Most popular boat name? Seas the Day
Feb 14 2012 in Boats, Currents by Deborah Bach
Clever moniker, or misnomer? This boat owner may have been too busy doing other things to "Get Busy Livin'" on his boat.
If you hate puns, prepare to cringe — BoatUS just published its 22nd annual list of the top 10 boat names in the country, and as usual it includes several of ‘em.
Here’s the list:
- Seas the Day
- Nauti Buoy
- Aquaholic
- Dream Weaver
- Pegasus
- Serenity Now
- Second Wind
- Liquid Asset
- Miss Behavin’
- Blew ByYou
Dream Weaver made the list for the second time, which baffles me. What’s that about? It says nothing about boating to me, just makes me think of rollerskating to the cheesy 1976 hit by Gary Wright and that scene in the movie “Wayne’s World.”
Same with Miss Behavin’. What does that have to do with boating? Of course, naming a boat is as much a matter of personal choice as naming a baby, and what sounds delightful to one person can be hideous to the next (see: celebrity kid names). Some choose boating-related names; others name their vessels after pets, destinations and even, in the case of the previous owners of our boat, mothers-in-law.
According to BoatUS, newcomers to this year’s list include Nauti Buoy, Serenity Now, and Blew ByYou, a play on an old Roy Orbison song made famous by Linda Ronstadt. Pegasus and Dream Weaver made the list for the second time, and all others are multi-year repeats.
Names that didn’t make the top 10 list but appeared more than once include Pandora, a reference to the planetoid at the center of the film Avatar, as well as boat names invoking favorite songs, like Margaritaville.
“A boat name reflects the life and loves of the owner,” Occoless Trotter of the BoatUS Boat Graphics department, said in a release.
“When you get a boat, there are certain things you have to do, such as registering it and buying insurance or towing coverage. However, picking a boat name opens up a creative side.”
You can check out the lists of top boat names for the last 22 years here.
What do you think of this year’s list?
Stephen Nishikawa said on February 16, 2012
Nautical puns for boat names are the absolute worst. Although naming a boat after your wife is up there too. No offense to the romantics here, but something about it just seems cheesy. We get it – you love your wife, or maybe just needed a really good excuse to get out of the dog house after the new boat purchase.
Or maybe I’m just too cynical lol
thom permenter said on February 16, 2012
Personally I prefer the style of the seiners and trollers we see at Fishermans Terminal. If that includes the name of a wife or loved one, so much the better.
Our current boat, Rula M, is named honoring Rula, my mother-in-law, and my, now gone, mother Madeline.
The previous Madeline R is obvious.
Naming a boat, especially if it is also your home, is a very personal thing.
Obviously some folks prefer “CUTESY” names.
Stephen Nishikawa said on February 17, 2012
Oh I completely agree that naming a boat in honor of someone who has passed is a wonderful idea. Or even after a personal hero, public figure or social benefactor. For example, Bernard Moitessier’s “Joshua” was named after one of his own personal heroes, Joshua Slocum. I guess I just find the concept of using such a large material representation to display one’s love for their significant other to be sort of cliche or even borderline ostentatious. Once again, no offense intended. Just my opinion (something tells me it will change when I get married haha…) and as you said, it is all a very personal choice. At the risk of falling into the cheesy boating references – whatever floats your boat! Rula M sounds like a beautiful boat name to me!
Courtney Kirchoff said on February 15, 2012
I think it’s funny when people think they’re being clever with these puns, and then everyone else decides to be the same kind of “clever.” This topic reminds me of a demotivational poster I saw once about Diversity. The tagline underneath: “You’re unique. Just like everyone else.”
Naming a boat is a tricky business, and when I was in the process of renaming mine (it had a HORRIBLE name), not only was I thinking about the meaning behind her new moniker, but how it would sound on the radio when communicating with other boaters or the US Coast Guard. I never wanted to be embarrassed by the name of my boat.
thom permenter said on February 14, 2012
CUTESY