WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Part of the fun of cruising is enjoying the names of other boats. 

A lot of boats have song names. My Sharona is moored near us. There seems to always be an Amazing Grace wherever we are. Sunspot Baby is named for a Bob Seger song, about a gal who takes off and leaves her honey – takes his American Express card and he looks for her all over the tropics.  He searches in the Bahamas, Jamaica and other locales, while she keeps running up bills and damaging his credit as she travels through the islands.  He ends by saying “Sunspot Baby, sure had a real good time.”  Sunspot Baby has lived up to her name as far as being a big spender, but we sure have had a real good time on her. 

There are the “Wind” boats, and lots of them – Wind Dancer, Wind Song, Windfall, Windswept Dreams, the list goes on.  And the “Sea” names.  Sea Biscuit, Seabreeze, Sea Dogs, Sea Cure, Sea Fox (more than one here), Seaquel, and Sea-U-Soon, to name a few.  Sea Dancer, with Ron and Karen aboard, is an older Morgan, and they met in a dance club.  And the “Time” boats.  It’s About Time, About Time, Time Enough, and Time Enough II. 

Catamarans frequently have names that let you know they are cats. Catatonic, Hair Ball, Double Wide, Los Gatos, and Lickety Split.

Some names take some figuring out.  One Eyed Parrots is most unusual – with Ken and Leigh aboard – their last name is Parrott and they each have one eye.  Fortnight, is owned by two folks named Weeks (two weeks, get it). Air Force Won (which sounds like Air Force One) on the radio, came about because the owners couldn’t decide whether to get a power boat or a sail boat.  They bought a sail boat, so Air Force Won.  Cute and unique.  Midori has green canvas, reminding the owners of the liqueur, it’s also the Japanese word for green. 

If a boat has the “Star” in its name, it could be an Island Packet.  The distinctive star logo has inspired many along this trend.  Island Star and Sea Star are IPs we have met here on various cruises.   The island Packet name George likes bets is Pack It In.

Then there are the boats which sound alike and cause confusion in an anchorage, especially here in George Town with about 300 boats here for the 2012 Cruisers’ Regatta.  Here in tiny Hole #2 with only about 20 boats, we have Winterlude and Interlude.  Out in the anchorage, Independence and Independencia were both here at the same time, two boats named Rapshody, and this year, two Merlins, two Spirits and two Audacious boats, as well as Brio and Rio.

Some boats really bring a smile.  Spunky, Lost Marbles, Lunatic Fringe, Cookie Monster, Smooch, Magic Frog (the smallest boat here at about 21 feet).  Kris and Craig named their boat Tilt, when her Mom said “You’re not going to get one of those boats that tilt, are you?”  And of course Chic N Swell, which sounds like “Chicken Swell” on the radio.  One of Lynn's favorites for this year is Cutter Loose!, a cutter rig sailboat. Cutter rig sloops have an additional sail between the main and foresail. Every time Lynn sees that boat she thinks of a rodeo horse ready to exit the chute.

The award for the most difficult name to pronounce goes to Spiraserpula.  Gayle on board is a marine biologist, who discovered a different type of spiral innards in a tube worm. It was named Spiraserpula and then her last name.  Bill says guys name their boats after their wives, so that is how the name came to be.  We think we’ve got it right, but then the next time have trouble pronouncing it again.

It’s hard to come up with a really unique name.  There are a couple of other documented boats named Sunspot Baby, one is a fishing boat in the Keys, the other a houseboat in Tennessee. So far we are the only Sunspot Baby we know of who is cruising the western North Atlantic and Eastern Seaboard.

We never tire of this game; it’s cheap entertainment and helps us to learn the boats in the harbor as well.