Often the culmination of many years of dreaming and penny-pinching, the purchase of a boat of any size is a huge event for any sailor, and with that comes serious naming pressure. Naming a boat can be as personal as naming a baby. Many boat owners have a secret fear that someone else got their brilliantly original name first—or ruined their chosen name forever by co-opting it for their disgraceful boat.
The perfect gift for any skipper or would-be skipper, and featuring hundreds of common and uncommon names, this entertaining little book answers perhaps the most important question new owners should ask themselves: What will this name say about me? And as everyone knows, once you've named a boat, you never ever change it, so it also answers the question: What is my boat name saying about me right now?
Names are categorized—and listed alphabetically within these chapters—as to:
- Popularity: helpfully, yacht insurers release ranked lists of popular names each year, which have revealed some very interesting trends
- Don't Even Go There: they might be uncommon these days, but sometimes there's a good reason for that
- Pun Intended: some reveal a classic wit, others reveal just how many desperate unfunny dullards there are sailing around in yachts called Seas the Day
- A Bit of Pedigree: good names, but probably too classy for you to get away with copying them
- Common as Muck: bad names—Moondancer, Wave Catcher, and others that sound like names from a bad children's novel-where they come from, why they're awful, and how to avoid inventing another for your boat
- Too Much Information: why using a boat to celebrate a bonus/retirement/divorce/second wife tends to be a bad idea a few months down the road
- The Devil's Own: don't tempt fate by calling your boat Invincible, as the Royal Navy did each time the last one sank/exploded—plus other superstition-violating names
With fascinating history, a fair bit of psychology, and a lot of humor, this is the essential guide for all would-be boat owners, and anyone looking for a dad-type gift on Father's Day or Christmas.
