Boat names

[Sandero]

I name my boat Shiva after returning from a trip to India. I thought I would never see another boat with this name. One day I was departing Bermuda for the States and the custom is to call Bermuda Harbor Radio and announce your departure. I gave our vessel's name and destination and the BHR told me that another Shiva had only just departed bound for Boston! How's that for a strange coincidence? Never did get to see our name sake though...

Jef
sv Shiva
Contest 36s

[Pura Vida]

Years ago a junior exec my wife was lunching with wanted to show off his knowlege of sushi. He informed the crowd that the special was pronounced no-naw-me and was a real delicacy. When he pointed to it on the menu the little Japanese waitress replied in a voice right out of the mid-west: "OK, today's No Name Special is California Rolls and Salmon".

When I first spotted my old Catalina she was without a name but she quickly became know around the the bay as "Noname" and it is pronounced no-naw-me...

[David_Old_Jersey]

Saw a 35 / 40 foot sailing boat in a Marina called "No Fear".

Apart from demonsrating to everyone that the owner has an appalling lack of originality and imagination and is probably a complete d#ck head........it struck me as rather tempting fate.

I mentally renamed her "No Brain".............

[Islandmike]

I personally do not like changing the name of a boat, superstitious, yes probably. We purchased her as "Tivoli" and "Tivoli" she stays. Tivoli is a city in Italy, City of Fountains.

[Greg S]

Originally Posted by Vasco

Ever tried to hail a boat named "Quack"?

That's even better than out boat name... Yoohoo

I like it. If I ever name another boat, it will be "Quack"!

[Wahoo Sails]

OK forum,
Just today, I bought a "new to me" boat (1976 Cape Dory 28') named "Night Wind" ..... I'm "OK" with that name, but would like to hear what others think of it.
Bob

[Greg S]

There is a boat here in the marina named... "Breaking Wind"
One of seven documented - Office of Science and Technology

[ess105]

And there's one at my club called "Passing Wind". If this was ever sold, I wonder if the new owners would share the same humour.

Wahoo, a friend of mine, who now lives near Tampa owns a boat called Night Wind. They still keep her in Ca, but she will eventually move her east. They love the name, but then again, they are very attached to the boat.

[Lanzarote]

Been spanish, my next boat will rename to "Isla Bonita"
a boat is an island ...a nice island
Alex

[kydivemaster]

I use to own a great little trawler I called her "Glory Daze, Purple Haze" After a return from the bahamas in 2002. It got shorten to just "Glory Daze" Customs didn't see the humor in the longer name so our check in took about 6 hours longer then it should have including a run thru with their dogs.

Keith

[tdw]

When we bought our old girl she was named CORLAR. Why ? I have no idea but presumably one of those stupid names that is a combo of the owners names (e.g Coral and Larry). Name just didn't work for either of us and so began the search. My favourite was Grievous Angel (a much loved album by Gram Parsons) or Blue Wind (a song by Townes van Zandt). Madam reckoned GA was too negative and BW sounded like a lit fart so they were out. Slow Dance (another album this time by Southside Johnny) was reckoned to make her seem like a slow poke so we settled on Silver Raven (a song by Gene Clark). Ok so I have a musical fetish but that's the way it is. My sig is a verse from SR.
As to the change, I hold no truck with superstition, but madam is a sixties kind of girl so we have to go through the nonsense of throwing perfectly good Champers over the side for Poseiden to have his tipple and all that jazz. Women, can't live with 'em , not allowed to shoot 'em. Bah Humbug. Oh, sorry that's my Christmas greeting.

[Amfivena]

When I started looking for a cruising boat, I had hoped to find one with a name I could live with. Partially due to superstition and partially do to lazyness/tightwadiness – why change out the name if there is no good reason to?

We ended up with a Westsail named ‘Angela S.’ If it were just ‘Angela’ I probably could have lived with it – especially since I don’t know any Angelas so the name, in my mind anyway, would be reserved for the boat.

I first debated simply dropping the ‘S’, but that would still entail graphic work and documentation changes. If you’re going to do something, you might as well do it right. Not to mention the constant threat of someone with my boat’s name coming into my life. I can just imagine me getting a new boss named Angela…

Anyhow, my wife and I searched around for boat names and ended up with ‘Amfivena’ – which is a mythical snake with two heads – one at each end. They are also noted as cold weather snakes. The more correct spelling is ‘amphisbaena’ but we went with the anglicized version for obvious reasons. We initially chose this as our boat is double-ended and based in Maine, with no plans to head south.

After changing the name we found a further reference that said the mythical creature was noted for eating eats. When we purchased the boat, it included a large population of carpenter ants that had fallen off a nearby tree. We saw the last of the ants shortly after changing the name. So far the name change has worked out…

[Chrisc]

My company has recently chartered a new ship. All our ships have the prefix 'Tasman', and this ship was renamed 'Tasman Explorer.' Before that, she was the 'CCNI Hong Kong' and before that, the 'Cape Dennison', and she's only 4 years old! In the hard headed world of commercial shipping, no-one gives a toss for the so called good luck-bad luck associated with name changing. The big name companies, Shell, Maersk etc own their own vessels and these will carry the same name throughout their lives, but the vast majority of shipping companies employ chartered tonnage and typically a 10 - 15 year old ship will have had half a dozen name changes, all with no discernable bad effects!
The trouble with maritime superstitions is that if you accept one, you are pretty well obligated to accept all. So, with that in mind, there are a few things that are banned from on board your boats. At the top of the list, according to superstitious tradition, are unmarried women, parsons and dead bodies, in that order. So no more moonlight cruises anchored in the compliant arms of your beloved, and a quick thrash around the bouys with the minister after church on Sunday is also out. And if one of your crew should unfortunately snuff it, you will have to bury them at sea immediately and to hell with the authorities ashore - don't risk the bad luck of retaining the body on board, and don't forget that when you sew the body up in your old storm jib, the last stitch always goes through the deceased's nose.
Whistling on board is a big no-no as it brings on gales, although in calms a little soft whistling and scratching the backstays with the fingernails may induce a breeze. If the wind comes roaring like a banshee..., well you whistled to darn loud, didn't you. Also for this reason, mouth organs, penny whistles, recorders etc are prohibited on board, although mechanical wind instruments - accordians, concertina etc are O.K.
If a sea bird should crap on you, do not remove the offending blob - let it remain until it falls off or otherwise dissappears. Others may look at you askance, but you will be secure in the certain knowledge that upon you the gods have smiled with favour. To remove it will only enrage the deities who otherwise sought to bless you. And finally, don't neglect to place a coin, gold not silver, under your mast step. In the event of a big catastrophe this is required to pay the ferryman to transport your soul accross the River Styx into eternity. No gold coin, no crossing and you will have to spend forever in the cold embrace of Davy Jones's locker......
Phew!! and thats only for starters. All in all, I thing it easier to regard thses nautical superstitions for what they are - superstitions! Sailing can sometimes be complicated enough on its own without adding to the difficulties.