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Kimmer · 19-07-2016, 21:23

Hi everyone! My husband and I just bought a 26' Columbia MKII and are really excited. We haven't sailed much, but looking at filling our empty nest syndrome with a new hobby. We are wondering about boat names... how does one pick a name? Does it always have to do with one's personality or character? Named after their firstborn or what? We have a few names picked out, but don't know if people will "get it" if it references a favourite movie or something. Does that matter? How did some of you come up with your names?

**Don C L** · 19-07-2016, 21:38

Well welcome here! Be sure to search the threads for changing boat names, it's a very complicated ritual, or very simple. I'd pick a name that is personally significant, easy to say over the radio and not too goofy. But that is just me.

Cap Erict3 · 19-07-2016, 21:45

Try Farfrumworken.

**Jim Cate** · 19-07-2016, 21:53

^^^
Don is spot on in his advice. I'd especially advise to not use really obscure words, especially from obscure languages, because they are hard to convey over the radio, particularly should you be involved in an emergency communications situation. Keeping it reasonably short is good, too. Our boat name is 10 letters long plus a Roman numeral at the end. Takes forever to spell out phonetically, and folks often get it wrong even then.

And have a look around you. Don't pick a really common name... Windsong, and Wind dancer are two that are everywhere. They may be great names, but there are so many of them that confusion often results.

So, try to temper your artistic enthusiasm with a dose of practicality!

Jim

belizesailor · 19-07-2016, 21:59

Think about how usable it will be on the radio....difficult pronunciation or multiword names...not so good.

Many boat names I think mean something to their owner, but are totally lost on others.

astokel · 20-07-2016, 08:08

Some guy at our marina calls his boat "Clothing Optional". There are at least 3 "Aqua-holics". In rather poor taste I fear. I friend called his boat Baleine which caused us no end of trouble on the radio especially in the Welland Canal. Finally, when on the radio he was using "Whale" so try to avoid foreign words. We went with Marzipan. It combines my partner and my names and has a little zip.

picklesandjesse · 20-07-2016, 08:11

Always liked Starglint for a name but haven't seen one. The renaming is complicated and when you pour the bottle of rum around the gunwhales make sure you use it all for the boat. No cheating.

liveaboard60 · 20-07-2016, 08:23

Welcome.. Selecting the name for your boat can be more difficult than selecting the name for your children <grin>.. I was lucky when I bought my sailboat as it did not have a name.. I went through all kinds of names, keeping in mind the advise about being easy to pronounce etc. etc. etc. and other advise offered above.. Like most I wanted the name to be appropriate and as original as I could.. But nothing really "clicked"..

Then I moved my boat from the Houston area (Kemah) to Port Aransas, and what a trip that turned out to be.. Because of the lack of wind in the Gulf, I ended up having to come down the "ditch" (the Intercostal waterway), and given the barge traffic and narrow channel of the ICW, soft grounded it 3 times on the sandy bottom.. So to me, my sailboat chose its own name; "La Tierra" just seemed to fit.. flk k

JaaaPeee · 20-07-2016, 08:33

Our boats all named themselves: "Ducktape" was what held it together.
"Crane Incident" was the replacement after a crane dismasted Ducktape.
"Mama Crane" was just like Crane Incident, only larger, like its mother.

iyamwhatiyam · 20-07-2016, 08:37

Read the chapter "Stupid Boat Names" in Poop,Booze and Bikinis by Ed Robinson. Although he states that "any name that includes Nauti, Knot, Reel or Sea is stupid", my wife and I are dog lovers so I came up with the name "Sea Cur" before I read that. Conflicted now about whether it's witty or stupid. What do you folks think? Stupid or not?

Juch · 20-07-2016, 08:39

"boatie mcboatface" is popular

Hene · 20-07-2016, 08:42

One caution: we kept the simple name she came with when we bought our boat nearly 30 years ago. We thought "Mary T" would be easy to spell and pronounce on the VHF, and it generally was. However, I got tired of being called Mary, since my name is Carol...and we still have the boat!

And I'd like to add greetings to Jim and Ann Cate, who are still as generous with their experience and help on this forum as they were to us in Fiji in 1994, unfortunately the last time we shared an anchorage!

**a64pilot** · 20-07-2016, 08:43

My boat had a silly name Eqqus, which I think means Horse, who would name a boat, Horse? Wasn't the name on the stern either, boat had been re-registered and renamed twice, but the name on the stern wasn't changed?
Anyway I renamed the name she had when she launched, Stargazer, seemed a good name, but have you ever seen a Stargazer? One really ugly fish

Never could come up with a name for the last boat, so we named her Das Boot, cause we had been just calling it The Boat for so long it sort of stuck.

got seashells? · 20-07-2016, 08:48

awesome on the new boat and enjoy the adventure!! we are in the middle of negotiating on a boat right now that is already named. I think after reading so much about the re-naming process that she will remain the "Nautical Mistress" as much as we would have chosen something else I think it will be okay to keep it. Does your new boat come with a name or will it be the first one given?