What's in a name ?

[Galway Bay]

I have been meaning to do this for a while - what did you call your boat and why ??

Some names seem selfevident like parhaps "peace" but what is the whole story ? Many choose Poiynesian names but to me this is perhaps better suited to sailors who sail these seas or at least can realistically hope to do so.

My own boat is at this time nameless. So this could help me make up my mind. Having replaced 50% of the entire boat in a reconstruction I feel I am entitled to a new name as well !

In my younger days I was "Circus" and a beginner in circus is called a "First of May" because this is by tradition when the circus starts to tour. So when I became a beginner in sailing I used this name for my boat. You can imagine the mayhem on the VHF when my friends tried to call me - yeah yeah "Mayday Mayday where are you?" So that name is history.

I am an Irish speaker and am tempted by some lovely Irish language names eg. "Gabhlan Gaoithe" [ who goes with the wind ] which is the Irish name for the Swift [bird] who circles the globe without landing - even mating in flight.  

Another line of thought leads me into musical circles. My home [ Clare ] is renowned for it's traditional music and I am a small part of this. I made my living as a tradesman and "The Mason's Apron" is a tune that crossed the ocean to Newfoundland and returned and is a great favourite on both sides of the Atlantic.

But this is not just about me. So go on tell us - what did you call yours and why ???

[Shaun]

We named our little Hinemoa "Mystery", we have no clue regarding her past, the people we got her from had never sailed her, had no information about her previous owner and she had been sitting forlorn for nearly a decade so she is a complete mystery! Not a romantic island style name nor a poetic, ancient sounding Gaelic name but it sure does suit her!
Shaun

[Galway Bay]

Thanks everyone - keep 'em coming !

Vino Tinto under a hot Spanish sun, Oh man I have been away too long. Funny how the exact same vino tastes completely different on a cold dark day !

Was a very fast racer on the Irish Sea called "Enigma" [yeah I had to look it up] means "something which cannot be understood" so another "Mystery".

[Dave Vinnicombe]

Dragons are the protectors of precious things. And Dragon has certainly taken good care of me!

Dave

[robert van leeuwen]

"Cat named Dog" 

Reminded me of a cat named CatMandu, named after the local beach Mandu. 

What about DogWomandont?

Chuck Valley said:

I aint no Polanesian; I'm a midwesterner. I've always said that a man's gotta have a dog. A dog forces you to get out of bed and go outside. A dog makes you enjoy a simple life of chasing a ball. A dog takes you to places you'd never go. I am naming my boat "DOG". I can spell it, pronounce it, and it's "God" backwards. Look for the cat named "Dog"!

[Andy Best-Dunkley]

Our cat, a Pahi 42, is called "Godzilla" - a big monster from the sea! Here in Finland Wharrams are few and far between and most people just look in amazement at her, so "Godzilla" seemed like a good name, and we like pop culture & movies ;-)

Andy

[Rory McDougall]

Cooking Fat........................need I say more???? At age 21 and wanting to wave two fingers at mainstream society - the delightful name seemed so fitting!

[Dave Vinnicombe]

I've always loved the name of your boat Rory! I think we have all referred to our boats in those terms at some stage...

Dave

[Galway Bay]

Thanks mgt...all very enlightening / entertaining let's hope we get lots more.

By coincidence I have just received an e-mail from a well travelled triend in UK she tells me she has a new cat [ the real 4 legged type ] which she has named " TOU LAN " which means "LAZY THIEF"  in chinese. I am not going to use it so it is available FREE to anyone looking for inspiration !!

[Michael Stephani]

After working a long day on our Hitia 17 my wife and I went to a bar and told the barkeeper to bring "whatever". We got two white russians. So we thought that "Dude" is a nice name for the boat. Very relaxed, very laid back.

[Galway Bay]

OK just to let you know I went with  Gabhlan Gaoithe [gow-lawn gwee-ha] and to give the post a bump - c'mon there must be more stories out there !!

[Rogerio Martin]

TikiRio. The Tiki spirt more Rio de Janeiro, carioca style. In true, this is the frist Tiki 30 in Brasil, and I wanna associate Tiki name with our city. Turist maketing, for future charters. I read Tikiroa, Tikaroa, so tikirio songs well.

[Ann and Neville Clement]

My first boat was a Grumman aluminum canoe I bought used with my former husband.  He had been a conscientious objector to all war before we met and I had been assisting AWOL soldiers from the Vietnam war, so Peace had that meaninf for us.  We named it Peace in 17 different languages given to us by war resisters and war survivors and the names went around the gunnels in Algonquian (a Native American language) Vietnamese, Italian, French, German, Lao, etc.  At the launch we heard many stories as each person told us about wars they had lived through and what it meant to them to have the word Peace represented in their language on our boat.  We sailed a lot at waterside peace demonstrations mostly where GreenPeace was also sailing.  We had a Gunter rig sail with a white dove of peace on it. 

My second boat was Peace II and she was a Shannon 28 monohull that I sailed solo trans Atlantic and I met Nev in Britain and he sailed back with me.  Had to marry him after that!  It was a good trip.

Peace III is the canal barge Nev and I lived on in Britain while we built our Tiki 46 Peace IV.  So I have been living in Peace for a few decades now.  In all the years on the water, I have only known of four boats named Peace other than our own. 

Nev and I built a small cradle boat for a grand child and named it Dreamer after the first boat I ever sailed on which was an old 1920 schooner out of California back when I was a little girl.  Loved that name and rarely see it.  But a boat now in build may already have that name and it is a Wharram so hands off for now, please.

We name few things in our lives.  Kids, pets, houses in some cases, and boats.  Some boats seem to name them selves.  I know that Rory now calls his boat Cookie because he has such affection for Cooking Fat. 

For sure remember the radio when you name your boat.     

Ann and Nev