The Name Game


Is there a new boat in your future? If so, (and if it's one of the
fancy new midsize or larger cruisers), current industry standards
suggest that it will be very well equipped. With 350-750 HP diesel
configurations now common, the average Pacific NW powerboat offers far
more horsepower than was produced by railroad locomotives during the
mid-19th Century. Your new boat will probably be finished and furnished
as thoroughly as an up-scale condominium. It's likely to be equipped
with enough thrusters, joysticks and electronic controls to allow even
a rank novice dance the Rumba down the fairways of our local marinas.
Your navigation systems will surpass much of what was available to the
US Navy in WWII, and should. (The price of a new, 40-foot yacht today
typically exceeds the cost to build a small destroyer during WWI). One
thing your new boat won't have, and will need, is a name.

Historians tell us the Egyptians originated the idea of naming boats.
Some of us may be strict traditionalists, but we might have a tough
time locating a vinyl graphics shop capable to turning out transom
decals based on hieroglyphics or the Coptic alphabet. Egyptian names
aren't commonly used for boats, but one particular custom from the
period may seem hauntingly familiar to some contemporary, western
boaters. In a religious ceremony known as "Navigum Isidis"
(honoring the goddess Isis as Lady of the Moon and Mistress of the
Sea), certain Egyptians would pile all of their worldly goods into a
boat and set it adrift on the Nile.

Every seaperson worth a dash of salt knows that a boat cannot be named
without a proper ceremony. Ruling out (or hoping to rule out) the
Egyptian ceremony of piling ones' fortune into the boat and setting
it adrift leaves us with the two traditions we more frequently
incorporate; the Norse and the British Admiralty. It may come as no
surprise to most that the Vikings threw a much better boat christening
party than did the Admiralty.

In the Norse traditions a sacrifice to Aegir, the god of sea, storms,
water, (and beer!) was required whenever a new warship was launched.
Originally, a young virgin woman was thrown under the keel as the
longboat skidded down the ways to the sea. There were a number of
problems with this approach. Young Viking men would have surely used
the impending launch of a new boat to improve their chances with young
Viking women: ("C'mon Frieda, don't forget there's a longboat
launching next week and I understand they haven't chosen the virgin
yet..."). In any event, the practice was proven to be wasteful of a
commodity ever certain to be in short supply. Eventually the blood of
captives or livestock was substituted, to the relief of the remaining
Norse virgin.

The Vikings ultimately concluded that red wine was just as suitable as
red blood for lubricating the ways, and much more fun to have around in
prodigious quantities.
A really first class christening would feature buckets of wine, passed
out liberally to all in attendance, and it would be considered rather
rude not to spill at least an ounce or two onto or under the warship.
Rumors abound that these events still extracted a toll on the number of
virgins in a village.

Modern boat christenings are certainly free to follow the Viking
ceremonial model. Lots of red wine, lots of friends, a few splashes on
some surface that isn't easily stained, a glub-glub or two over the
rail for Posiedon, Neptune, Aegir, or "who was that last night,
anyway?"- and make sure that the master of the vessel publicly
pronounces her the name before any tendency to slur or stammer might
occur.

Following the melding of the Celtic Angles and the Norse Saxons into
the Brits of today, Britain became a dominant maritime nation. Some of
the more "civilized" christening rituals we observe are the direct
result of practical, British, bureaucratic, management. The British
originally used red wine to christen ships but switched to champagne as
a more ceremonial and "less common" libation. Until 1690, the
British would christen a ship by engraving her name on a silver cup,
filling the cup with a suitable beverage, and passing it among the
officers and crew. After all aboard had drunk to the health of the
vessel, the silver cup was tossed overboard into the sea. The Admiralty
banned the practice after noting the ever-increasing cost of silver
cups. The price of silver notwithstanding, contemporary boaters
following this example would run the risk of arrest for illegal
dumping.

One particularly unlucky christening is said to have started the modern
custom of securing the wine bottle to a lanyard and then swinging it
into the bow of a ship.
Until 1811, dockyard commissioners or a member of the royal family
performed British christenings. The Prince Regent suggested that a lady
should be given the honor, (a tradition that endures to this day). It
had been common practice to simply throw a bottle of wine against the
stem as a ship started down the ways. Some of the ladies lacked enough
upper body strength to hurl the bottle far enough, or hard enough, to
assure breakage upon contact. One of the ladies managed to miss the
ship entirely. (There's no truth to the rumor that she eventually
became a pitcher for the Mariners). She hurled the bottle into the
crowd, and seriously injured a spectator, (a spectator who promptly
sued the Admiralty for damages). The practice of rigging a line to
permit a mere dropping of the bottle to smash it against the stem was
then ordered by the Admiralty as a precaution against additional
lawsuits.

Surveys have revealed that some boaters spend more time agonizing over
the name of their boat than they did over the names of their kids.
According to BoatUS, the most popular names throughout the 1990's
were "Serenity", "Osprey", and "Obsession."
The jury is still out for the current decade, although in the wake of
the 9-11 terrorist attacks names like "Liberty" and "Victory"
were the most popular choices in 2002.
By 2004 boat names were a bit less likely to be patriotic, with
"Liberty" in 6th place, behind "Aquaholic," "Island Time,"
"Hakuna Matata", (a character from the Disney Movie, "Lion
King"), "Happy Hours" and "Fish Tales". "Freedom" had
slipped to 8th place, behind "Seas the Day."

When choosing a name for christening, it's fun to be imaginative but
also prudent to be bit careful. Certain names could be badly
interpreted on VHF radio, and explaining the meaning behind a truly
arcane choice to every curious dock-walker that happens along would
prove to be very tiresome.

There's an additional reason to pick thoughtfully. Superstitious
boaters believe that it is unlucky to rename a boat, at least without
an exuberant Viking-style party including lots of friends and wine.
Some will assert that two parties, one to "dename" the boat and a
second to "rename" her are absolutely essential. For better or for
worse, "sacrificing" a virgin is no longer required.

Great information. I will file that away in my cabinet and review it
before the launching of my next boat.
Dennis

wrote:

When choosing a name for christening, it's fun to be imaginative but
also prudent to be bit careful. Certain names could be badly
interpreted on VHF radio,...

"Our Ark"

Say it 3 times fast. Is that a sea lion playing on the radio?

-rick-

On 7 May 2005 14:36:41 -0700, wrote:

The Name Game


Is there a new boat in your future?

Past, present, and future.

My name is Harry Krause, I am a millionaire, I live in a mansion, and
own a yacht.

Anybody seen a screwy rabbit?