Boat names

[Mark.Wilme]

The Admiral (my wife) has been saying for a couple of weeks that she has this really great name for the new boat we have boat, but she has been keeping it a secret.

She finally reveals it

" Obsession "

Frankly I am a little disappointed, it is probably suitable but do you know how many Obsessions there are out there ? It was on the BoatUS list of top 10 boat names for many years, some consecutive.

So we are back to thinking and we need to think quick - a little something about the USCG wanting a name for a documented vessel.

I know it's a personal matter and we will probably address it ourselves in some obscure way, but what are your favorite boat names ?

Mark

P.S. Yes, I think we have all the appropriate renaming myths at hand so we know how to do the renaming ceremony.. ... ..

[Figment]

Beneslow! (sorry, couldn't resist.)

"Cosmic Debris" is a favorite of mine. Must be a Frank Zappa fan, though.

Nah, boat naming (when done well) is too much of a personal thing. It has to come from you, or come from the boat, or somehow blend both.

How hard is it to establish documentation under one name and then change the document a year later?

[Mark.Wilme]

It's not hard, it's $84.

We might actually register as is ("Grasail") and change later.

I just don't like the current name.





Note I think in the other thread West Marine trigger of of the USCG documentation chnage to ofer you a discount so .. .. ..

[Mark.Wilme]

As of 11pm here are the contenders, must be too much drinking going on around here :


A parent wind
Breezy
Circus act
GenoaLuvU
Glass castle
It wasn't me
Obsession
Treasure Beach
Wingin it

[keelbolts]

Never underestimate the importance of keeping the Admiral happy.

[Tim]

One of the best names that has stuck in my head forever was a raceboat called Hot Ruddered Bum. I thought this was pretty clever, and it fit the boat and its attitude.

I mention this only anecdotally, of course. Obviously names are individual and must mean something to the owner.

Here's an opinion, though: avoid "kitchy" or overly cute names. And avoid at all costs any names that involve money or finance (i.e. Deficit Spending, Colin's Tuition, DJIA)*. Yuck. To me, those are just the cheesiest. We all know boats are costly, and yet we keep buying them. Keep the money out of the name.

Some names that really just ooze class and style:

On a Maine lobsterboat: Yankee's Suck. (Complete with improper apostrophe use.)

Another lobsterboat: Whore-I-Fire. Nice.

Then there was the Hatteras 65 owned by some guy who made his fortune with, of all things, Amway: Ain't it Great.

Don't you just want to hug people like this?



*These are all real names of boats that I have seen or known. DJIA stands for Dow Jones Industrial Average, in case you're wondering.

[Rachel]

Yeah, why is it that with boats and hair-cutting places, people always feel the need to make a cheesy pun? I swear, if I ever see one of those places just called "Haircuts" I will give them business just to say "Thank you."

I agree, the money ones are so tacky. Oh, and how can we forget the names that reveal the owner's sexual prowess? Those are always rich. Working at a marina, I also think that if I see one more boat called "Dream Weaver" or .... well I could just go on and on, but then I'd sound like the petty person I most likely am. And we wouldn't want that ;-)

Fun thread.

--- Rachel

PS I appreciate how hard it is to come up with a good name though. I have a friend looking to rename a boat, and so we've brainstormed a few times - it's not easy! But when you come up with a good one I think it usually hits you as right.

[dasein668]

Another lobsterboat: Whore-I-Fire. Nice.

[George ( C&C 40 )]

Hi Mark,


Congratulations on the new boat! I've seen the pictures and she's a real beauty.

Rachel's right, this is a fun thread. Boat names are something you never really see talked about in forums. For me, boat names are a bit like tatoos -- seemed like a pretty good idea at the time but after a few years you start to think "What was I thinking?". I know when Denise and I were trying to come up with a new name for the C&C 40 it became more of a task of avoiding really cheesey names than to coming up with a good one.

Astronomy is another hobby of mine and star names or constellation names for boats have always seemed appropiate to me. We settled on the northern star constellation of the dolphin "Delphinus". Time will tell on how well we decided, although it's always nice to look up while sailing at night and see the boat's namesake shining overhead.

