Whats the truth about name changes on boats?

[Rocky]

I've read where its bad luck to change the name on a boat and one has to go through some "rituals" in order to do it.* Also read if you are purchasing a boat thats already named, and want to change it, thats okay.* Any truth to any of this.

 

[Baker]

I have changed the name on every boat I have boat and have never been "cursed". I think the pirates started this simply because they wanted a reason to drink more rum....and then the rum manufacturers picked up on it...

.

A little more seriously, I have heard that it is bad luck to change the name of the boat that you currently own....ie....let's say you buy a new boat and name it and then turn around and change the name a year later.

 

[Egregious]

I am buying a boat next week and I intend to change the name.* I will have a purging ceremony and a naming ceremony and be sure to spill much champaign into the water while we're at it.* I'm not superstitious, but hey, it can't hurt and it looks like it could be a lot of fun.**

When you think about it, naming a boat in the first place is a little strange.* I mean, you don't name your car do*you?* So as long as we're treating our boats like they have*souls (and they do), we might as well take great care treat them with the respect they deserve and also any gods that might want them on their register.* My boat is much more than a thing that floats in the water, so I want to bring its new name into the world with as much celebration as possible!

 

[Marin]

A name is all about the owner, not the boat. The boat could care less--- it's just a bunch of fiberglass, wood, and metal components fastened together in one lump. The soul of a boat is in the beholder, not in the boat. The boat isn't going to do anything different no matter what name you give it or how many times you change it. This "soul" crap is no different than Disney humanizing elephants, mice, and dogs. Whatever "soul" you give a boat is in your mind, not the boat's.

We chose the name of our boat because it means something to us, not because it has anything to do with the boat. If we'd bought a completely different kind of boat, we'd have given it the same name. In fact we came up with the name years before we decided to buy a cruising boat. Buying the GB finally gave us something to put the name on. If we ever buy a different boat, we'll give it the same name.

So change the name whatever you want. If you decide to change it later, no bad luck will ensue unless you screw up or make mistakes. The boat's not going to do anything on its own. If you want to have fun with a name changing party, that's fine--- it's a good excuse to have a party. But whatever happens to you with your boat in the future, it will have nothing to do with the name you give it or the ceremony you did or didn't have.

I know people who left the name of their boat what it was when they bought it, and I know some people who've changed the name of their boat three times since they bought it. All these folks have done just fine.

And I've found a surprising number of people do, in fact, name their cars

 

[Rocky]

Thank you all for your opinions. Hubby is retired law enforcement so wanted to come up with something catchey.

 

[Egregious]

Take it easy Marin.

Sure the boat has a soul, because I think it has one.* And some boats have no soul.* But mine does because I think it does, so I do agree with you that it is all about what I think.* Just as an old house that has been lived in for a long time has a soul, or call it character or whatever you want.* I didn't mean it is like a talking choo-choo train...

I was just trying to say have fun with it.* No need for analysis.

 

[Baker]

And Rocky, welcome aboard. Great to have a woman on here!!! You will get to know the personalities soon enough...some good folks on here.

 

[Rocky]

Well thank you John. Am getting a wealth of information from everyone. What do ya'll think of the name Wuzz-A-Fuzz. I actually thought this was rather clever on my part

-- Edited by Rocky on Tuesday 15th of June 2010 04:22:07 PM

 

[dwhatty]

Rocky wrote:

Well thank you John. Am getting a wealth of information from everyone. What do ya'll think of the name Wuzz-A-Fuzz. I actually thought this was rather clever on my part

-- Edited by Rocky on Tuesday 15th of June 2010 04:22:07 PM

Sounds good to me. "Fuzzy Wuzzy Was a Bear" and all that.

*

 

[Baker]

Not bad t all!!!!!. Just keep thinking and get it narrowed down to your favorites!!!!

 

[Peter B]

I think there is as much unfounded superstition re name changes as there was about women being on a boat being bad luck. So relax on both counts Rocky. I consider a boat name a bit like when naming our children. That is how will it sound when calling in on the radio, and what bastardry could smart asses do with it?* I also like it to have a bit of pizazz, but without being 'twee'.


