Sun Moon Wind Dream
by
James Ewing
OK, I’m depressed. This was supposed to be a humorous look at naming your boat. Why it’s important for the name to be meaningful to you. And why you want that name to be unique, or as unique as possible. Then I went and checked the U.S. Coast Guard’s Vessel Name Database. Gasp! In the past two years Bees Knees, the formerly unique name of our Creekmore cutter, had been poached, not once, but twice, AND – I’ll try and frame this with as little rancor as possible – for power boats. Ha. Ha. Ha. So much for humor.
But those new Bees Kneeses were after the fact. Our boat was already named and we weren’t about to change it. Short of giving Mario a call up in Brooklyn there’s nothing I can do about it now. What can you do before the fact? How can you get the name you want with the uniqueness your yacht deserves – whether a new name or a re-name? Without suffering consequences like this….
It was in a marina in A Far Off Land. All names have been changed to protect the parties involved. A boat named, say, Wind Dream was a regular, long-term tenant at the marina. Then Wind Dream went off cruising for a few months. While they were gone a large number of new boats moved into the marina for hurricane season. None of these new boats, all of which were new to the marina, knew about Wind Dream. However, in with the new boats, was another boat, a different boat. Named Wind Dream. All the new boats knew about this Wind Dream. Then, you guessed it, the original Wind Dream returned. The boats in the marina, when calling on the radio or talking about them, nicknamed them Wind Dream One for the boat they knew and Wind Dream Two for the original. The original Wind Dream got their knickers all twisted over this. They thought they, as the boat that was longest in the marina, should have the One designation and the uppity newcomers should have been relegated to Two status. Words were exchanged. This incident, minor to you or me, left a chill over the dock in this warm tropical land.
There is a flip side to the quest for uniqueness. This can be seen in the British Ships Registry where a unique name is required by law. The weather in the British Isles being what it is results in a very large number of yachts straining to get away to sunnier climes. Each one of which must be uniquely named. The end result of all this is that you get names like Agamemnon of Stradford-Upon-Clyde VII. Or, it pains me to say, Beez Neez. Just to be unique.
Clearly a balance must be struck.
What to do? Sadly, for Canadian boaters you are subject to the same restrictions as the Brits. Pick three potential names and the Authorities will pick the one you get. But for U.S. Yachties…there are no such rules. It’s still the Wild West when it comes to naming your boat. You might share a name with one other boat, or a couple of hundred. It’s your choice. To keep things under control you’ve got several things you can do.
Start at http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/st1/CoastGuard/VesselByName.html. This is the Marine Fisheries entrance into the U.S. Coast Guard’s Vessel Name Database. You pick a name, put it into the search field and –Presto – back comes a list of the boats with that name along with a count of the total number of matches. (The total count is not shown on the Coast Guard’s search page which is why I prefer the one out of Fisheries.) So if I key in “Bees Knees” I get 2 matches, “BeesKnees” – one word – gets 1 for a total of 3. I would then mark that down “Bees Knees (3)” as I searched for the name of my dreams.
Some examples are in order.
You there Madam. Your husband has just approached you with the idea of buying a sailboat and heading off to some Tropical Paradise there to lounge about, drink rum, float in gin-clear water, and do whatever else it is that we do all day out here. What, he asks as to get you to sign off on the deal, should we name the boat. Your mind drifts back to a smoky coffee house in 1975 where a long-haired troubadour was playing passable covers of Van Morrison songs. The ‘70s being what they were you were sure he was plucking his six-string, if you know what I mean, just for you. A small smile creases your cheeks. Sure, Tom, you dreamily reply, buy the damn boat. Call it “Moon Dance”. Well Lady, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, there were 186 other chicks listening to that singer. “Moon Dance (49)” and “Moondance (137)”. You were not alone.
And you Sir. You’re thinking that if you say that you’ll name the boat after her that she’ll be much happier actually sailing off into the sunset. So, thinking back to your days as an acoustic guitar player, you suggest “My Dream (35)” or “Lady Love (14)” or – gag – “True Love (51)”. Clearly, that is a ploy that has been tried before. And, given that there are some “True Love II”s and “III”s, clearly something that’s worked.
So, what do you do? Start with an idea for a name, something that means something to you. “Bees Knees (3)” has a very long story behind it over and above the old slang expression. Next go to the Coast Guard name database and make sure that your great idea isn’t shared by a significant proportion of the boating population. If it is – STOP. Right there, right now. “Moon Dancer (19)” doesn’t buy you much. Go back. Start over.
While you are thinking about what to go with also think about what to stay away from. There are some names that are just a bit overused. Try – unless you have a really good reason not to – to stay away from names with “Sun (2,370)”, “Moon (1,598), “Wind (3,653)”, “Dream (3,297)”, or “Dance (1,479)”. For you multi-hull boaters a name featuring “Cat (2,463)” has probably gone through all nine-lives. Really try and stay away from a name containing “Sea”. There are over 11 THOUSAND of those. Sure, these aren’t big numbers out of a total Registry of about 300,000 boats but most of those are work boats and ships. There are only 3 Moondances that aren’t registered as Recreational. The boating universe may extend the world over but it’s very narrow. Sooner or later you, on Moondance, will be anchored with Stardancer to port, Dancing Mermaid to starboard, Blue Moon in front of you, and Slo-Dancin’ behind.
If all else fails, take your boat-partner by the hand, grab a bottle of wine and just sit in the cockpit of your new boat at the dealer’s, the boat yard, or tied to the dock. Wait quietly and listen. Your boat knows her name and will tell you.
And you can bet it won’t be “Wet Dream (131)”.