I'm not going to touch the posts in which this came up with a boathook but
it is a worthwhile question.

With the exception of cruise ship vacations, I think any definition for a
group like this has got to be pretty much in accord with standard usage. In
this part of the world at least, if you go out in a boat and are not
fishing, transporting anything to a specific place (yourself included) and
are free to alter your route according to whim, you are cruising. Since
there is a word "daysailing" for doing this for short periods, "cruising"
must include at least one night spent on board. Power, sail, makes no
difference. You just have to sleep aboard and be in "The journey is the
destination." mode.

The more restrictive definitions proposed would make this a rather
uninteresting place, just Geoff and Wayne posting back and forth as near as
I can tell.

--
Roger Long