Name change - bad luck?

I renamed my boat, but only because I thought it would be bad luck not to - boat was previously called Surprise and I didn't want to re-enact Cilla Black every time I used the VHF!

Our procedure was simple... buy two bottles of champagne, open both bottles. Sprinkle the contents of a bottle on the foredeck whilst renaming. Drink the other bottle. I understand that London Pride is just as effective.
 
Name change ceremony

Peel off old name
Stick on new name

Job done :D

I come from a long line of merchant mariners and changing the name of a ship is considered routine and not worthy of comment. So much so that on one occasion my old man arrived in port on a ship called one name, left port 48 hours later on a ship with a different name and had no idea the name of the ship was different 'cos ... it was the same ship! (One assumes that the deck officers knew about the new name but the engineering dept. were blissfully unaware - Dad only found out about it when I spotted the discrepancy whilst putting together an account of his travels from his certificates)
 
I'm about to rename the boat I just bought, not much thought was put into the names by the last owners, she was one of 3 named Eagle, Falcon and Rooster.

We are re-naming her to McKelvie (virtual pint to anyone who can tell where the name comes from)

Have no qualms about it, will take plenty of champagne along, remove all traces of the previous name and stick the new one on (Probably do the denaming ceremony 'cos it looks like fun) - she also changes flag at the same time so we will have a nice new Red Ensign too.

Looking forward to it ... :D:D:D
 
Bonny Mary? - great story about them, both originally posed as men to run away to sea, fell in love thinking the other was a man.. I think one of them escaped hanging on capture cos she was pregnant. Can't remember the rest
 
Name change dangers...

Remember the fuss about the CEO of BP during the Gulf oil spill? Well he was on a boat that had been named Bear of Britain but was simply shotened to BoB. This was sufficient to cause the near total destruction of the Gulf ecosystem, the loss of his very well paid job and a major liability claim for his employers. He was spotted sailing BoB in the Round the Island Race at the height of the oil spill crisis.

One couldn't prove that changing the name of the boat caused all of that but as luck goes, it just doesn't get much worse than that!
 
Rabbits

I've always understood renaming is fine, as long as a generous contribution of whatever's being drunk is poured over the side to Neptune ( not via one's kidneys ! ).

Talking of superstitions, I was asked the other day why rabbits must not even be mentioned on boats, but have forgotten the answer - it's not a problem I come across a lot !

Any answers please?
 
the other morning- 1st November- I woke up and attempted to attract good luck by saying 'White rabbits white rabbits white rabbits'- as you do; then remembered I'm a liveaboard. Doh!
 
'' Up Uranus,come now as far up as possible,there are lots coming in on this swing''
I did hear that somewhere s.coast years ago.

There was also a tanker called'titan uranus'

Any other good ones?
 
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Csail said:
'' Up Uranus,come now as far up as possible,there are lots coming in on this swing''
I did hear that somewhere s.coast years ago.

There was also a tanker called'titan uranus'

Any other good ones?
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A friend of mine owns "Aquaholic", he has already got "cirrhosis of the river" lined up for the name of his next yacht...
 
mucklestone said:
I have also been told it is really unlucky to change the name, but I ask why you want to?

That name is the boats name and if you change it you remove its personality. In my opinion if you cannot put up with the name then do not buy the boat! The name is part of the boat!
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My boat was called Mien de Rien, which roughly translates as "Something of Nothing" or "irrelevant". As she is the love of my life, I felt this was an insult so changed name to Surya. A Hindu God of the Sun and a Bhuddist God of protection. Seemed appropriate
 
Brigantia said:
Name change ceremony

Peel off old name
Stick on new name

Job done :D

I come from a long line of merchant mariners and changing the name of a ship is considered routine and not worthy of comment. So much so that on one occasion my old man arrived in port on a ship called one name, left port 48 hours later on a ship with a different name and had no idea the name of the ship was different 'cos ... it was the same ship! (One assumes that the deck officers knew about the new name but the engineering dept. were blissfully unaware - Dad only found out about it when I spotted the discrepancy whilst putting together an account of his travels from his certificates)
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Simular thing happend to me...accept as the Mate I should have remembered the change in the ships name, however when the office phoned I still managed to answear with the old name....:eek:
 
farmerdan79 said:
Some folk I know swear that changing a yachts name is very bad luck, so two questions,

When I purchase the new (pre-owned) boat:

Should I change names (I would like to)

and

What rituals are supposed to fend off this bad luck?

- For those concerned, I am not in the least bit superstitious, - just interested to know thoughts...

:)
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It usually involves the pouring of copious volumes of alcohol. I think though that it's more salubrious if the alcohol is first filtered through the kidneys.
 
dharl said:
Simular thing happend to me...accept as the Mate I should have remembered the change in the ships name, however when the office phoned I still managed to answear with the old name....:eek:
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oops :D

The thing that interests me, being something of an amateur historian, is where the superstition about changing boat names has its roots

As far as I've ever been able to discover, there's nothing in our maritime history to back it up. Be it Royal Navy, Merchant Navy, fishing fleets, canal narrowboats etc. re-naming vessels seems to have been routine and to have attracted little by way of fuss or formality

"It's bad luck to change a boats name" seems to be a relatively modern superstition which has no historic basis to it.
 
Brigantia said:
oops :D

The thing that interests me, being something of an amateur historian, is where the superstition about changing boat names has its roots.
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I can't give you an authoritative answer, but came across this lot:

"1881 Stevenson, Treasure Island, He was hanged like a dog, and sun-dried like the rest, at Corso Castle. That was Roberts’ men, that was, and comed of changing names to their ships - Royal Fortune, and so on. Now what a ship was christened, so let her stay, I say.

1832 It was like this. Bill’s first wife were named Bertha, and this ‘ere boat were named Bertha - and quite right, too. But she died last year, and Bill married again - quite right too- but damned if ‘e don’t go and re-christen the boat Beatrice,’cause that were the name of ‘is fresh wife. It’s all wrong - agin. Providence - for ain’t it true that you must never rename a boat or a ship? ‘E tempted Providence, and e’s boat smashed.

1961 Sailors believe that it is unlucky to alter the name of the ship. Many tales are told of vessels which were lost after such a change. HMS Victoria which sank in a tragic accident in 1893 was one of these; so was HMS Cobra."
 
johnalison said:
I can't give you an authoritative answer, but came across this lot:

"1881 Stevenson, Treasure Island, He was hanged like a dog, and sun-dried like the rest, at Corso Castle. That was Roberts’ men, that was, and comed of changing names to their ships - Royal Fortune, and so on. Now what a ship was christened, so let her stay, I say.

1832 It was like this. Bill’s first wife were named Bertha, and this ‘ere boat were named Bertha - and quite right, too. But she died last year, and Bill married again - quite right too- but damned if ‘e don’t go and re-christen the boat Beatrice,’cause that were the name of ‘is fresh wife. It’s all wrong - agin. Providence - for ain’t it true that you must never rename a boat or a ship? ‘E tempted Providence, and e’s boat smashed.

1961 Sailors believe that it is unlucky to alter the name of the ship. Many tales are told of vessels which were lost after such a change. HMS Victoria which sank in a tragic accident in 1893 was one of these; so was HMS Cobra."
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So it's better to get the wife to change her name then?
 
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