Lots of good boat names out there. My only advice is to avoid the trendy or the cheesey. Have fun.


George


P.S. -- I've played trombone for years and years and have always liked "Glissando" for Tim's boat. Musical terms and names also have a timeless quality.

[Peter]

Maybe this will help ;-)

[Tim]

Some more naming thoughts:

1. I like boatnames that are at least fairly unique. It's getting hard to come up with something that has never been used before, but at least I think it's nice to avoid the heavily-used names.

2. Unless the boat is a classic or otherwise notorious and identified by her existing name, I always thought that keeping someone else's name when a boat changed hands was sort of a cop-out. Boatnames and boats should reflect the individual, and a name contrived by someone else just lacks this.

Obviously, you wouldn't go out and buy Dorade, or Endeavour, or Ticonderoga (for example) and then change the name--somehow that would be disrespectful. But most of us aren't buying these boats.

3. Consider the ramifications of announcing your boat name over the VHF. It needs to be easily understood, short enough to be practical, and, hopefully, not too difficult to spell, though this is merely an irritation to the boatowner who is forever being asked to spell their boat name.

4. Every combination of name using the words "Sea" or "Wind" has been used many, many times. These make pleasing and usually appropriate names, but they're far from unique. That's OK if you don't mind the unique thing.

5. Stars, weather, and music are good sources for interesting names. Most have been used before, but not to the extent of some names.

6. In the end, the name that's right is the one you pick. Others may not understand, but that's what makes it individual.

7. It's hard to pick a boat name.

[dasein668]

3. Consider the ramifications of announcing your boat name over the VHF. It needs to be easily understood, short enough to be practical, and, hopefully, not too difficult to spell, though this is merely an irritation to the boatowner who is forever being asked to spell their boat name.

The complement* to this is to be aware of whether or not someone reading your boatname will be able to pronounce it.

For example, how many of you actually know how to pronounce Dasein?

This is an annoyonce for me, mostly because sometimes people hail me on the radio and I'm not actually aware that they are calling my boat because they have butchered the pronounciation so badly!

* Learned something new today?I've been misusing the word corollary, which I intended to use here in place of complement. When looking it up to see how to spell it, I see that the definitions are: 1. Mathematics. a proposition that is incidentally proved in proving another proposition.
2. an immediate consequence or easily drawn conclusion.
3. a natural consequence or result. Anyway, that was a random additon to the post, but I bet lots of people misuse the word in the same way.

[CharlieJ]

Well Tim, Sometimes I agree with that and sometimes not. The renaming an existing boat that is.

We had originally planned to name Tehani something else, but when we got her home, there in good light, we could very faintly see the outline of her name. It seemed a pretty decent name ( means Caress in Polynesian we discovered) and it had BEEN her name for some 45 years, so it seemed a shame to take it away from her.

So Tehani it remains.

My wife named our previous boat. As far as we knew the boat had never had a name, or at least we'd never heard it. We were mulling names and one day as she was working on the hull, she came in to tell me she had named the boat. I walked outside and in pencil she had sketched in NECESSITY across the stern. Since we both felt it WAS a necessity to have the boat, that's what it became.

My Cross 35 was ( and still is ) named Different Drummer, since when I built her multihulls were still considered somehow "outside the pale" and I've always marched to my own beat anyway. The name sure fit. She still carries that name because she's a documented yacht.

Our 18 foot sharpie is named Traveler.

I built the boat for a customer in Chicago. When completed, she was loaded onto a truck along with 3 other boats and hauled from south Texas to there, and displayed at Navy Pier in Strictly Sail 2000. The boat was sailed in a lake just outside Chicago for the first time then for various reasons we took her back. In doing so the then owner trailered the boat to Kentucky Lake and we drove up from here to there to meet him. The second time she got her hull wet was there in Kentucky Lake. When we left there, we trailed down to Pascagoula Miss to visit friends, and sailed her along with they in their boat, in the Escatawpa River in Miss. Third sail.