-- Edited by Peter B on Wednesday 16th of June 2010 05:58:16 AM

 

[JD]

Peter B wrote:

That is how will it sound when calling in on the radio, and what bastardry could smart asses do with it?* I also like it to have a bit of pizazz, but without being 'twee'.


-- Edited by Peter B on Wednesday 16th of June 2010 05:58:16 AM

What ever names you*come up with*say them three times as in an emergency and see if it still sounds clear and concise.* Some 20 year old or 80 year old Aux at the Coast Guard Station needs to under stand it the first time.*

Wuzz-A-Fuzz might work.*

 

[Rocky]

Our survey went SUPER today, and we are going ahead with the purchase. As far as the name, he, the hubby, likes Wazz-A-Fuzz. Do most of you here on the forum go with the vinyl lettering or painting it on?

 

[Marin]

Depends on the surface,the look you want, and how much you want to spend. We went with vinyl lettering with a dark gray drop shadow for the name/nav lights boards*I made right after we got the boat. Carved letters would have been nicer but the vinyl was easier and cheaper. I built the boards, varnished them, and then turned them over to the sign shop for the installation of the lettering. Better they make the mistake and fix it than me.

The boards are 12 years old now and the lettering, which has several coats of varnish over it now, is still holding up okay. My wife made Sunbrella covers for each name board to protect them from the weather when we're not using the boat, and that makes a huge difference in the longevity of both the finish and the lettering.

Were we to do it again, or when we do it again, we'll go with a lighter shade of gold or we'll use silver. The gold vinyl is not the easiest thing to read from any distance once there's some varnish over it.

-- Edited by Marin on Wednesday 16th of June 2010 09:29:14 PM

 

[Keith]

Rocky wrote:

Our survey went SUPER today, and we are going ahead with the purchase. As far as the name, he, the hubby, likes Wazz-A-Fuzz. Do most of you here on the forum go with the vinyl lettering or painting it on?

Vinyl. Get a professional sign shop to do it and your choices are limitless. It'll also be much easier to remove down the line if someone wants to change the name.

*

 

[Egregious]

Rocky wrote:

Our survey went SUPER today, and we are going ahead with the purchase. As far as the name, he, the hubby, likes Wazz-A-Fuzz. Do most of you here on the forum go with the vinyl lettering or painting it on?

Congratulations!* Like you, after the survey went well, the first thing I thought about was how to replace the name plates etc.* That was my first post on this forum.* I hope I'll receive the word sometime today that the deal has been closed and that I will be owner of (another) boat.

*

 

[Rocky]

Well keep us posted Woody. Two boats, yikes. We're trying to now sell our little 30' wooden cruiser, not much value in her, but maybe she'll work for someone. The purchase of a boat is a fairly detailed process, as we've discovered; surveys, loans, etc. Seems like we were hangin on a thread there for weeks, wondering "do we have her or do we not."

 

[Egregious]

Rocky wrote:

Well keep us posted Woody. Two boats, yikes. We're trying to now sell our little 30' wooden cruiser, not much value in her, but maybe she'll work for someone. The purchase of a boat is a fairly detailed process, as we've discovered; surveys, loans, etc. Seems like we were hangin on a thread there for weeks, wondering "do we have her or do we not."

The deal is closed.* I am the proud owner of a wonderful Monk 36.* I will deliver her on Friday, about a 5 hour trip to our hailing port.* The other boat is 15 yr old* 19' Grady White.** The Grady serves a totally different boating need.* It is pampered and is kept indoors and forklifted out whenever I need it.**

I wish you good luck, and a steady hand at the helm.

 

[Rocky]

Well HooRah Woody. Good for you, hope you are as excited as we are. Be safe on your voyage to home port.

 

[Egregious]

Rocky wrote:

Well HooRah Woody. Good for you, hope you are as excited as we are. Be safe on your voyage to home port.

*Thanks!* The voyage was 5+ hours, plus a stop to top off.* It went really well, aside from the motors not stopping (see thread about stopping solenoids).* I spent night one on the transient dock, and the next day I took her for a short cruise and then backed her into her new slip without incident.* Then we removed the port and starboard wooden name plates and peeled off part of the old name from the transom.* I have ordered new vinyl name decals and will strip the varnish off the old name plates.* Next weekend we will purge the old name and apply the new plates and decal on the transom.* At that point I will spill some more champaign into the ocean and maybe a little on the bow, and then the mate and I will drink the rest, along with the dockmaster and whoever else can make it.

