A boat = she?

Several of you have asked me about the use of the pronoun "she" to refer to a boat, and if it's a mistake.

Nope, no mistake. The Wikipedia says:

The pronoun "she" is sometimes used to refer to things which contain people such as countries, ships, and cars, or to refer to machines. (...) This usage is (...) in decline.

Basically, it's an exception to the general rule of objects being "it".

More about gender pronouns on Wiki (scroll down to the "Gender in English" part).