NUTS & BOATS
The twice monthly newsletter for to-be and already-are cruisers Volume 2, Issue #4 - February 15, 2004
Publisher: Trish Lambert
www.takehersailing.com
(C) P. Lambert 2004
Welcome to our new subscribers! IN THIS ISSUE
Please forward this newsletter to anyone you know who is interested in the cruising lifestyle.If you are receiving this issue as a forward, and would like to get your own free subscription, use the box at the right to subscribe. OUR PRIVACY POLICY
A (LITTLE) CRUISING CONTROVERSY
Name That Boat! by Trish Lambert A buddy of mine is the proud owner of a brand new Beneteau. It's been fun to watch him proceed through the selection and buying process, and I look forward to taking the helm of his new love one day. He is in the midst of making the boat his own, and one of the items at the top of the list is arriving at a name. He asked me about this a few days ago; knowing that I'm on my third boat (actually, fourth, if you count the boat Skip lived on when we met), he asked me how I've arrived at the various names that have been painted on the hulls I've owned. The question got me thinking about the almost capricious ways I've named my boats, and the four "rules" I've come up with for the exercise. BOAT NAMING RULE #1:MAKE IT MEANINGFUL
Come up with a name that means something to or about you. Brandy, my first boat, had a double meaning: Brandy was my nickname in college (after the song that was popular in my freshman year), and my husband's father owned a business called "Brandywine Something" (I forget the second word). Ciao Bella, my second boat, was named because we saw her right after spending a month in Italy; she looked so pretty there at the dock, it was natural to say the phrase we had been hearing addressed to pretty women for the past 30 days. Nehalennia was named because of my fascination (and Skip's acquired taste for) Celtic mythology; Nehalennia was a significant goddess in the North Sea region and protectress of mariners. BOAT NAMING RULE #2: AVOID TRITENESS
This is kind of a corollary to #1. There seems to be a set of names that get used over and over again. I have lost count of how many "Destinys" and "Serenitys" I've seen on the water (my apologies to anyone whose boats are so named). I think it's important to strive for at least some degree of uniqueness in your name. BOAT NAMING RULE #3: MAKE IT EASY TO SAY AND UNDERSTAND ON THE RADIO
This rule is more of a "do as I say, not as I do" thing. With my second boat, I learned that some names don't work very well over the radio. "Ciao Bella" was hard for people to understand, and the non-English pronunciation of the spelling made it useless to accurately spell it out vocally. We ended up saying "CHARLIE-HOTEL-OSCAR-WHISKY-BRAVO-ECHO-LIMA-ALPHA," which I'm sure made people wonder how on earth we had ever come up with THAT name! BOAT NAMING RULE #4: IGNORE ONE OR MORE OF THE OTHER RULES IF NEEDED
I have come to believe that naming a boat is kind of a Zen exercise: When the namer is ready, the name will appear. And when the name appears, it may not follow one or more of the first three rules. For example, even though I formulated Rule #2 as a result of the experience with Boat #2, I still went with "Nehalennia" for Boat #3. The name presented itself to us in auspicious circumstances, and it had so much meaning for us that we chose to put up with the pronunciation and spelling difficulties we knew we would encounter. AND WHAT ABOUT NAMING THE DINGHY?
Well, this is another spot where I have a rule and then break it. I think that the dinghy's name should have some relationship to the main boat: Brandy's dinghy was named "Snifter," for example. But like Rule #3 above, I didn't follow my own rule on the other two boats. Ciao Bella's dinghy, a white Avon RIB with a zippy 10 HP outboard, was named "White Lightning" because of the first experience of taking her out for a spin (after having owned a wooden-floorboard dinghy). And Nehalennia's dinghy is named "Digby," after an historical character who had a strange and creative way of determining longitude at sea (See the book Longitude by Dava Sobel for the story of Sir Kenelm Digby and his proposal.). So even though my rules might make sense, I don't even follow them, which begs the question of why I call them "rules"!!! Still, if you are faced with naming or re-naming a boat, I invite you to at least consider the criteria I've listed.
THS DEAD OF WINTER SPECIAL CONTINUESHALF HOUR CONSULTING SESSION FREE WITH EBOOKLET PURCHASE My prescription for cabin fever is in force through the end of February. Purchase one or more of the Take Her Sailing or Capt'n Pauley ebooklets, and you will get a half hour phone consultation for free. For information about how the phone consultation works, go to: http://www.takehersailing.com/products.htm#consult. To purchase booklets, go to: http://www.takehersailing.com/products.htm.
CRUISING STRATEGY
Going South? Go Light! By Trish LambertWhen we bought Nehalennia, she was green, all green. Canvas and hull. And with that beautiful teak brightwork, the contrast was pretty. But I was not happy about it. After my years cruising in the tropics, all I could think of when I looked at that forest green hull was hot quarters and chalky, oxidized boat sides. Nehalennia was originally an Oregon-based boat, so it shouldn't be surprising that she had a dark hull when we bought her. Most non-white boats I've encountered originally hailed from northerly latitudes; I think this is because the sun's effects on living quarters is not much of a consideration in those climes. The fact that a darker colored hull does absorb more heat and can make the interior of the boat even warmer in tropical areas doesn't seem to enter in to the thought process Fact is, white hulls will keep you cooler in the tropics. So if you are planning to go south, plan to go light. If you want to go with a color such as green or blue, it would be better to stick with lighter shades of these colors. Nehalennia now has a cream-colored hull, and someday I hope that Skip is willing to set down the experience of converting her to a blonde. While he hired a gel coat expert to do the work, he worked alongside the team in order to keep labor hours down. He learned a lot about sanding and painting, which is knowledge he probably figures he could do without! The boat is a Baba 30, from the Taiwan boat yard generation, and she has fake lapstrakes molded into the hull. Skip is usually a pretty mellow guy, but get him talking about sanding and painting those grooves, and he turns mighty emotional! Still, he agrees that changing Nehalennia's "coat" from green to cream was a good idea. After a summer spent in the Florida heat, there is no question in our minds that the green hull would have made life far more uncomfortable. So if your cruising dream has you heading for tropical waters, think "light hull." You'll be glad you did!!!
HAVE YOU PUT THE HOOK DOWN IN THE VIRTUAL ANCHORAGE YET? The Virtual Anchorage, Take Her Sailing's online discussion board is 135 strong as of today! Described by one member as a "treasure trove" of useful information about living aboard and cruising, the board is a friendly hangout for newbies and old salts alike. Come by often!! And put in your two cents when the mood strikes!
| 
