The name game

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steve

questions

am wondering if Bob Todd of E.Greenwich went to St. Andrews in Barrington? i did & remember a cool dude with that name; i renamed my boat, first day out tried to put up mast it ripped mast step out of the cabin roof. a week later i slipped off a dock & hurt my butt to where it still hurts three weeks later; i needed to leave where i was docking in Pt. Judith & was foiled by the weather & my inexperience, accepted a tow by the nice Coast Gaurd people; a fisherman who saw a guy die, falling off the other end of the dock i slipped on, said as far as he's concerned, i shoulda been dead all three times & someone above is looking out for me. i think he needs to lighten up, i'm just inexperienced & learning the hard way & am not the dipstick he thinks i am or i would have been seriously hurt or worse; see it as you wish, i think there are great aspects of good luck attached to these occurances & my boat's new name is more meaningful, it's called "Recovery".
 
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John

What is in a name? A whole lot of things. It tells us and others who we are and where we came from, what we like and dislike, what we do and don't do. My father had motor boats all of my life, how I got into sailing I could only guess, but love it all the same. All of my father's boats were called "6 C's" there were six of us in the family and our last name began with a C. So I set out thinking of a name for my first sailboat, my wife came up with "Southeren C's" We moved south and hence the name. The PO was a woman and she named it after the wind "Mariah", (she even changed it from the PO) Good name but not me. My father has since passed away and is boating in another world on his little "C" I just hope he has converted to a sailboat. Things just go better on a sailboat, not faster just better.
 
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Laura G.

Not taking a chance, either!

I remember a thread on a mailing list about name changes-and someone said that they changed the name of their boat-and without proper ceremony-and the boat sank in it's slip a week later! That being said-- The first boat had a good name (and from what I hear-great art work on the transom) but the second owner (who had it for only a couple of years) renamed it after his kids-which is ok-and sounds nautical and we've come to love it. But locals still know her by her old name...(the original owner being heavily involved in local racing.) The amazing thing is that without knowing it, we got a slip in her old marina! And joined the club that the original owner belonged to-so, she "came home"! The second boat had a great name originally-and kept it for many many years. But the last owner changed it-"altered" the original name to something that everyone agrees is really dumb. (Must have had some meaning to them, though!) Everyone calls her by her original name-and when we put the name back on her-after all the resto work is done-we'll go back to the original name. Normally, I am superstitious enough NOT to change the name of a boat-but in this case-it's not really a big change-but a "restoration" to the old name. Fortunately, a good friend of ours-who has crossed the Equator with much pomp and plans to cruise with us is insisting on doing the ceremony-which he won't divulge the secrets of beforehand! And yes, the idea of a ceremony, performed by an old salt, helps me to sleep better! Laura G.
 
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Parry Dolle

So far, so good!

We did it the right way, I think, with Champaign flung to the Gods of the northern, southern, eastern, and western seas and mutterings of long ago blessings to each of them in turn. The final phase was to bless the boat (again with some long forgotten phrases) with the pouring of champaign on the deck. Upon completion of that we ran to the stern to unvail the new name, which had been cover so no human could view the it until it became official. Of course, we then blessed ourselves with the other bottle of Champaign. So far, so good!
 
HukilauMike

HukilauMike

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May 31, 2004
858
Catalina 28 Branford
Inertia?

My boat is still known by her prior name, a name that I don't mind but that at the time had no meaning for me. When I bought her five years ago, she was out of the water for the season, and I figured I had five months to think of a new name. However, before I could decided on a new name, my wife surprised me in the spring with a surprise birthday party; of course all of the gifts (hats, shirts, tote bags, etc.) were emblazoned with the old boat name. Oh well, there were more pressing needs than finding the time to remove the old name from the stern anyway. Now five years later, I finally thought of a new name, but the old boat name means something to me now and I may just keep it anyway.
 
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Scottcha

Had to do it!!!

I had to scrape the name off of my boat. When my ex (not at the time) bought it she had the name of one of my former girlfriends. Well now we're separated and I got the boat. Now I'm having to try to come up with a good name.
 
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Neil Franklin

Phooey on "bad luck!"

My boat never had a name on it, but unless it had a unique nautical name, I would have changed the name. I've never heard of it being bad luck to change a name. I don't believe in "luck" anyway. Either things happen because of our action or inaction or by natural forces.
 
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tmason

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Jun 11, 2004
29
Hunter 27 Cherubini Middle River
Rename it!

There wasn't any question that we would rename Below the Salt, the Hunter 27 we bought last season. The previous owner probably was alluding to the English phrase used to denote a seating position at the socially challenged end of the table. An old salt might take it to mean... well, below the salt as in sunk. While removing the name, I discovered yet an earlier name in slight discolorations in the gellcoat. Bilbao, I think. As a nonBasque airbreather, I'll take my chances with bad luck.
 
