. Robinson was
> good at advertising.
I can't figure out the dialect 100%, but 'schoent' in
http://heinekenbrother.web-log.nl/heinekenbrother/2005/12/index.html
seems to indicate movement.
Also, the -ert of the Danish and Swedish words are used much in the
maritime vocabulary (though it could have been so modified), usually
matching Du. -ard , and the short -o- for Engl. -u:- is odd unless
borrowed through Swedish (which would be untypical).
Torsten