How did you name your boat?

[Andrea]

How did you name your boat? I am always curious about how people name their boat and if there is a story behind it. After seeing all of the names on this site, I am looking forward to hearing the stories...So, If you have a boat how did you come up with the name?

[John Berens]

Changing a boats name is supposed to bring bad luck. So, when we bought KILLICK our 1970 CAL 34 we retained the name. KILLICK is the name of an old Galic anchor which was made from a forked branch with a large rock lashed into it. Some dictionarys also mention that it denotes 'safety and security'.
Since all boats are 'floating Murphys Laws', we very much liked the safety and security aspect. This comming May we will have owned her for 24 years. Over this period she has very much lived up to her name.

[CAN DRAC]

That's is wonderful...and it sounds great on the VHF radio too!

[Jack and Linda Rudy]

When we decided to sell our 26' Westerly and get a larger boat for longer cruises (in the mid 1990's), we were both still in the working world but looking forward to retirement within 10 years. We discussed a lot of names, and we chose "New Attitude" because, at that time, our attitude was changing from "save for the future" to "I can't take it with me, so I'm going to enjoy it while I'm here." And we have!!

[Andrea]

How wonderful...What a great new attitude to have! ;-)

[Liv]

I'm new here so I thought I'd share the naming of my boat.
All of my life I wanted a sailboat but my hubby didn't share my dream.
A few years ago, for my birthday, I made up my mind, 'I'm making my dreams come true, regardless'. Long ago I had researched what boat would be suitable for us. So, I knew what to look for.
The long search began and one 22nd of June, my birthday, I found the CS 22.. with the serial number of 2322.
It was love at first sight, it was Karma.. So, the boat was named Karma 22 , nothing would have suited her better.
Hubby has since come around to loving sailing as much as I do, as I knew he would...LOL
Liv

[zeehag]

the previous owner of my formosa had the initials sb and found a boat with same initials as he ---when i decided it had to be mine, the name solitary bird was still appropriate so she remains solitary bird....

[Andrea]

That is an amazing story! I am so happy for you!!!!! Karma 22 it is! :-)

[Rob]

Hello. I'm actually new here but saw this thread pop up with new replies so I thought I'd chime in.

My dad always told me it was tradition to name a boat after the important woman/women in your life. I saw on an earlier post it's tradition to use 7 letters - didn't know that one.

So when my dad named his boat, he named it after my mom, Olivia, and my sister, Lera (family name). So the boat was named O'Lera.

I didn't like it as a kid since I was a typical sister-hatin' brother (okay, not that bad, but...). Looking back, it's actually a pretty cool name.

I never named the sunfish. It's just "the sunfish". Guess it's kinda like naming a dog "Dog" but it works.

[Terri]

oh oh, had me counting the letter's in my boat's name...8...should have dropped the "d"...LOL...hope I don't tick off Neptune...tradition o.k. , luck? Terri s/v Twizzled. Friend's dog's name was D'og...italian doggie.. *grin*. I like O'Lera, nice!

[Pete]

I'm with you, Terri -- 8 letters. Maybe it's not as bad as it seems. I seem to recall that in Chinese culture, 8 is a lucky number.

What-freakin'-ever...

Pete
s/v EmmieLou (Oday 322)
Little Silver, NJ

[Rob]

Maybe I'm just not that superstitious. Then again, I do respect the locker that Davy Jones owns.

[Suky]

Historically, naming a boat with a feminine name was considered bad luck, but I consider it good luck and there are plenty of vessels named after women.
My current boat, a daysailer is called Imogene Z after each of my grandmothers - Imogene and Zanett. So if I only use Imogene that's 7 and adding Z for Zanett makes 8.