Need help settling on a boat name

M

Mike...

New member
Hello everyone...

So we've owned the TomCat for over a year, but have not gotten her in the water yet.

Ever since signing the contract, we have been trying to settle on a boat name. The problem has not been coming up with a name, the problem has been coming up with too many. But before the boat goes into the water (in a month or so), it must be named.

So we have finally narrowed the list down to a handful, and I thought I would get some advice here. Please feel free to chime in.

We are looking for a name that is somewhat unique and a little clever. We also want it to be appropriate for the boat. And of course, we want it to not be misunderstood if we ever have to put out a Mayday. (God forbid!)

Here are our favorite choices so far:

Appassionato ("With Passion", our current favorite)

Lost Shaker of Salt (not sure how I feel about a boat name containing the word "Lost")

Dances with Waves (perhaps more appropriate for a sail boat?)

Non-billable Hours (indeed!)

Reinheitsgeboat (a play on "Reinheitsgebot", the German beer purity law)

Cheers! (another beer-theme name)

Doppler Effect (though the TomCat is not really a speed boat)

Kiss My Aft! (ditto)

And these two are very cute (yet unlikely) suggestions from the kids:

Pirates Who Don't Do Anything

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

What do you think? feel free to throw out others we may not have thought of yet.

:)

---
mike
 
Choose a boat name which means something to you. For example we came up with the name "thataway" when we were cruising in Australiai with friends , and taling on the ham radio with a couple of other sailers we know--Dick Deaver's boat was named "out'o here", and Lowell North's boat was named "got to go" We were all talking about a name for our newly purchased Cal 46--and the conversation went "got to go" "out'o here" "Thataway" (as in they went "thataway". ) We liked the name and we have had 5 boats named "Thataway".

The second issue is that you may have to call on the radio with your boat name. You do not want a name which is confusing, can be confused with any marine distress or marine safety issue or that may be mis construed. You also want a name which is easy to spell phonetically.

So, I would think that might limit some of the names on your list.

Have fun with it.
 
Be careful with the 'clever' part. What sounds witty to the author can come across as tacky or worse to the innocent passerby. Like naming a pet, how will the name sound when it is called out loud three times in a public place?
Often times less is more.
 
On another thread you noted that you wanted to

"Be as fuel efficient as possible, but still be able to take my time and enjoy God's beautiful blue."

Why not consider "Blue C"? Just a thought....
 
We already have a "Blue-C" (Ken/BC), but we've had at least four "Hunky Dory"s, too, so no real harm in having another!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
I've got to agree that having a boat name with personal meaning is on the top of the priority list. That being said, the previous comment about radio traffic is important too, whatever you choose see how it would roll off the tounge using it on the radio. My wife and I named our boat after our mothers and found it easy to use on our many radio contacts with the Eirie Canal lock masters too.
 
Just my 2 cents worth, worth less I know.

Since you've been waiting patiently (or not) to get out on the water with your Tom Cat, why not wait a little longer for the boat name until you have a chance to get to know her and spend some time with it.. maybe that will help find a new name candidate or cause you to settle in with one you've been thinking of already.

I know it can be a challenge to find a good boat name when one doesn't present itself immediately, kind of like a new pet in the family.

Our last boat, for which we couldn't seem to readily find a name, we eventually dubbed "Debatable". We debated the name. We debated the boat itself..should we have waited, should we have found something a bit bigger, etc. All things about that old Bayliner seemed to be debatable, so Debatable she was.

Now we are on Dr. Bob and Marie's "Frequent Sea". We kept the name. Don't know its significance. It's growing on us. It's not debatable, because we just love this little boat and thank our lucky stars that we found Bob and Marie and Frequent Sea found us. No argument. Or debate.

Give it time. and get to know it. The name will follow.
 
