Boat names - what are yours, why?

[DianaOfBurlington]

Diana, the Huntress

-- for this 1974 Hunter 25.

My dad (who designed it) got an H25 back in 1974 which we called 'La Cacciatrice' -- the huntress.

She could have been called Artemis, but 'Diana' is her Roman (Italian) name.

Diana is a nymph, born of her father's head, not his loins, so she is an intellectual. She is beautiful, absolutely chaste and nigh uncatchable.

She is the patron goddess of young maidens (I am the single parent of two daughters).

Diana is an archer (I am Sagittarius).

She flits nimbly about the woods with no clothes on like an innocent gymnast or ballerina. Small animals like her.

Her famous statue by August-Saint Gaudens (once atop Madison Square Garden) is in our regional museum at Philadelphia.

And, as depicted by one of my favorite Rococo artists, she looks good while bathing--

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Boucher_Diane_sortant_du_bain_Louvre_2712.jpg

 

[Ed H]

PO of 20 years named her “Skywater”. He wanted to keep the name for a new boat he was going to purchase and dock at the same marina. That was fine with us- the new generation reads the name as ‘Skywalker”, as in Star Wars… We changed it to “Shiloh”- it means a place of peaceful quiet rest, tranquil, fair haven, with a distinct connotation of prospering through divine protection and grace. (Can you tell I am not into racing?)

 

[akhartung]

Named my V222 after my nickname for my little sister. She had 4 open heart surgeries before she turned 7 and has been quite the trooper through them all. So in honor of her (plus her favorite thing is riding in being on the water) I named mine "Mary-Beth".

 

[Jackdaw]

-- for this 1974 Hunter 25.

My dad (who designed it) got an H25 back in 1974 which we called 'La Cacciatrice' -- the huntress.

She could have been called Artemis, but 'Diana' is her Roman (Italian) name.

Diana is a nymph, born of her father's head, not his loins, so she is an intellectual. She is beautiful, absolutely chaste and nigh uncatchable.

She is the patron goddess of young maidens (I am the single parent of two daughters).

Diana is an archer (I am Sagittarius).

She flits nimbly about the woods with no clothes on like an innocent gymnast or ballerina. Small animals like her.

Her famous statue by August-Saint Gaudens (once atop Madison Square Garden) is in our regional museum at Philadelphia.

And, as depicted by one of my favorite Rococo artists, she looks good while bathing--

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Boucher_Diane_sortant_du_bain_Louvre_2712.jpg

Great story. And your father is a hero of mine.

 

[kenn]

The PO had not deigned to name our boat. We kicked around a few names. My very first instinct was Mischievous, because of a rather uncontrolled launch before the test sail, but this seemed kind of trite after further consideration. We ended up calling her 'Lake Effect', cos I'm a geek and it sort of fit the therapeutic effects of sailing. of course I've since seen at least three other 'Lake Effect's.

If I had a do-over, i think I would name her 'Bobbin' (with or without the apostrophe). Seems to be appropriate for our 19' craft when on the big lake in the lighter winds of summer.

Another Sandpiper 565 in our fleet is named 'Shortwave', which is a fantastic name. He named his trailer 'Shortwave Transmitter'.

To Kestrel - your friend's too serious. S/he should sail (or drink) more. Have fun with your boat. Including with the name.

One more - my friend's brother has a 34 C&C called 'Dot-Calm'. For a guy who made his pile on the Internet, it's perfect.

 

[victorhoisington]

French Temper

Our previous boat (Hunter 25) was named "Cheryl Ann" after the admiral, If I wanted a boat I had to have the admirals approval so this ensured no disagreements.

The new name for our current Hunter 28 came about becasue she had been struck a glancing blow by lighting the season before we got her, so you needed to pay attention to both the good and bad, lest the fire come back to bite you. Oh and did I mention the admiral has been known to show a little fire if you get her riled up?

In both cases we spent considerable time researching and designing the appropriate naming ceremony and ensuring we paid proper homage to the gods of wind, water AND lightning. And the party afterwards always lends itself to making friends on the docks.

 

[srhummer]

Our previous boat had no name when we purchased her and we named her Bacchanal - party in honor of the god Bacchus, god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. The PO of our current H34 had named her Godspeed and after some consideration we decided that it was a good name that we could sail with. Some names have to be changed, not gonna sail on a boat named after someone else's wife or daughter - seems creepy now that I think about it.

 

[CHM]

1988 Beneteau 432. Just received Coast Guard docs - My Laura. For my wife!

 

[plainssailor]

Just bought an Oday 25. The name on her is a womans name of whom I do not know. I am thinking about calling her CUBA LIBRE, which means free Cuba. It is also the slang name for rum and coke. My wife is from communist cuba, and it also puts a carribean twist to it. What do you think?

 

[sailinmike]

I own the last Pacific Dolphin 24, hull #300, thus the name GRAND FINALE.

