How did you choose your boat name?

[Sunsetrider]

We changed the name back to its original: "Manatee" - slow and friendly is our Albin 25. And reverting to its former name meant we could forego the formalities without risking disaster.

[sailinbob1]

Originally Posted by rwidman

Very important. Also, "stupid" names can be a problem. People I know named their boat "Does it Matter?"

Think about this; every time they were asked the name of the boat (bridges, marinas, etc.) they said "Does it matter?" This does not get a good reaction.

I imagine not. At one time I thought about naming a previous boat 'Blow Me'. Liked the double entendre,and she was a sailboat, after all,but the more I thought about it,I realized, I didn't wanna be answering a Coast Guard hail with Blow Me. Lol....

[Ken Z]

I always connect a name a boat with a woman, lady or girl, in the name, old school. Im on my 12 th boat a pearson and named her " shes a lady"

[Mike OReilly]

Our boat has one of the worst names from a functional standpoint (at least here in the Anglo world): Pachina Mia. We were told it is Italian (Sicilian dialect to be exact) for something like “My little sweetheart”.

Anglos seem to have a terrible time with it, although our French Canadian friends do fine. We’ve learned to respond to just about any VHF call that sounds remotely like it. And we speak very slowly when making our VHF calls.

We briefly considered changing the name, but this boat has a history and a pedigree. There are beautiful hearts inlaid in the stern and punched out in copper. She's been around the world already, and done things and been to places I can only dream about right now. It seems wrong to take that away from her.

I look forward to the day we sail into a harbour and are greeted by someone who remembers her (hopefully not b/c of an unpaid bill ). Although we might also get punched out if we sail into an Italian port; apparently “Pachina” is also slag for: Urban Dictionary: pachina

[toddster8]

I never did think of anything meaningful and clever, so I just started calling it by the previous owners name, "Arcturus." A star name, fairly nautical and emotionally neutral.

It's important not to leave a boat nameless. I never named my previous boat - a Hobie 16 - and it started to think that its name was "Oh ****!"

[sailinbob1]

Especially when you forget to put the plug in the mast,and turn turtle. Panama City Beach 1980.

[oldsalt_1942]

Way back around 1977, in a dingy used book store on Royal Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans I stumbled across one of the most fantastic books ever. It’s “The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea,” a thick, one-volume of just about anything nautical you can think of.

One of the entries was for “Nancy Dawson.” It is the song to which the rum ration was piped in the British Navy for over 200 years! I told myself that if I ever owned a boat worthy of having a name on her transom that was what it was going to be. In 1992 I got the deal of the 20th century on a Kaiser 26, hull number 24 of only 26 built. She was named “Little Dipper” at the time, and while that wasn’t as bad as, say, “Blow Job,” or “Bull Ship,” it didn’t do a thing for me, and I had “Nancy Dawson” put on her beautiful wine glass transom. People used to ask me if I named the boat after some long-lost love. I told them that if they could tell me the derivation of the name I’d buy them a shot of rum. I never had to do it in the six years I owned her even with the hint I’d give people.

[Mr Saturn]

Originally Posted by SteveInMD

Definitely don't go with a name that requires explanation. That gets old fast!

If the logic is solid and the story good then why should an explanation ever get old?

[Lancerbye]

I have often thought of changing my boats name which was named by her original owner 36 years ago "CHAIM" which is pronounced "KAHIEM", a Hebrew word meaning " life ", I am told. Needless to say I have to spell it out with the radio phonetics every time I check into a Marina or talk to the authorities. Good thing it is not too long. Because it is Federally registered in Canada and a fee is involved in the name change, I have decided that after owning it for 11 years there really is no point to changing it now.

[Teknishn]

Years ago, when I was young and much less knowlegable about boats, I purchased and salvaged a 24-foot '62 N.J. Eastern Sea Skiff that sank next to the pier. Spent 2 years rebuilding her (Talk about a learning curve!). The owner that I bought the boat from never told me the boat's name (quick $300 and run away kinda thing I guess). So, after debating after a few months of hard work and draining the bank account, my wife at the time, suggested "Handyman's Nightmare" and it stuck. Big mahogany board across the back of the boat.

My recently purchased boat is named "Mer Sea". When I return to the States in a month or so to outfit her, she gets renamed "S/V Coastal Nomad" (Yeah, will do the ritual renaming...if only to drink some beer/champagne/both...as a Golden Shellback I aint gonna tempt fate here ).

The name "Coastal Nomad" I think suits the boat and my personality (living in Egypt for 19 years, living with bedouins between boat repair gigs, archaeological work living with teams from abroad. Sometimes living for months alone with my dog in the desert...you get the picture.) and should come across well over VHF. The boat was designed as a coastal cruiser, nothing more, nothing less...a gunkholer...a "Coastal Nomad".

Boat names are personal as we all know. Renaming a boat should involve a "bonding" of the boat and the personality of the person who owns her.

[icedog11]

coddiwomple...To travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination.

[Sea Dreaming]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

This is worse than mine — much worse, on many levels .

[jholder51]

While we were in the process of finding our boat, someone told my husband that the worst thing to put on a sailboat is a schedule. Greg is also a pilot and he came up with the name of NO ETA. So our next 2 years will be spent in the Caribbean with NO ETA!!!

[toddster8]

I was just tinkering on the radios and thought about spelling out the boat name phonetically. All those people with long clever names are going to wish they'd just gone with "Bob."

[leont]

To: daletournier
Just FYI, Sukha means Bitch in Russian, sorry.