I agree with keeping it simple. We have 2 beagles and called our last boat The Sea Beagle. Our C-Dory was then called Sea Beagle II. People see the name and then the beagles and smile. Possibly find a phrase that resembles your lifestyle. Have kids? A rhyme with their names? Also if you are going to be in a marina, check the names of the other boats around. Odds are that Cheers, Drunken Bum, Broke Again IV, S.S. Minnow, and the like are already in use and are too common anyway. I know of about 20 named Rob Roy also.

My wife and I like Gotta Boat, Top Cat, C-Cat, and 9-Lives.
 
I always thought Frequent Sea was a great name, and assumed it was due to the fact that Dr. Bob had been a HAM since before Marconi, but that was just a guess.

As for a boat name - several comments have already been mentioned, all valid.

I'm less prone to the cute, and lean more toward what is meaningful to Us. There are spin-off's all around, when you consider what you do for a living, your hobbies, favorite places, personally meaningful experiences, children/grandchildren ... goodness, the list is endless. ...but I guess that's what you said initially, the challenge was picking One from a long list.

For us, our life in Alaska was something we'll always remember. Our first C-Dory, named "Naknek" was the name of the Alaskan villages where Sandy and I were married. Currently, Katmai - is the name of my last field assignment with the National Park Service.

There are C-Brat who have name their vessels for a favorite poem, after good friend who are no longer alive, or a variety of other personally meaningful events or circumstances. The name doesn't have to mean anything to anyone else, but when You name your boat, it'll probably give you a bit of a warm glow when the correct name comes along. Don't rush it.

There are lists of boat names on the Web, and the folks who make the vinyl signs usually depict examples of their work. ...and of course, I'm sure you've already scanned through the C-Brat's list of boat names; one of them might suggest something original that would work for you.

Best,
Casey
 
I have two C-Dorys. The 25 is named after my oldest grand daughter Anna Leigh. The 16 is named after my only other grand daughter Alyssa Jean. The other four grand kids are boys. I have put out the word that I WILL NOT be buying another boat.
 
I tend to lean away from "cute" for reasons mentioned above. I also strongly second the VHF simplicity part. Lets see "Lost Shaker of Salt, Lost Shaker of Salt, Lost Shaker of Salt" this is NakNek, over. Hmmmm. Apassionato has a very nice and personally meaningful ring to it. When you hear the right name, the boat will name herself.
 
Just another free opinion, but if you have to ask about it, it may not be right. Casey's suggestion to wait until the boat tells you it's name is good. We had a boat that we didn't name for a year or so; I had a name kinda picked out that I wondered about... yep, it just wasn't right.

Too many syllables makes it cumbersome on the radio.

You can call it "TomCat" for a while and see what comes to you... it already has that name on the side.

Oh, and a year without putting the boat in the water?? Extenuating circumstances?

Good luck with your decisions and getting the boat wet.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Boat names, often a perplexing conundrum, but always interesting. Our boat came with a name. "Jim's Dorie" Didn't really work for us. But it took us a year after we were using the boat before we came up with the new name, and then another several months to decide on the font, size, color and placement.

You can see the results and the naming process here:

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _album.php

No hurry to get a name on the boat. You can use the registration number on the VHF until you find that perfect name. Like mentioned above, say it 3 times in a row several times to see how it sounds. Enjoy.

Harvey
SleepyC :messag
 
We completely understand wanting to get the name right. We thought long and hard about the name of our boat and once we narrowed it down to two names, Yacht C and Knotty C, I actually did market research with non boaters (the students in my college class) to see what their reactions were to each name--without showing them the boat. Then I showed them the boat and they definitely had an opinion.

We were leaning towards Knotty C and I wanted to make sure it wasn't negatively received and it wasn't. We ultimately decided that it was unique, easy to say on the radio, fun, and chosen because we were in search and rescue and our daughter was learning to tie knots with the team. It also reminded Don of his Dad who taught him how to tie the knots he learned in the Coast Guard.

For the record, not that I have a say, I like Appassianato.

Good luck to you!

Don and Dee
Knotty C
 
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