What's In a Name

[Ed Ekers]

I am curious. As I read all the different post on the board I see many of us refer to our yachts by number and some by name. It is the name that I am curious about. How or why does your boat have the name the she is graced with.

In the case of "Pathfinder" she carries her handle respectfully in honor of a past streaking windjammer yawl. The original Pathfinder was a wooden yawl owned by a fellow by the name of Nino Nickoli (sp?). This wonderful boat would often sail out the San Francisco Bay channel before there was a Golden Gate Bridge and race for points up and down the west coast. Often she would carry a young fellow by the name of Ernie. The skipper, Nino, was to become the sailing mentor of Ernie Rideout.

As I have said in other post Ernie has been kind enough to pass on some of his knowledge to me over the years. There are times when I sit and listen to him and can see him reaching back into his eighty years on the water and recalling times of his younger years and crewing for Nino. I suspect that Ernie would try to take it all in from his mentor much the same way I focus on every word that Ernie shares with me.

So it is with a great appreciation and pride that Ariel #77 carries her name and I am sure the original Pathfinder skipper is watching over Ernie and I as we put the Ariel through her paces.

So what's in a name for your yacht? ......ed

[Brent]

Ed,

Our Ariel came to us as "Dulcinea", named after the whore whom Don Quixote thought was a princess. Like Don Quixote, the former owner saw her potental beyond what the eye could see.

I often refer to her as #66 because I intend on changing her name. When I'm done, the potential will have been revealed, and so a new name will be more suitable than the one she currently sports.

Brent

[Bill]

The Hawaiian name for #76 is Maika'i and is similar to saying "great" or "swell" or maybe "wonderful."

The same letters without the hyphen change the word's meaning and it becomes "to the sea," or "of the sea." It's the more common spelling seen on boats.

[mrgnstrn]

well, our girl's original name was "Glass Doll", which was very appropriate as it was hull #3, and fiberglass was a new and novel product.
somewhere around 1980 or so, the 3rd owner decided that "Ariel Spirit" was a better moniker. of course, when my wife and i bought her, i was totally set on naming after my wife. after a few months, mostly from pure laziness, and other more pressing needs by the girl. so, i guess that someday, maybe we will properly commision her after my beloved wife, or maybe some other name will spark our fancy.

but even though the names change and are in some cases transitory, the one thing that remains the same through it all is the hull number.

and to some people, (maybe i'm in this bucket) the hull number itself is somewhat of a piece to be proud of. i am sure that #1 and #2 feel pretty lucky to have found their girls.

-"Ariel Spirit"

[ebb]

came with the name of Sun Quest - somewhat obliterated by a monster AutoHelm windvane thru bolted all over the transom. Kind of like an octopus struck by lightning.

Sun Quest ain't bad as names go. But it sounds like a crate of oranges to me. Or a travel company with Hawaiian bus tours. Some boats have great names, like Pathfinder, epitomizing the spirit of adventure. I've decided to submit a new name to 338 when she gets recommisioned.

No doubt I'll make up my own version of Vigor's naming ceremony when that great day arrives. Names keep popping up like Epoxy Roxy and Glassie Lassie. One day she will whisper to me what she wants: >Banana Wind< Just kidding, just kidding.

[Bill]

A suggested new name for Maika'i is "Ol' Yeller." Seems to conform to the hull color . .

[Ed Ekers]

I like the ideas about glass. I must admit I never even thought of names like that for our line of boats but it sure works. I have always enjoyed the names of the local Bear Boat fleet. They have used the bear theme often in the naming.

One of my all time favorites was a boat that Ernie raced in the 50's. It was a nineteen foot Acorn called tunami (tuna me). Read it backwards and you get "I'm a nut".

Bill if I am correct is not 338 the boat that Perry Kelly sailed some years ago. If so do you happen to recall the name?

[Bill]

Perry's boat's name was Christina. Changed by one of the next owners to Turn.