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Briann

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May 23, 2004
28
- - Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Give in to tradition

There is a long tradition in the naming and renaming of ships. Just briefly, the old name must be stripped from the vessel, including logs, plates etc. Next conduct a ceremony with copouis amounts of rum, and put at least one such drink in the sea for Neptune, God of the Sea. One for Neptune, one for the boat, one for the skipper, one for the first mate, or is it one for Neptune, two for the skipper or is it three. I think you get the idea!!
 
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Briann

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May 23, 2004
28
- - Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Give in to a long standing tradition

There is a long tradition in the naming and renaming of ships. Just briefly, the old name must be stripped from the vessel, including logs, plates etc. Next conduct a ceremony with copouis amounts of rum, and put at least one such drink in the sea for Neptune, God of the Sea. One for Neptune, one for the boat, one for the skipper, one for the first mate, or is it one for Neptune, two for the skipper or is it three. I think you get the idea!!
 
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John McWilliams

What is a Dawn Treader?

Not knowing the significance of the name on the boat we bought we were planning on changing it. We spent all summer trying to think of something clever, enlisting the kids opinion(mistake). Labor Day weekend we sailed from Catawba Island to Leamington, Ont. When we pulled into our transient slip, the guy across from us says: "C.S. Lewis' Voyage of the Dawn Treader"--Huh? "The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis" I hadn't heard of The Chronicles of Narnia since 6th grade Sunday School. However, we took that as a message from God that it was OK to have the extravagance of the boat and the name would stay the same. JohnnyMac S/V Dawn Treader H380
 
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Peter8989

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Mar 1, 2005
2
Grampian G23 Port Stanley, lake Erie
Would love to re-name

I have left the name of my boat unchanged for the four years that I have owned it. I don't care for its' present name (Interim). To me it seemed to be named by someone that wanted another, or bigger, or better boat....or something. I like my boat and am not expecting to look for another one in the near future. I would love to change the name but just can't think of something that would have some meaning for me. I'll keep thinking. As for bad luck....I'll have to get back to you on that.
 
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Bill Lloyd

name should mean something to you

My Hunter 31 was named Bullship. No way we were going sailing with that on the stern. she was rechristened Cool Change with the appropriate bottle of champange over her bow to keep the gods of the sea happy. We have had nothing but good luck, missing boats downwind one night when the anchor drug & making it through hurricane Ivan unscathed.
 
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Brett

Traditions

I've read many posts about superstition hooey and who cares, blah-blah. And logically, I see that. But I think here is certainly something to be said for traditions. Often they bring about a greater sense of reverence, they add to the mystique, can bring a group closer together, can add character and color to an experience, and with the history of tradition can make the experience even more meaningful. Without history and traditions things often become "plastic" and those who came before and their experiences can become lost. In many ways tradition is the thread that ties everyone in a particular group together in the present along with those in the past. I'm no hard core traditionalist by any means and when we changed our boat name from Evyta to DreamWeaver there was no big ceremony (although there have been plenty of libations in her name since) but we do have a plaque with the former name down below, just to show a little respect for traditon and to appreciate where the boat came from before we took ownership. I personally think it's important not to forget.
 
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CapeMayB

Sight Unseen

Sight Unseen is a Hunter 380 who was renamed because the name reflects how I acquired the boat. It was located on the Internet and surveyed before purchase and shipped to Md to be readied for sail. I did not see the boat until she arrived in Maryland on a truck. So the name " Sight Unseen" was befitting this lovely boat!
 
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saildog

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Jun 21, 2004
21
Hunter 34 Cape Coral, Florida
Re-name

When I bought my latest boat it was already named..."Atman" and I, for the life of me, couldn't understand why anyone would name anything such a strange name. I scraped off the ugly lettering and got my logo and name made up in nice vinyl lettering and got the traditional bottle of champagne for the boat and bottle of Pusser's Rum for my crew! With much pomp and circumstance, I unvailed the "new" name. We broke the bottle of Champagne over the bow and drank the rum. This was 2 years ago and am proud to announce no bad luck occured this far.
 
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Affinity

More boat names

http://www.10000boatnames.com/ Top Ten Most Popular Boat Names BoatU.S. has gathered the top 10 boat names every year since 1991. New: The Top Ten List of Most Popular Boat Names for 2003 are as follows (those with an asterisk are new compared to 2002's list): 1. Happy Hours 2. Carpe Diem* 3. Reel Time 4. Sea Biscuit* 5. Freedom* 6. Summer Wind* 7. Aquaholic 8. Serenity 9. No Worries* 10. Mental Floss*
 
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Dan

Short and Meaningful

Mine became "Puff" because it is the hero of a little boy's dream, and also because I didn't have much money for lettering! It was nameless when purchased used -- so does naming it constitute a name change? If so, the lake gods have been forgiving so far.
 
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