Boat names - what are yours, why?

lillia28 · Jan 23, 2012

My daughter has become quite a sailor, and requested that I name the boat after her. Her name is Elizabeth, but got shortened to Lizzie or Lillie when she was younger. We decided on Lillia, Italian for Lily. Before I could get the name painted on, I had picked up a bottle of wine with Lily Langtree's (Guenoc) portrait on it. I jokingly told my wife it was the only wine we should serve on the boat. To the inevitable why, I answered that her nickname was The Jersey Lily. Both my wife and daughter liked that better, so Jersey Lily it is (amaryllis belladonna). At some point I'll have to change my username!
Lou

Gypsea Kids · Jan 23, 2012

For now We'll just keep the name the boat came with; Gypsea Kids. At some point We'll go through the formal (and full of superstitions) process of changing the name. But take your point of view? Fraid not. As I come nearer to retirement I plan to increase the fun factor and decrease the intellectual requirement.

Jackdaw · Jan 23, 2012

DannyS said:
Another one NOT to name your boat...On the Rocks. There was a boat in our marina named that and I once heard them hailing another boat on the radio and the Coast Guard broke in and recommended they choose another name.

Good one. The name has to pass the VHF test:

1) No one will snicker when they hear it on the hail:
'Beavis Beavis Beavis... this is the Butt-head... come in Beavis

2) Not so long it is wearisome to say three times:
'Wind in our wings, Wind in our wings, wind in our wings, this is...... Not going to hail THAT boat often

3) As you point out it does not startle the Coasties.

JeffM · Jan 23, 2012

I agree that there are asinine and inappropriate boat names, but I'm also not a fan of made up names or obtuse references that make the average person go ...huh, say again?

Many years ago I was told that there are two basic rules in naming a boat. One, that it's a name that's easily understandable ... especially during an emergency radio call. Two, that the type font used to put the name on the boat was readable from a distance.

dbecker68 · Jan 23, 2012

Our Hunter 30 is named DreamBoat.
After a painful and expensive divorce at age 49, I promised my self that I would recover emotionally and financially, and would buy myself a sailboat for my 55th birthday. I was able to crawl out of debt, and I found a new love of my life who also enjoys sailing, so when we bought the new boat, the Admiral said I was her dreamboat, and I had finally acquired my dream boat, so it works a couple of ways.
The previous owner's name of the boat was Jade Wind, which is a good name for a boat, just not the right name for us.

rasselas · Jan 23, 2012

I was inspired years ago by Ken Rainin's yacht Captain AJ and crew and decided that day I bought my boat it would be named "RASSELAS." I could never afford a boat like his but I now own a H36 named "RASSELAS".

gpd955 · Jan 23, 2012

My C30 was "Victim of Fate" from A Pirate Looks at Forty. It fit perfectly at the time and was very unique. I would kid my wife and call the boat Vickie when I referred to her!

Our current boat is "Anam Cara". Translated from Gaelic as "Soul Friend" or "Soul Mate" which is on our wedding bands.

mister_j · Jan 23, 2012

More time sailing; less time analyzing

If you're spending your time judging the acceptability of other sailors' boat names, you're obviously more concerned with yourself than you are with sailing. Loosen up a little....

edharrell · Jan 23, 2012

whoever is so bothered as to call others names for the way they name a boat needs more to do. Mine is Sail La Vie and I hope self explanatory even to one who would decide how and under what conditions everyone else should name theirs.

Ken Cross · Jan 23, 2012

Our first boat was poorly named but I had a hard time removing the paint from the gelcoat. For that reason I only removed the "T" in the middle of "We Dream"

Our current boat came with the name "Shakedown". We haven't given it much thought really.

Genny Sea · Jan 23, 2012

To each his own. My Potter 15 came with the name Genny Sea, and I was going to change it but my daughter is "Jennie" and my daughter in law is "Christina" so I kept the name as a play on my two girls while maintaining a nautical name.

scottthardin · Jan 23, 2012

I think boats ought to be named after exceptional women.

dparilla · Jan 23, 2012

We went with Cyganka, which is Polish for gypsy. It is a tribute to my grandmother from Poland and a nod to the fact that my wife and I have moved 15 times in 16 years. While the spelling is odd, the pronunciation is easy over VHF, and not likely to get confused. Plus it looks cool in the font we used for the lettering. The dinghy's name...Gypsy Moth.

Union36 · Jan 23, 2012

Not me~

We have two boats, a Union 36 that we use for extended cruising & not so extended cruising. This boat has gone un-named for the last 6 years. It did however, come with a name such as Moonshadow..I don't care for the name but oh well.

My boat, (a Santana 20) which I race weekly & in numerous regatta's during the season is named "Red Widow". As I am a red head, female and didn't want to come off as a push over, thought that this was a great name. Along with great graphics and an outstanding boat. I am very happy with the way it turned out.

Al1653 · Jan 23, 2012

Boat names

I tried to make my boat name reflect what I intended to do with her - Gallivant, to frivolously travel about having fun. I have done exactly that for the past 23 years of ownership.

jeb21851 · Jan 23, 2012

names

When I bought my Hunter 35.5 Legend I decided to keep the name that the PO gave her..."Makani Hale Kai" which is Hawaiian for "Home of the gentle ocean breeze". I love things Hawaiian and the way the name sounds when you pronounce it. However I do envision having trouble in the future with communicating it over the VHF!!!

cmonson · Jan 23, 2012

Our boat's name is "Shine On". We've owned her for almost two years and had a running list of names for more than a year which we would add to or cross off. One night I had a vivid dream where I was having a discussion with a very nice couple who told me the name of the boat should be "Shine On"... For some reason that dream woke me up and I got up and wrote down the name. In the morning I mentioned this weird dream and we decided to add the name to the list. Not sure who that couple in the dream was, but my husband and I eventually decided Shine On felt right - for both the feeling of flying across the water and because we're fixing her up to be like new again.

Scott · Jan 23, 2012

Early on, after a somewhat harrowing, very windy, 4 hour sail home one Sunday, my wife and I were both pretty frazzeled. Backing into the slip I did a little more than "kiss a piling" and yelled at my wife. No damage to the boat or physical damage to wife. Once we were secured in the slip, the now Admiral went below and after a few minutes was back up and on the dock with her gear and said "I'm never going sailing with you again!!" Towards the end of her diatribe, during which I said nothing but "yes dear," she said we have this boat for fun and enjoyment and that this boat should be common ground - no yelling , no arguements, ad infinitum. Well, 42 years of marriage and 22 years of sailing her, we are still on "Common Ground."

sailormanbigd · Jan 23, 2012

"FREE WILLY" imagine the diferent reasons for my boats name. I am 52yo and divorced for 10 years now. I won't tell you why the name just let your imaginations run wild!