We then trailed back to Texas, stopping to visit friends in Lafayette, La, then home.

Fourth sail for the boat was Matagorda Bay in Texas. So four sails, four states, four different bodies of water, plus a round trip up and down the nation. We felt the boat had EARNED the name Traveler!!

[Rachel]

Thanks, Nathan,

I had always thought of corollary as sort of "the inverse thing" myself, and might have used it to describe the same thing you did; I'm glad you posted that. Every once in a while I look up a word I thought I knew and discover that I've had it wrong all along. Or, I thought I could define it, but when asked to do so...... hmm, I couldn't, quite.

And on a thread-related note: Grammar -- now there's an area that is probably chock-full of "new" names for a boat! You just don't see "past participle" or "fricative" out there too often :-)

[Figment]

I can't remember where, but I know I've seen a powerboat named "dangling participle".

That's a clear violation of the intelligible over VHF rule, though.

I think 3 syllables maximum is a good guideline.

I'm a big fan of Charlie's naming method... let the boat reveal its own name to you. This is why I asked about changing the documentation down the line. Name the boat "Placeholder" until it tells you different.

One boat leaps to mind.... initially named "dancer" (or something like that) renamed "Bear" once its true personality was revealed.

[keelbolts]

You know, tradition holds, it's bad luck to change the name of a boat. I think if you buy a "Wet Dream" or some other such little nugget that requires that the name change, you can appease the sea gods with a priest's blessing. I've only owned two named boats: a Folkboat named Niva and my present boat Favona. I never knew what Niva meant, but I figured the gods could be difficult enough without pissing them off, so Niva she remained. For the first couple of years I had Favona I thought it was taken from the word Favonious which was the ancient Roman personification of the West Wind, but I was wrong. I was able to contact her original owner who told me her name is a "muddle" of the Newton family motto "Faveat Fortuna"; favor & fortune I believe. Anyway, she has a history so I wouldn't change it even if it wasn't bad luck.

[Jason K]

If a boat has had a name for a significant period of time and the name isn't completely horrible, I think I would be reluctant to change it. However, if there is no significance to a name, then I'm up for a new one.

My boat was named My Lady Blue when the boat was painted blue. Ugggh. When people asked what my boat was named after I bought it, I would just making something up on the spot rather than say "My Lady Blue." In fact, Mojito was something of a tentative name when I created the website - I wasn't sure if that's the name I would keep. If I painted the boat the same green as Dasein, I could see it. However, I've got Flag Blue Awlgrip (still in cans, alas) and that caused me to reconsider the name. I like Bella Luna, particularly for a dark hulled boat.

You know what they say, boat owners deliberate longer over a name for their boat than they do for their children.

[Rachel]

I can't remember where, but I know I've seen a powerboat named "dangling participle".

That's a clear violation of the intelligible over VHF rule, though.

AND the sexual prowess rule........ sort of .... although...<trails off...>

--- R.

[The Good Goose]

Having renamed a boat once I was reluctant to do it a second time. I bought an old 27 square meter that had been reworked with an aluminum mast and a fairly ugly doghouse. It was named stilleto. The name fit as it was a long skinny boat. It was a little macho for me though. I renamed it redundancy II as a bit of a dig at the commanality of many boat names. It turns out the prior owner was one of the fixtures of Block Island Harbor and loved by everyone. When I sailed into the harbor and was greeted with "welcome back Stilleto and Hello Stilleto"I felt about two inches high. As far as I know the boat still sails out of sprucehead maine. She was funny looking but for a 24 year old with no money she was a ticket to adventure. Best 2500 bucks I ever spent. I always felt bad I changed the name.

When we got our Triton it was named Good Goose and we both loved the name. It was nice because the prior owner had died unexpectantly and the boat and he were a fixture at the Newport Yacht Club. I liked keeping the name and a bit of the history alive. If however the name had been Spare Change or Wet Dream It would have been the first thing to go on the boat.