[Mike Goodwin]

When I took possession of #45 she was named " Aqueous Humor" , you know , the sticky fluid in the eyeball !! Well , not being in the eye care field and after I told my wife what it meant , I decided a change was in order .
So when we hauled out to remove the kelp and oyster bed from the bottom , I proceeded to sand topsides for painting and repair . There lurking under layers of faded and oxidized blue paint was "Stormalong" , still not my cup of tea .
The yard owner ,Rob Powell, comes along and says " Good to see you putting Spirit back into that old boat " . Rob said he thought the boat was destined to become part of the 'dead fleet' along the fence at the back of the yard .
Well knowing that Ariel meant spirit and that I wanted a short name to be carved on here transom , the deed was done .
Runner up was Ajax , when a friend pointed out that I was on a cleanser trend ( Spirit's predecessor was a St.Pierre dory named 'Bon Ami').

Now good old #45 is now documented as Spirit .

[ebb]

When cleaning up the transom on 338 and scraping the name off there, you could just make out the words: Costa Mesa. If anybody knows some of the history of 338, I'd like to hear it!

Ariel itself is a fertile source for name ideas.
The dictionary will be the first to tell you that it is a HEB masculine proper name (one of Ezra's henchmen), and to this day a heavy and disagreeable use of this fine word. Surprisingly, it means lioness of God.

Variously it is a water spirit, a shape changer, a rebel angel, the shadow of the wind, and a spirit of the air. One word, aerial, has influenced its meaning a lot.

Ariel is also a petrel of the southern oceans, a brazilian toucan, an arabian stag gazelle, the bright moon of Uranus, and

the australian flying phalanger.

Given all the crooked homegrown carpentry and polyester paste I've dealt with below in 338, there have been times when Twisted Sister seemed a perfect moniker.

[MarkCreeker]

Commander #202 came to me as Lady J. Although she's in fine company sharing a name with our Treasurer Gene's Ariel, I have no family member (daughter, wife, or dog) to connect the "J" with. I've been planning a renaming ceremony, calling her something with Grace in the name - my grandmother's first name, and my mother and daughter's middle name. Also the condition that allows me to own such a fine boat.

Of course, then she'll be sharing a name with Commander Pete's Commander...(no comment about that company, please).

[Bill]

Ebb, the more I think about it, the more Twisted Sister just sounds right . . .

[ebb]

...and sometimes when I imagine taking this baby around the world: Horney Lady comes to mind.

[ebb]

Once worked for a guy who named his Chevy pickup truck, Yellow Avenger.

But I feel humorous names (Liquid Asset), mental states (Erratic Behavior, XTC), and puns (Sea Ya, Aquadesiac) belong on power boats and lasers. Like Mike's Aqueous Humor!! Ariels ask for a more dignified, or is it more poetic, name. Wayward Star, Wanderer, Beyond, Blue Yonder, Escape, Faretheewell, Passing Wind, Spirit.

Or honoring the denizens of the wild: Orca, Ospray, Gull, Tern, Walrus, Coot.

Always liked the downhome fishing boats: Cheryl D, Suzi Q, Mary J.

Doesn't seem to matter a whole lot what might be a lucky name to call your boat. Or maybe it is what's missing in names from this exclusive list: Spray, Islander, Legh II, Les Quatre Vents, Trekka, Dove, Suhali, Joshua, Tuatua,, Ahodori II, Amelia.

Like Data in Next Generation who names his cat Spot, I'll get it just as wrong when 338 gets hers - it's a great responsibility - I don't take it lightly. Spot, sounds good! Maybe I should just shut up more often!

[Ed Ekers]

Horny guy may be a little more appropriate

There was once a couple of guys on the SF Bay that raced big boats and had vessel named "twisted sisters". The boat was infamous for coming along one of their competitors and have a couple of the female crew open the foul weather jackets to expose their assets. The thought was to distract the other boat. Not only did it distract some but I recall going out of our way to find "Twisted Sisters".....ed