 

[AtlanticAl]

I have never named a boat, because i have bought them with names and never felt that i should change them, had one called the garry ownen, one called sandy feet, one called enterprise, one called "free spirit (of course) had another i cant rember the name of, but this one i will name, because i have torn it to pieces, and am re building it, so it will be mine, because it will have a lot of me in it. I have two names i am toying with, one is "vincer vel mori" which is on our family coat of arms, the other is Kishuml's Galley" which was a legendary pirate ship, owned by my ancestors, i can prove they were pirates, because their is still records that exist of their arrest, (but not conviction for piracy) and one eventually took off took off to the americas, with a price on his head, for the act of piracy, and his great great great grandson, taught obama law at chicago university, his father bought back his lands and his title in scotland, and the son who taght obama, died two years ago, while living in Edinburgh scotland.

 

[dlandersson]

Soggy Paws - we have (and have had) clumber spaniels - a great water sporting dog - and master counter surfers too.

"I have always thought that sailboats’ names should evoke the elemental
beauties of stately motion on the water rather than the Freudian
fantasies, puerile puns, asinine anagrams, or infantile inanities of
their name-givers. " A good friend of mine said during a boat naming discussion

We like to name our boats after birds:
Jackdaw Beneteau First 235
Kestrel Beneteau First 36.7
Blue J Beneteau First 260 (it is her original name and suits us just fine)

How about everybody else?

 

[redhead78]

Sorry to be so conventional, but I had to name it after my lovely daughter, Carrie-Ann, its good to know she is always cruising with Dad.....Red

 

[BudGates]

As a patriot and vetran of the United States Marine Corps we painted our Pourpose (Sunfish clone) Red, White, and Blue and named her "Forever" in reference to the song "Stars and Stripes 'Forever.'"

We live in the Mojave Desert where the air is clear and the stars are big and bright so we named our Hobie Cat "Desert Star."

My wife is Norwegian so she wanted a Norwegian name for our Macgregor. She came up with "Elsker Von", meaning "love the water."

 

[SeaTR]

My youngest daughter and son were travelling back from Maine years back and started working on list of suggested names for the salvage Hunter 22 I had bought. My previous boat (1968 Paceship 16) was named "Compromise I" as it wasn't too big for my wife, nor too small for me at the time.

Well, they had plenty of time returning home to CT while scribbling boat name ideas on a Dunkin Donuts napkin. They had ginned up nearly 30 suggestions... "Assembly Required" was the winner, as I purchased, after all, a trailered salvage sailboat that needed to be restored / put back together again (just to get back into basic sailing condition) AND assembly before each sailing.

Well, there you have it.

 

[JOHNEVERARD]

CallieRoo after our Jack Russell terrier who LOVED boats of all kinds. She enjoyed to sitting on the bow of the vessel. She would have had a blast sailing with us on Lake Erie this year. RIP CallieRoo.

 

[Sail123]

Sugar Bee

Named after our friend, Sugar Bee.

His full name is Anton Sugar Bee Oat Type, named in part from the bad guy in No Country For Old Men.

It would be stupid to name a boat all of that, so we grabbed the cute middle. lol

Aft cabin, is, you guessed it, his room., but he has the run of the whole yacht, like all best friends do.

 

[GeorgiaBII]

Mine was named "Breaking Wind" when I bought it.

I've repainted the hull so thats gone. But I have considered putting it back.

My boat is a toy. A bit of humor in her name isn't a bad thing I don't think.

 

[bear62041]

SEX SEA
My ODAY 222 had a previous owners wife's name - couldn't leave it that way, so off came the womans name, with her permission of course.
My previous 22' Columbia and I sailed the near Pacific when I lived in So. California and she was named Sex Sea. I liked the name and it seemed to fit her looks on the water, at rest or under sail.
The original Sex Sea Columbia was later on sold and then renamed by her new owner, so I kept the name Sex Sea for my next boat - the ODAY. And I think the name fits the looks and actions of my ODAY on the water too, at rest and underway.
We had the appropriate ceremony and asked King Neptune to release the name Sex Sea from the Columbia to my care and accept the owners new name offering.
Later I offered the name, Sex Sea, back to the Great King asking him to accept the name change for the ODAY and both ceremonies were ended with champagne poured over the bow of each, chanting the appropriate sacred (and secret) chants of request.
Apparently the name changes were acceptable to the Great King as both boats have sailed well with their new names, and the King has indeed smiled.
O.K., O.K., maybe ALL of the champagne DIDN'T get poured over each bow. It WAS a dry, somber day after all, and we were a mite bit thirsty ya know, after all that convincing to the Great King, and the lengthy sacred (and secret) chanting, and all.
By the way, we still believe it takes more than ONE bottle of champagne to conduct a proper renaming and christening ceremony.
(No, we didn't sail THAT day).
And the King smiled !!!!

 

[Kordie]

Mine was named "Breaking Wind" when I bought it.

I've repainted the hull so thats gone. But I have considered putting it back.

My boat is a toy. A bit of humor in her name isn't a bad thing I don't think.

Passing Wind was banned by my girlfriend and daughters