My friend who owned a marina always told me that based on my sailing abilities I should name my boat WIMS. "That way when your upside down you just look at the transom and do what it says."

Keep it simple and avoid the cutesy play on words(voice of experience) and you'll end up with a great name

Brock

[kabauze]

Figment's mention of the VHF intelligibility rule reminded me of a couple of occurences with my boat. She's named Nevermind, so I'm forever getting on the VHF and calling "Harbormaster, Harbormaster, this is the...Nevermind, over." They love that, and show their love by never responding to my pleas.

Last winter in the yard a friend came by to help one day, and he went over to the tool shed to borrow a smoke shifter or bacon stretcher or skyhook or something. The guy gave him the tool and then asked, "Which boat?" "Nevermind!" came the reply. My friend got the look of death and started to get worked over for his smart mouth until he managed to persuade the guy that it was only the boat's name.

She was named that when I got her and I'm loath to change it since she's been Nevermind for 43 years.

In my harbor some of the cruder ones are fishing boats: "Tail Chaser", "Horny Hooker", "Tunanator".

[windrose]

Great thread.... I only changed a boat name once... I bought a boat named Morning Desire and it had the name pasted all over it :-( I was embarrassed to sail it into the club, it seemed VERY stupid with a woman captain. The decals came off pronto and the boat became Good Morrow from all the sailing metaphors in Donne's poem.

Like others, I feel a boat that has had her name a number of years should keep it unless it is too hokey.

[Ric in Richmond]

I was glad that the name on my boat was a decent name since she had been named that for 42 years since new.

Even though there is NO italian heritage in my family...a little italian never hurt...

Andiamo...basically "let's go" is the translation. (per my first generation italian buddy)

She was originally in rhode island...so maybe she was named after the block island tradition of the italian bakers selling their wares to the boats on the moorings by calling out ANDIAMO!!!

Who knows??

Either way I liked it enough to keep it and she does seem to like the name.

Every time I get near her I hear her whisper.....Andiamo....Andiamo...as she tugs on her lines and wants out of her slip...to set sail and go!

[Mark.Wilme]

I forgot to mention the current boat name - it's "Grasail".

Top 3 for consideration right now are

"Treasure beach"
"Circus Act"
"Obession" (because it is)

she's coming home under her current name, not exactly legal given the chnage in ownership and new USCG papers pending but it's all submitted and I have cpies of that onboard. Plus I am 100% current with all my safety stuff, just in case I do get stopped.

Mark

[Ceasar Choppy]

I've discovered that while most cruising folks take their names VERY seriously and their sailing with a sense of humor, racers tend to take their sailing VERY seriously and their names with a sense of humor.

In Annapolis, for example, some of the racing boat names I've found funny:

"Hooked on Tonics"
"Eurotrash Girl"
"Air Mail" (with red white and blue stripes around the toe rail like the envelope)
"Blister in the Sun"
"Goldfish" (an orange boat with a dot for an eye and half smile on either side of the bow)
and one of my new favorites:
"Handbasket" (you have to bring this one to conclusion yourself).

I do have a cruiser friend who names his boat "Chaos." He claims the anchorages clear out when he comes in a drops the hook.

Agree with the VHF rule. I had a friend who used to have a boat names "Shaboom." It was a real pain to say it three times. At one point I threatened to change the name of my boat to "Boomchuckalucka" just so he would know what it felt like.

[Figment]

I rather like "Circus Act".

[Ric in Richmond]

In Annapolis, for example, some of the racing boat names I've found funny:

"Hooked on Tonics"
"Eurotrash Girl"
"Air Mail" (with red white and blue stripes around the toe rail like the envelope)
"Blister in the Sun"
"Goldfish" (an orange boat with a dot for an eye and half smile on either side of the bow)

I used to race against a bunch of those on a boat called "Snallygaster" named for a mythical maryland swamp creature.

[Summersdawn]

There used to be a race boat (an old Soling) in Nanaimo called
"Comrade Cherry Loin Fruit of Yont". Try saying that three times on the VHF...

