Naming a boat is more difficult than you'd think. You want it to be a special name…a name unique to you…something that reflects your personality and background, but also suggests the romance, adventure and exotic locales that travel on the high seas offers. Additionally, it's better if the name you choose for your boat is easily spelled, easily pronounced, easily understood over the VHF, and (assuming you travel outside your home country) recognizable by any foreign port official, containing nothing offensive in any language.
Hoo-wee, that's a tall order.
It is a very interesting pastime to ask people how they arrived at their boat's name. Everybody has a story, and it's always a good one. If you ever see "Two Pieces of Eight," "Curare" or "Integrity" anywhere, ask them how they got the name – you'll see what I mean.
However, the path to naming a boat is fraught with pitfalls because every human brain is wired like every other human brain. It is therefore almost impossible for any of us to come up with an original thought. Consequently, in terms of boat names we find hundreds of "Chardonnays," "Second Winds," "Wet Dreams," "Moondances," and "Nereids." How difficult does it get, to overcome the hive mind? What would you say are the chances that at least two different boats from two different countries are each named "Warren Peace"? (Answer: pretty good. They met each other in the Sea of Cortez this past year.) Do a search on the US Coast Guard registration site for "Gallant Fox" and you'll find at least two commercial vessels out of Louisiana with that name. A grimy industrial barge bearing OUR pristine name?? Quelle horreur.
Some folks resist the hive mind by naming their boats more complex things like, "Secret Might Be Blue," "Sailing Since Tuesday," or "Just a Minute." Nice names with amusing stories behind them, I'm sure – but, potentially baffling to the average port captain in Panama.
In our experience, the boat names that overall seem to be the best combination of hip and universally practical, comprise single words, like: "Lucie," "Integrity," and "Sarana." Multiple-word names can be very cool, too, but can go cattawumpus when you least expect it. Example: If you're sailing along on night watch, and hear over the VHF "Mango Mambo" hailing "Coconut Surprise"? You may find yourself getting hungry for no apparent reason. Or you'll hear the names "Decade Dance," "Last Tango," "Piano Man" and "Banjo Jane," and imagine that someday they'll all get together for a really great jam session. But for someone who wants something a bit different, what's to do, if they just can't come up with a name that embraces all the functionality, coolness and adventurousness they desire?
Have I got the solution for you. It's a game. Majestic Interlude™. Here's how it's played:
Get a group of your friends. Give them copious beverages. When everyone is blotto relaxed and open-minded, give each of them a piece of paper and a pencil.
For Round 1, each person writes on their paper an adjective. Any adjective. Could be "yellow," "running," "majestic,"…you get the idea. After each player has written something, they fold the paper so that their word is concealed, and pass it to the person to their left to write down the next word, which is a noun – any noun, such as "magic," "potholder," or "interlude." After each of these players has written something, they pass the paper to the next person on their left, who then unfolds the paper and reads the two words aloud to the group as a proposed boat name: "Yellow Magic," "Running Potholder," "Majestic Interlude." Hmmm.
Now for Round 2. First person writes down a noun. A proper noun – place name or person's name is OK. (Exhamples: "freak," "Mandalay," "van Gogh.") Folds the paper, passes to person on left. Second person writes a noun. Proper noun and place names acceptable. (Examples: "magnet," "sombrero," "Bedford-Stuyvesant.") When done second person passes paper to next person on left who reads the results.
You can go for as many rounds as the beverages last or the group can tolerate. Adverbs and verbs! Place names only! Freestyle!
Whatever names come up can be fodder for general hilarity, or may actully be worthy of serious consideration. Think of the story YOU'D be telling, if after a Majestic Interlude™ party, you named your boat "Mandalay Sombrero."
P.S. I have dibs on "Freak Magnet."
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