 

[Rocky]

Sounds like you had a grand trip. We're still learning how to back ours into the slip, with a single screw it appears we will need alot more practice, however, we had assistance from an experienced sailor who helped us and got it done, as you say..."without incident." Funny, we did precisely the same thing you did, took off the wooden name plates and discovered vinyl letters underneath on the house that had been painted over, if you can believe it. Took me hours, but I got the letters off. Unfortunately, names boards can't be used again. One side has the orig. name "Rum Runner II" routed into the wood, and the other side has the name "Scheherezade" painted on it (which was the name these last owners had). We're thinking even if we sanded off the "Scheherezade" name, there would still be the other name on the other side and I'm superstitious enough to not want to use them. Priced the teak replacement boards and those will cost a pretty penny. I was able to use a hairdyer on the name on the transom and they peeled off relatively easy. Haven't ordered up vinyl name decals yet, but will soon. This is all exciting stuff, is it not!!!

 

[Rocky]

Should probably start a new thread on this, but inasmuch as its a pretty simple question, will just post here. Can any of you suggest a good logbook. I see online there are numerous different brands. Is there one anyone would care to recommend? We topped off the fuel tanks when we launched back into the water after the bottomjob and I want to record price, gallons and hours on boat, so need to get something bought here soon. Thanks in advance for any advice on this.

Pattik

 

[Egregious]

I'm using the logbook from the PO, and it has all the engine hours etc.* I'm working on creating a "boat computer" that will have Garmin Mapsource etc installed upon it to get waypoints etc into the GPS locally.***I plan on duplicating all log entries on the computer first since I can type much better than I can write.* Maybe I will write an app for ships logs....

I have twin screws so backing was pretty simple even with a cross wind.** I had a problem because it was a Full Moon low tide, so I ran aground on the other side of the channel, but other than that it was smooth!

 

[Rocky]

Log book from the PO??? Whats the PO

 

[Egregious]

Previous Owner.* Luckily he kept very detailed records.

 

[Rocky]

Oh...guess I should have figured that one out. THere is a PO logbook on our boat as well, just felt like I should start a new one.

 

[Marin]

Rocky wrote:

Should probably start a new thread on this, but inasmuch as its a pretty simple question, will just post here. Can any of you suggest a good logbook.

We didn't find any of the published logbooks to be of much value.* So I created my own logsheet using the logs we use for the floatplanes as a basis.* There are two columns, one for each engine.* The upper part of the column has engine hours set up so you always subtract start hours from stop hours to get total trip hours, then that is added to generate total hours on each engine.* The lower part of the columns track oil change hours and time since oil change for both the main engines and their injection pumps (this last wouldn't be needed on anything other than an FL120).* The generator oil change interval and time since change are tracked, filter change times ,etc.* There is a box on the right side of the page for comments.

So that's our every day log.

We also have a logbook to track maintenance and repairs by date or engine hours.

We bought a published logbook for trip notes and data but found we never used it.* So we put that information along with notes on anything interesting we saw or did in the comments box on the right side of the engine log form.* So one form does everything for us in terms of day to* day operation.* This wouldn't work for people who like to make copious notes on what they did, saw, etc. on every trip, but we just note the highights so it fits on the same page as the engine info.* Each page holds two trips.

So you might find it more useful to design your own page with the information and data that's meaningful to you organized in a way that makes sense to you.* I didn't find that any of the published logbooks did this for us.

 

[Keith]

I created mine in Word, after not finding anything out there that I liked. I'd be happy to send it to anyone interested; I've got a single engine version and a twin engine version from my last boat. I have them wire bound at FedEx/Kinko's (do they even use the Kinko's name any more?) The plastic comb binding isn't reliable enough. keith@anastasia3.com

 

[Rocky]

Keith,

I'd love it if you'd send it to me. Since our CHB is a single screw, that would be the one to send. Send to pattik@nctv.com.

I think they still call 'em Kinkos or did "The UPS Stores" buy up the Kinkos, not sure, but we have something similar around our neck of the woods.
Thanks again,
pattik