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?

[Mark (Voodoo Acrobat)]

A heightened state of excitement is called "Twizzled"? Gee, who knew? My gf has another name for it. (Sorry. Couldn't resist replying. It's a really cute name.)

[Melissa Renee]

I often get asked what my boat name means and how I came up with it. Some folks think that I named it after the famous composer Gershwin's song "Rhapsody in Blue"! With no disrespect to Gershwin I didn't. She was originally going to be called just plain Rhapsody. I love music and listen to it almost my entire waking moment. Music composed of instrumental Rhapsody style are my favorite.
Rhapsody "meaning" -
1. Exalted or excessively enthusiastic expression of feeling in speech or writing.
2. A literary work written in an impassioned or exalted style.
3. A state of elated bliss; ecstasy.
4. Music A usually instrumental composition of irregular form that often incorporates improvisation.
5. An ancient Greek epic poem or a portion of one suitable for uninterrupted recitation.
Well, I view sailing a boat as a Rhapsody. I take great liberties in substituting the noun in most of the sentences above with sailing. The "in Blue" part came from my spouse. Apparently there was a contest at work on naming my boat. The "in Blue" was added there because both the ocean and sky are Blue. Since I love to sail and fly for a living, "in Blue" seem appropriate. Hence - Rhapsody in Blue.
Because music is such an important part of my life the boat of course has a theme song. Actually she has two; August Rush - Rhapsody in C and the theme to Star Trek -Voyager! When I launch out of the slip both songs get played over the stereo.

[Andrea]

Very interesting. I love how all the ideas for your new boat name came together!

[Dave Skolnick]

Bill - Have you seen the new TV commercial for Navy Seals? It's outstanding.

[Paul Jones]

I named my Island Packet 37-16 Ad Astra. For those of you who took Latin, you may know that it means “To the Star”. It is the first half of the Kansas state motto. The rest, “per aspera”, means “through difficulties” and recalls the hardships Kansas had to endure becoming a state before the Civil War. Since I was born, raised, and live in Kansas and the Star is the IP logo, I though it was a perfect fit. Oh, and if you see Ad Astra on the ocean somewhere warm with her hailing port of Prairie Village, KS, no, I didn’t sail her there from Kansas.

[Paul Jones]

Decades ago I read Michener’s “Chesapeake”. It inspired me to become a duck hunter buy a Chesapeake Bay retriever to help me. I looked up baby names and found Halimeda meant “of the water or loves the water” so that’s what I named the dog.

In the late 1990’s I purchased and Island Packet 45 and decided to name it Halimeda after the dog who was tough and loved the water. She proved to live up to her name sake. I lived aboard her for a year and sailing from Florida to Trinidad and eventually to the Chesapeake. See www.halimeda.com . On the trip, I met a marine biologist who told me the Halimeda was also the name of a type of green algae that protects coral reefs and eventually turns into the sand on many beaches

[___/)ances With Sails]

Moght wanna cover umerited ears when i declare the name t' my claim.. It wont be be pertty! I'll give ye the heads up!

[Fred and Margaret Keith]

It's kind of a long story. My previous sailboat was named "Second Chance" because I bought it as junk and spent 11 months rebuilding it. It was the boat's second chance at life.
My present boat is a home-built 45' cutter-rig sailboat that was begun in 1972 by a marine architect/engineer. He died in 1996 and had completed about 35% of the work on the boat. I bought it from his widow in 1999, and spent the next four years finishing it. I wanted to name it "Last Chance" because I figured I was the last chance for the boat ever being completed, but my wife thought "Last Chance" was too morbid.
During construction in my backyard I kept the boat under a canvas covered frame, and every year two doves built their nests and raised their young on the boat deck - one forward and one aft. It was a safe place for the doves and their young, so I began to think of it as their sanctuary. And since I am a retired preacher, sanctuary fit in my history also, so "Sanctuary" became the boat's name. A side benefit of the name was, since I worked on the boat for one year before retirement, when I took a day off my secretary would tell callers that I was on my knees in the sanctuary.

[Mark (Voodoo Acrobat)]

What a great story! (And what a clever secretary!)

[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!!