[FloatingMoneyPit]

I was out snooping around a local boatyard when I turned a corner and saw this bold name. Would have been funny to watch the owner place his order with the decal artist. I was an Al Bundy fan myself 15 years ago ("Married...with Children"), but this is a bit much.

[Tim]

I was out snooping around a local boatyard when I turned a corner and saw this bold name.

This classy name is made all the better by the improper use of the apostrophe.

[catamount]

At the NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology website, you can access the USCG database of Documented Vessels, with lookups by name or number, here: http://www.st.nmfs.gov/st1/CoastGuard/VesselByName.html

With this, you can check and see how many (if any) other documented boats have the name you are considering.

Another "source" of names is foreign languages. My grandmother was an american-born Finn, and (at the same time) both my father and uncle wanted to name their boats "Sisu" (Finnish for having guts). They compromised, and our boat became "Tuuli" (Finnish for the wind) and my cousins' boat was "Sorea" (Finnish for beautiful and elegant).

My Dad's current boat is named after a hardy flower that grows in arctic and alpine environments, "Diapensia."

Most of my boats have the names that they came with. When (if?) we paint GREYHAWK's topsides a color other than battleship grey, we wonder how well her name will still fit. We did re-name the dinghy my Dad gave us, though. It used to be informally named "Sandwort" (another alpine flower), but we have named it "Brancher"

Regards,

[Figment]

On the way into work today a trailered center console crossed an intersection in front of me. TUITION in letters half the height of the freeboard.

sigh.

[rshowarth]

A friend refurbished a 1960s ODay Mariner last winter and raced it with his son this summer. It was in rough shape when he received it. He did a great job bringing it back, including the blue topsides and red bootstripe.

He named it Silk Purse.

[Tim]

A friend refurbished a 1960s ODay Mariner last winter and raced it with his son this summer. It was in rough shape when he received it. He did a great job bringing it back, including the blue topsides and red bootstripe.

He named it Silk Purse.

Well done.

[Ceasar Choppy]

When a fried of mine's Mariner sunk at the dock one year, we affectionately re-named it the "Sub-Mariner."

[Figment]

I was flipping through my YC's yearbook thingy last night looking for a phone number, and I noticed a fair range of names.

Some highlights...
LOON I dunno why, I've just always liked it.
LATITUDE
GULLIVER
POT LUCK (a sweet old Beal lobsterboat)

and some lowlights...
LOCK N LOAD
OFF THE HOOK
OTHER WOMAN
five variations using the word REEL
TEMPORARY

[rshowarth]

My Mariner is currently named Penn Winds. The previous owner was a University of Pennsylvania graduate. At Riverton Yacht Club, on the Delaware River, the prevailing wind is upriver and from the west (Pennsylvania). So the name is not horrible, but I am not a Penn graduate and the name does not mean anything to me.

So I have been considering a name change. Some of the names I am considering are:

Undine

Pyewacket, even though it and Undine are already used by others.

and

The Mustard Seed

The color of my gel coat hull is called Harvest Gold.

Other names may come to me before a change is made. Please do not vote for one name or the other. I am just sharing the names. Each has a literary or romantic meaning. I may be racing but I must be a cruiser at heart, sailing is a spiritual and romantic pursuit.

[Duncan]

The Westwind is named Catspaw, because I always like seeing them coming across the water. (The wind is coming!)

The Eastwind had been owned by an economics professor, who called it Economies of Sail. I changed that to T'Anam, which is short for "Foi t'anam" ("Peace be on his soul", in Gaelic). My father had always wanted a Paceship, so I thought that would be a good way to carry on.

It also comes across very clearly on the radio, unlike Catspit?, Hatsaw?, Paw-paw?, etc. :)

[Ric in Richmond]

The Mustard Seed

The color of my gel coat hull is called Harvest Gold.

ALCHEMY

being gold and all.....

[rshowarth]

I will add it to the list.

