Do you name your boats?

D

D. Hinton

Active member
Supporter
So sitting here at work and procrastinating as I have 20 charts to write or more.. Daydreaming about my future boat. The light bulb clicked … every boat is supposed to have a name according to the sea captains down here…

I have jokingly named my first boat “The Frog” due to the long tail MM and jumping beaver dams.
After I beat it to death, the new one was subsequently and albeit jokingly named “Frogger 2” (Another long tail)

So now as I am waiting on my new boat to be built (surface drive) … do I actually name it or is that a silly by gone tradition ?
 
The only boats I plaster a name on are larger, inboard powered craft. For instance, my offshore boat was Thunnus, named for her quarry. The small stuff like duck boats don't have a name on the transom but might be bestowed a sobriquet such as Davy Jones Locker (decades before Cap'n Jack Sparrow), Ugly Boat ( 17' TDB type), and The Diver (MLB Two man layout) so named for what it liked to do in a strong current. That last one led to a feisty exchange here 20-some years ago when I reported my experience.

I got my first mud boat with a surface drive last year. Haven't settled on a name yet. Most days I think it might be Mud Puppy since it gets out of some nasty ooze. Usually. When it does get stuck it's so heavy it can't be budged so You M.....F....R , POS or something similar seems more appropriate. My lab Gunner doesn't care what it's called, he's just happy to go hunting.
 
I've never named any of my boats, even my offshore boat. Just not creative enough!
 
Mine is labeled "Duckin' Around" with the same stickers I used to put the reg on it. You only see it in the summer when the blind is off
 
When I had an airboat, I had a HUUUGGEEE duck call sticker made and words going around it that said "blow me" on both fans blades (what a D-bag I was). Now that stupid sticker is everywhere.

I had a shotgun barrel sticker (remember when those were cool, I was 18 at the time and thought I was HOT HOT stuff) that said, "Duckin, Cluckin & Fu**in"

years later I look back on a lot of my early years and regret so much.
 
We were all young and foolish! Some of aren’t so young and still quite foolish!
 
I came by my boat fixation from my grandfather. He had fleets of small boats. Only boats over 16', and only boats made of wood, were named.
 
D. Hinton said:
So sitting here at work and procrastinating as I have 20 charts to write or more.. Daydreaming about my future boat. The light bulb clicked … every boat is supposed to have a name according to the sea captains down here…

I have jokingly named my first boat “The Frog” due to the long tail MM and jumping beaver dams.
After I beat it to death, the new one was subsequently and albeit jokingly named “Frogger 2” (Another long tail)

So now as I am waiting on my new boat to be built (surface drive) … do I actually name it or is that a silly by gone tradition ?
Click to expand...
Good morning, Dax~

I've named a couple of my sailboats - OLDSQUAW (an Old Town lapstrake sloop) and WILLET (a Great South Bay gaff sloop) but did not actually name a gunning boat until I restored my Dad's 1920s (?) Great South Bay Ice Scooter. It was my cousin who - upon seeing it rehabbed and ready-to-hunt - insisted that I name it after my Dad:

sm 8 - Bow on with grapnel and stool in rack.jpg

This sneakbox - built with a friend about 30 years ago and coming to Tuckerton a month from today - was named by my friend. As we were both devotees of Ernest Shackleton and his antarctic adventures, he bestowed its name. I put it on the spray shield with this re-build:

48 CAIRD - Bail for push pole handle A.JPG

After a long re-build featured here several years back, I gave this vessel a Black Duck nickname:

Portrait 2.JPG

So - yes - I heartily endorse the naming of our cherished gunning vessels. BTW: All the vinyl lettering was made by lettering.com - formerly known as DIY vinyl lettering:

https://lettering.com/products/cust..._MttDQqLPHzOE1DRpQ4TIL0BoaXfoAMhoCD8cQAvD_BwE

All the best,

SJS
 
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