The custom and ceremony of naming a boat is shrouded in ritual, coated with doses of superstition, fun and reverence for the sea and the sailors gone before us. No self-respecting sailor would dare skip an opportunity to increase the chances of many years of safe passages! After all, the Titanic was launched without a boat-naming ceremony and we all know how that ended!

When you’re re-naming a boat, as opposed to christening a new boat for the first time, the customs are even stricter. In a re-naming ceremony, most important of all is an appeal to Poseidon, God of the Sea, to erase the previous name from the underwater ledger of all boat names ever launched before accepting your new boat name. Failure to conduct the purge of a previous boat name invites confusion in the blue depths and potential horrible fates that even the most hardened sailor wouldn’t dare tempt. 

Which brings us to the tricky issue of superstition. I trust science. If you cant prove or even logically explain a consequence then stop the scaring. The superstitions begin laughingly with what to wear and how to look. Red and green are apparently colours to be avoided at all cost. Then the importance of breaking a bottle across the bow. Surely it doesn’t really matter. Seriously, what harm can come from forgetting to thank Poseidon or Neptune or not spraying cheap sparkling wine with glass shatters across our deck?

But shiver me timbers! When you’re joining a tradition as old as yachting you’re predisposed to forget all logic and join in the ritualistic fun!

Things to consider when you name your boat

Most likely you’ll want to find a name that is unique to you so you’re not confused with too many other boats in the vicinity. Checking for your preferred name on a site like Vessel Finder or Marine Traffic is a good start and will quickly show you that ‘Sea Gypsy’ is more common than you may have thought.

Attempts at coming up with original, witty boat names come with their own risks. Instead, find a boat name that you have a personal connection to because eventually your boat name is how other boaties will refer to you. Tania and Lorenzo become Tania and Lorenzo from ‘Talata’ and mostly just ‘Talata’. As in, “Sundowners at Talata tonight!”.

Whatever you decide to name your boat, remember you’ll want to pronounce or spell it easily. What looks witty and oh so clever on paper might become a hindrance when you have to repeat it several times over VHF or need to spell it out in communication with port authorities. At worst, it may just confuse crews coming to your rescue.

Keeping the name to one word of maximum five or six letters certainly helps both for recall and quick spelling using the phonetic alphabet. You say T-A-L-A-T-A, we say: Tango-Alpha-Lima-Alpha-Tango-Alpha.

Our boat-naming ceremony

Superstition states the best time to conduct the naming ceremony is when its sunny, at high tide or full moon. Sunny days in winter on the French Atlantic coast are sparse and it’s no fun getting drenched or diluting the wine so when a dry day popped up we were quick with invitations to crew and owners of the other three Neels in the port !

A boat-naming ceremony is a sort of blessing and a purging of any bad spirits. First we burned some Omani frankincense to purify the boat. (Not compulsory, I just like the scent). We then all moved to the bow with our filled glasses as I delivered an impromptu speech honoring the sailors before us and the sea, asking both to strengthen and care for this good ship TALATA the help her with her passages. Champagne was spilled and the bottle smashed across the bow to appease Neptune. We weren’t taking any risks.

Why the name TALATA?