If you’re investing in a motorboat, yacht, dinghy or RIB, you have an exciting decision ahead of you – what to name your beautiful new vessel?
You’ve got many adventurous times ahead of you, but before you slap on the first name that comes to mind, here are a few tips on choosing the best boat name for you. Try and be a bit original so that you’re not one of several identically named boats in the marina. Aint Misbehavin, Liberty, Lazy Daze have been done to death!
Marine lore says that it’s not bad luck to re-name a boat, so whether it’s brand new or second hand it’s a good idea to have a new name for your boat. It’s certainly fun to have a boat naming ceremony – typically you open a bottle of bubbly, splash some on your boat’s hull and have a hearty toast in front of your friends and family – or at least one witness.
Importance of boat names
Remember that the name will be used in several important ways – it’s not just there to make passers by smile or to impress your mates. You’ll be repeating it often over VHS radio to the harbour master and fellow sailors, so anything too saucy or silly may get annoying to you and others over time.
Think about keeping the name relatively short too. In an emergency every second counts when you’re contacting the Coast Guard and calling for help.
Many in the sailing community feel you should try to limit a boat name to one word for the sake of brevity and safety when you’re using communication channels. If you need ideas about products for getting your carefully chosen name onto your boat, these websites offer plenty of options - vinyl letting, stencils etc - and advice:
Motorboat Favourites
- Cloud Nine
- River Pearl
- Blue Moon
- Serendipity
- Sapphire
- Misty
- Rosie
- Kingfisher
- Sundowner
- Endeavour
Powerboat Favourites
- Fast Forward
- Bandit
- White Shark
- Mad Max
- Thriller
- Making Waves
- Thunderbird
- Velocity
- Ocean Runner
- Need for Speed
Classy Yachts
- Wind Dancer
- Solitude
- Odyssey
- Sea Mist
- Diamond
- Whisper
- Sandpiper
- Dragonfly
- Freedom
- Pegasus
Cheesy
- Bragging Rights
- Forget Paris
- Dun Workin’
- My Pride and Toy
- Got My Way
- Blew Too Much
- Mental Pause
- Lazy Daze
- Don’t Tell the Wife
- Bottoms Up
Terrible Puns
- JoKen Around
- The Rod Father
- Flip Her
- Happy Berth Day
- Blew Aweigh
- Mullet Over
- Buoy oh Buoy
- Knot So Fast
- Y-Knot?
- Sexual Heeling
Pirate Theme
- Buccaneers Slave
- The Black Pearl
- Hangman’s Lust
- Ocean Serpent
- Bay Stalker
- Wild Waves
- Swash Buckler
- Captain’s Fear
- Davy Jones
- Devil’s Doom
Questionable!
- I’m Breakin Wind
- Wet Dreamin’
- Sunuva Beach
- Master Baiter
- Blow Me
- Floating Seamen
- Tax Seavation
- Seanile
- The Salty Swallow
- Titanic II
