Name Change - Folklore and Superstition

[Askopelos]

I heard that if a vessels name ends with an 'a' it is considered bad luck. The fate of the 'Costa Concordia' only confirms this. Our boat had it's original name changed by the previous owner to that of his wife and guess what? Both her names end with an 'a'. Where do we stand if we were to revert to the original name? What ceremonies would we need to perform to appease the powers that be?
Cheers

[Nemo55]

Renaming Your Boat - BoatSafe.com

[Askopelos]

I'm pretty sure that the previous owner didn't perform any such ceremony when he abruptly changed the name. Arguably the boats original name hasn't yet been purged from the memory of the deep. We're talking about a 40 year old vessel that only had its name changed 6 years ago.

[Zednotzee]

Originally Posted by Askopelos

I heard that if a vessels name ends with an 'a' it is considered bad luck. The fate of the 'Costa Concordia' only confirms this.

I think that had more to do with poor seamanship, really. Superstition has more to do with personal beliefs. You can always use John Vigor's de-naming ceremony if you like (just google it).

[Nemo55]

As a Mechanic we used to say if we didn't pay the required toll in spilled blood the job would not go well. "they bled me dry the Ba***rds" superstition is a strange thing. We have generations of folklore hanging in the shadowy corners of our past, and i for one will not screw with common belief.

[River Cruiser]

Originally Posted by Askopelos

I heard that if a vessels name ends with an 'a' it is considered bad luck. The fate of the 'Costa Concordia' only confirms this. Our boat had it's original name changed by the previous owner to that of his wife and guess what? Both her names end with an 'a'. Where do we stand if we were to revert to the original name? What ceremonies would we need to perform to appease the powers that be?
Cheers

I think on the Costa Concordia it is bad luck to have a captain with a O on the end of his name;-)

[MacG]

My boats's name is NEALA. The previous one had no name. I hate names. But there maybe something in the idea of Askopelos. My pension did not paid in today .......

[sailorboy1]

I've renamed both of my boats when no ceremony at all and nothing bad has happened.

Guess you are either superstitious or not. If you are you follow all the "rules", if not just go have a beer afterward as a reward for your trouble and time.

[MacG]

I was more or less joking - now I am not so sure ......

[Lowcountry]

I think you have to sink her and re-float her before you can rename her

[MacG]

The previous owner did that for me already - and left her afterwards w/o name.

[maytrix]

Titanic - ends with a c, not an a. Which was worse?

I don't believe in superstitions myself.. rename it if you want. It's always easy in hindsight to blame superstitions..

We bought a second home, named it and 3 months later it was destroyed by hurricane Irene. Was it because of us naming it? The name we chose? Or was it simply because it was in the path of 6 feet of water? Just bad luck if you ask me..

[red_sky]

What happens if you keep the name but change the language? i.e. English to Spanish? These questions haunt me :/

[Mr B]

There are plenty of ships running the worlds oceans under different names to what they started out with.

And multiple name changes as well.

Its along the same lines as the old superstition,
if a woman came on board, you were doomed,

Now thats got me thinking,

I was going to change the name of my boat and I did have a woman on board.
When my Gemini got washed onto the rocks,

Hahahahahahahaha

[Boracay]

My personal opinion is that if you are worried about annoying a God or two with a name change then the best way to appease them would be with a small donation to Sea Shepherd.

If you made the donation is your boat's new name, even better.