[Dan H]

I saw a beautiful old sloop in Muskegon Harbor last year with SOB on the transom.
On the side of the boat it said "Sweet Old Boat". And it sure was pretty. I wish I knew what it was.

I need an education. I am stupid but that's beside the point. Why do I see it written Glissando and then glissando? I am just confused.
Dan

[Tim]

Why do I see it written Glissando and then glissando? I am just confused.

So am I. But I'll try to answer.

The word "glissando", in its definitive context as a musical term, is not a proper noun; therefore it is not capitalized in that use.

But because we used the word to name our boat, it therefore becomes a proper noun in that context, and should be capitalized when written.

Never mind that we chose to use a lower case "g" on the transom because it makes the word flow better in the font we chose.

[DPTrainor]

Snow Goose

[Allen]

Regarding changing the name, I agree with the concept that if she has had her name for a significant period of time she should probably keep it baring the name being something inappropriate. For the first couple of years of her life, Kaholee had a different name, but she has been Kaholee for something like 44 years, so Kaholee she remains.

Naming-wise, you can always pick a name you like even if it is a common one, then translate it into French, Spanish, Hawaiian etc.

[AJ]

Yeah, why is it that with boats and hair-cutting places, people always feel the need to make a cheesy pun? I swear, if I ever see one of those places just called "Haircuts" I will give them business just to say "Thank you."

I think the hair salon next to my local West Marine might take home the prize in the pun category:

"Curl Up and Dye"

It certainly got my attention, and made me do a double-take the first time I read it, but I'm not sure that's the most inviting and welcoming of names!

AJ

[Mark.Wilme]

I started this thread and so I will finish it up too

we began I think with "Obsession" thinking it apt and original - we were half right - I did not realize that Obsession was on the BoatUS top ten boat names list for several years. Definitely not original.

We tried other names

'Treasure beach',

'Circus Act' was popular for a while,

'Sea Glass' almost made onto the USCG form and I even made a pilot website on my laptop with that name

However we have finally decided on a name, the USCG forms are in and in the spring the new lettering will go on.




Mark

S/V Calypso

[Noah]

I've only had 5 boats with names, and only 1 we changed.

1957 Lyman = Woodchuck. My grandmother named it because we found it on the side of the road in Vermont. It's a fine name, though it isn't painted on the transome.

1958 18ft Penn Yan = Stick. Who knows...I bought it to do a quick fix and sell. I used it 10 times and made $1500 bucks.

19something Whitpy dingy I got as a kid = Altair. Still used by me and generally refered to now as dumpy. Boy I loved that boat as a kid.

1958 Nordic Folkboat = Patience. It came with the name and I promised to keep it.

1953 Hinckley 36. = Roshika. named after my little sister who was 3 at the time. When I got her she was named Shyna M, which I believe is Yiddish for Beautiful M. Well I don't know anyone with an M in their name so I changed it. The person I bought it from said that was fine, but I should leave her old name written somewhere in the boat, along with her new name. That way the gods would be happy. It worked for me.

[Tim]

1957 Lyman = Woodchuck. My grandmother named it because we found it on the side of the road in Vermont.

I love that name and the story behind it!

[Figment]

Another one made the list today: O Sea D

[Tim Mertinooke]

The bummer is I didn't get a shot of the jacked up truck with a roll bar pulling it as they flew past me on the Turnpike.

[mishnish]

My own quest to name my boat was recently concluded. I finally settled on "Le Poisson Rouge" - french for "The Red Fish". There were three reasons for that.

1. In my group of friends if ever a job is completed or done well we say "Jobs a poisson rouge" for no real reason other than it sounds rediculous and tends to draw people into conversation.

2. Shes a 470 (French designer - Andre Corneau)

3. All her kit - Kite, Kite bags and toestraps are red!

It took a while and I agonised through lots of silly names that really didnt mean anything to me, but when I thought of this, it ticked all the boxes and there was an immediate personal connection that none of the other names had. When I bought the boat I had to immediately renovate/rebuild it and I was very proud of the final result. So having a name which for me means "Job well done" is a very satisfying thing!