The boat of life

In order to pass through Duat (the underworld) each night, so that he might rise in the morning, the fiery Ra was compelled to use a boat to avoid being extinguished by the waters. It was Maàt, i.e. order, the antithesis of chaos, that guided the course of the boat. At the helm of the boat stood Thoth, representative of the moon, who symbolically stood next to Horus, who, in early egyptian myth, represented the sky, and whose dark eye was the moon. It was Horus who steered. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra

Lifeboat: a small boat kep on board a larger ship in case of emergency. Also a rescue boat for emergencies at sea.