Re-naming a Yacht

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kevink 6771

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cheshire, UK
www.kbiltd.com
Hi All,
i've recently bought a Robert Tucker Unicorn 24' which was a pretty much last chance project boat. she's been sat in Conwy for years, and was close to being a scrapper.
It turns out that she is called Pintail III, but i dont really like the name.
Now i want to rename her (Possibly Phoenix).
Now i'm not usually superstitions,but since i joked about naming a previous boat 'titanic' just before the trailer broke away from my van whilst going down a road, then watching her roll over several times until she sank in a drainage ditch.
(this was her maiden voyage in my ownership)
So is there a 'proper' way of renaming a boat?
Kev
 
Do a web search - you'll find a detailed script for the ceremony. It involves getting a group of friends together, drinking a lot of champagne, throwing more on the boat and some in the marina. You have to do all this dressed as Neptune wrapped in a sheet and holding a home made trident. I'm sure that some sceptics will say that this is a load of superstious nonsense, but how much excuse do you need for dressing up, making a fool of yourself infront of friends and getting moderately drunk.

As my Spanish wife would say, "I don't believe in witches, but they exist!"
 
Just paint out the old name and paint on the new. There are better excuses for archaic ceremonies and champagne consumption.
 
kevink 6771 said:
Now i want to rename her (Possibly Phoenix).
Click to expand...

1 When you choose a new name I would suggest you don't call it 'Possibly Phoenix' cus when you call the CG and say "This is Possibly Phoenix" they will ask you check and find out what the name actually is! :D

2 Don't pick a name that the CG wont understand first time and have to ask you to spell it. ;)

3 Don't waste alcohol by tipping it on the boat. If you feel that you must, then let it pass through your kidneys first.

4 Remember to inform your insurer of the new name.
 
Of course it's all superstitious nonsense but....
Anything with the old name on it got taken off the boat.
I had a scrap of sheet silver and cut a whale shape out of it to slip under the mast when restepping. This was because I then intended to give the boat a name connected with Moby Dick but I changed my mind again to something else. Never mind, it still followed the tradition of putting a silver or gold coin under a mast.
After that things went much better in getting my almost last chance project boat sorted. It seemed that the problems were more surmountable but probably more to do with having made a firmer commitment to getting stuff done and spending money. There's a good quote from Goethe about reaching a decision after which things fall into place more which applies here.
Good luck with the refurb!
 
not supersticious but sank anyway

We renamed our Beneteau 260 spirit , followed the whole remove all traces of name, shotgun over bows at sunset , bottle of bubbly over the boat and a bit for the gods ETC.. Picked up our new one last August after it sank following a racing incident ... Be careful. :)
 
Spuddy said:
Of course it's all superstitious nonsense but....
Anything with the old name on it got taken off the boat.
I had a scrap of sheet silver and cut a whale shape out of it to slip under the mast when restepping. This was because I then intended to give the boat a name connected with Moby Dick but I changed my mind again to something else. Never mind, it still followed the tradition of putting a silver or gold coin under a mast.
After that things went much better in getting my almost last chance project boat sorted. It seemed that the problems were more surmountable but probably more to do with having made a firmer commitment to getting stuff done and spending money. There's a good quote from Goethe about reaching a decision after which things fall into place more which applies here.
Good luck with the refurb!
Click to expand...



When i started going over the dockrell 22 i found a 5 pence piece taped to the support inside the cabin.now i know why ! This didnt stop it sinking either.
 
Changed the name on a boat years ago because it turned out the "man" i bought her from had recently served time for child molesting, i found out after paying but before towing away-very unpleasant!
Seemed to me that it would bring worse luck to have left it un-named!
 
I bought a cat once called "a kind of magic " , shortened name to "magic" over the winter , towed it down to club and was hit by a car which removed the bows , shortening the boat , and writing it off , ironic eh .

Just bought a new boat , insisted that last owner retained name , wouldnt buy it otherwise .


Been drinking like a horse ever since for good measure ;)
 
I had this problem on a couple of occaisions. My first boat was registered as "Seaesta of Crigyll" which I shortened to Seaesta and had 25 years of great sailing in her. i then decided to buy a boat called Haloo which I didnt like so I decided to shorten it to Halo. Rather than re-naming and making yourself nervous why not shorten it to Pinta (as in Columbus' Pinta , Ninya and Santa Maria) ??
Martin
 
Sorry, I am not in the least bit superstitious on land but at sea well thats something quite different the fables and traditions of maritime history are set in stone and held under the watchful eye of only Neptune himself.:D
There are more big ships and small boats that have come to grief in some way after a name change then most on here have had hot diners afloat.:rolleyes:
Check out what has happened to all the ex Manchester liners ships when new owners changed their names.
If you don't believe me check out ships that have changed their name.:rolleyes:
:-http://www.manchesterliners.co.uk/fleetlist%20summary.htm
NO don't change it what ever it is, if it has been changed then get it back to it's original name as soon as possible,:cool:
It's already had a mishap in changing owners.:rolleyes::D

Some good reasons here :-http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081231014415AAT6UB8
 
Just a couple of points. If you are using Vigor's re-naming ceremony you must be scrupulous about removing all evidence of the old name on the boat. We very nearly blew it when at the last moment we noticed that the key for the outboard lock had the old name on the tab.

The other thing only applies if you are Part 1 registered or are considering it. If so you must run your proposed name past the MCA because the odds are that someone has it registered already. Not a problem with SSR.
 
old_salt said:
if it has been changed then get it back to it's original name as soon as possible
Click to expand...

I literally just found a fender at the bottom of my locker bearing the name "Eclipse". I did some digging and found out it was commissioned in Windermere in 1986 as... you guessed it, Eclipse.

hmmm, time to go back?
 
On second thoughts

Well it did seem a good idea, but it sounds like i may be better off keeping her as 'Pintail'. after all, she has been abandoned for quiet a few years and has remained afloat, and although lets rain water in, she is sea water tight.

Apparently she's also drifted away when a previous owner forgot to beach her properly, but all she did was float up river and get stuck on a sand bank or something.
So maybe she is already in Neptune's good books?
Now i'm not really superstitious myself, but when your messing around with Gods of nature, i always feel like i should make more of an effort.
:rolleyes:
 
Quote:- Now i'm not really superstitious myself, but when your messing around with Gods of nature, i always feel like i should make more of an effort.

Yes I think that really sums it up.
 
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