TWL: Name That Boat
Joe & Margaret,
We too are in the process of naming (re-naming) our new ('87) DeFever 41.
It is a Canadian documented vessel so I expect some other constraints to
come into play. We have narrowed the list down to eight names but we are
still struggling with the process of making the choice. Any suggestions you
or others may have would be welcome.
Early on, we decided against a 'cute' or 'clever' name although many have
been suggested to us through the TWL list and others. For instance, Boating
Magazine had a contest and First Prize was Sturgeon General, then Dock
Potato,
VIAQUA, Nice Aft, The Rod Father and some others including Sea-Nyle, Bass
Ackwards, Not for Sail, www.calm, Time Aweigh and Teak for Two.
I am drawn to some of the classic ship names (e.g., Endeavour, Adventure,
Discovery, Intrepid, Dauntless, Perseverance etc.) but my wife feels these
are a bit presumptuous.
The BoatUS site http://www.boatus.com/goodoldboat/naming.htm has some
information on a 'proper ceremony' for renaming a boat and some popular boat
names at http://www.boatus.com/names/
We found a comprehensive list of the Water Gods & Goddesses at
www.cybercomm.net/~grandpa/water_gods.html
We found over 46,000 ship names at
http://faculty.washington.edu/petermcc/shipindex.html
And a few more sites with lots of names:
http://www.yachtsee.com/boatnamesnew.htm
http://www.rtspecialties.com/boatnames.htm
Regards,
Ed Bottrell
DF41 "?"
Halifax, NS
Joe & Margaret
I bought my current boat with the inheritance from my godmother. Her
name was "ANNA GEIST".
Thoght it would be appropriate to rename the boat in my godmother's
honour "ANNA G".
This would be pronounced "anna-gee". Tried this on some of my friends
and they thought I was calling my boat "ANARCHY". This might reflect
the usual state of affairs on board but was not what I intended. So,
for the time being, I left her with the previous name (Scaramouche1).
Moral: Sound out a new boat name and try it on your friends BEFORE
you commit. (Cost of a name change for a registered boat in Canada is
$300.- plus the cost of the search for duplicate names - about $60.-
, I think)
George of Scaramouche, Lake Ontario - Canada
With a "DeFever" hull, I would search a name around Aspirin, or at least
honor Gerhardt, who found it in 1853... More seriously, personnally, I like
names related to something meaningful to the owner. I named my old 1927
ketch "Noirmoutier", from the island where I was raised as a kid in France.
Ocean, summertime, friends, family and sun, this place was paradise to me. I
carry the memory of this good old time on my boat.
And the name means "Black monastery" in old French, which is not that bad
for a boat.
I understand by your e-mail address that you're from Nova Scotia : is there
some nice village related to your roots, or some "souvenir" from the old
Scotland in your environment ?
Good luck in your search,
Bernard
Joe & Margaret,
We too are in the process of naming (re-naming) our new ('87) DeFever 41.
It is a Canadian documented vessel so I expect some other constraints to
come into play. Any suggestions you or others may have would be welcome.
Moral: Sound out a new boat name and try it on your friends BEFORE you
commit.<<<<
If you're going overseas, it might be a good idea to consider cultural as
well as linguistic sensitivities. In some places people are less relaxed
about public references to sex acts for example. That some of these
sensitivities seem odd to you, doesn't make them less real. Here's a quick
cautionary tale:
Until a few years ago, I worked for the Australian subsidiary of a very
large American chemical company. Our company decided to form a joint
venture with another Australian chemical company and held a competition for
employees of both companies to choose a name for the JV company. The
winning name was Southern Cross <chemical name deleted>.
I'm sure I don't need to tell fellow mariners that Southern Cross referred
to the constellation Crux, and of course it's one of our most sacred
national symbols. It's on our national flag (and that of New Zealand), it
was on the flag that flew over the Eureka Stockade, it's mentioned in our
national anthem and it was carried proudly as the name of one of our
Americas Cup challengers.
Everything was going swimmingly, and the champagne was on ice, when details
of the new company were sent back to company HQ in the mid-west for final
approval. BOOM! You could have head the explosion back in Sydney. According
to HQ, Southern Cross would mean either:
-
The Confederate battle flag from the American Civil War.
-
The burning crosses of the KKK.
Since neither symbol is exactly politically correct in the USA, company HQ
insisted that the new company be renamed (at considerable expense) to some
suitably anodyne.
Regards, Robert Bryett
Sydney, Australia
Under the Southern Cross
mailto:rbryett@mail.com