So today I finished the renaming ceremony and so can (safely) announce the new name – Gudgeon.

As mentioned earlier I registered her, instead of licensing, so that I don’t need ID numbers, and instead can put the name on the bow. The lettering was done by Signwave Designs, and the guy was most distressed by my choice of lettering

Him – ‘Are you sure you don’t want anything more playful or fancy? Are you sure?

Me – ‘Yup. Make it as blocky as possible’

My thinking is that I want it to be as legible as possible, from as far as possible. And Gudgeon isn’t a fancy boat, or one of those sailboats that look like they dance with zephyrs – she is beautiful, but in a blocky, utilitarian getting-things-done kinda way. And to me that is it’s own form of beauty, and one I wanted to capture with the font.

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The renaming was done at night with only myself there (because I am still embarrassed about this stuff!) and done by saying the following passage

I name this ship Gudgeon. May she bring fair winds, safe passages, and good fortune to all who sail and live on her.

I then smashed a bottle of sparkling wine champagne across the top of the toe rail on the bow, making sure it went over both sides. This was in a mesh bag so I wouldn’t lose an eye

So why Gudgeon?

It is the name of a small whiskered fish (important not to name a boat something too grand, kinda tempting fate), and also the female connector on a rudder. So it’s kind of feminine, keeping with tradition.

Also follows the golden rules of boat naming

– One word / short as possible (brevity!)

– easy to say/understand

– doesn’t make you sound like a pompous tool

– isn’t going to make everyone roll their eyes (Blow Me / Wet Dream) or be confusing on the VHF (Mayday)

– is unique (I can’t find any US/Canadian boats registered with this name. The previous name however had 18 boats in the US alone registered!)

It’s also a nice ‘sounding’ word.

So yeah. Welcome Gudgeon!

 

 

 

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