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To the Bottom!
The following "best of" is edited from random posts on rec.boats relating to "boatname" topics or threads. Will your boatname weather this storm? 1) The Explanation Test. How often do you want to explain what the name means?Bizarre Greek gods, in-jokes, and foreign words _usually_ fail this test.Names that are difficult to spell fall in this category. 2) The Non-cute Test. How sappy is the name? Puns, childhood nicknames,and in-jokes _usually_ fail this test. 3) The Brevity Test. "Brevity is the soul of wit" and the soul of boatnames. Imagine repeating your boat name 3 times, sceded by a "Mayday"(or is that "M'aidez", Pierre?). Still sound like a good name? 4) The Hubris Test. If you're racing, try not to pick names like "MagicBullet", "Blew By You" (see test 2), or "Clear Ahead", unless you feel youcan live up to them. 5) The "Been There, Done That" Test. Don't name your boat after a type of wind (Zypher, Sirroco, Breeze), a my tho- historical boat (Dawn Treader, Ra, Spray) or an alcoholic beverage. Unless, of course, that's what the boat tells you her name is. 6) The Embarrassment Factor. Imagine explaining your boat's name to someone you don't like, and who doesn't like you. If grudging respect is not a possible outcome, you may wish to reconsider. 7) The Corruption Test. What will your 'friends' call your boat? e.g. White Hawk=White Cloud or Serenity=Senility. 8) The Omen test. Followed a boat cutely nammed 'Das Broke' out one day. He promply drove over a submerged section of break wall at high speed and sank. 9) The radio Test. "Over and Out" would be a bad name. ... "This is Summertime calling Over and Out. Do you copy?" Huh?? The above rules should be weighted by how much, if at all, you care about what others think of you and your boat. (Credits the above rules were developed by reading issue after issue of "Latitude 38", including (if memory serves) a short piece on the rules of naming boats. Lat38 is especially responsible for rules 1 and 4). Here's a list of ship names from science fiction author Iain Banks... He has a large database of goofy ship names he uses for laughs... His books are first rate. Highly reccommended. Culture Ship Names In this version, the ships have been ordered by the first reference to them, and are annotated by their type. All the ships in the previous version have been accounted for, together with a few that were missing. The ships appearing only as chapter and subsection headings in The State of the Art have also been added. It's still possible I've missed some. GSV The Ends Of Invention [ex-Culture] GSV Bad for Business GCU Nervous Energy GSV Irregular Apocalyse LSV Profit Margin GCU Prosthetic Conscience GSV No More Mr Nice Guy GSV Determinist GSV Bora Horza Gobuchul Perfidy Cantankerous Only Slightly Bent I Thought He Was With You Space Monster A Series Of Unlikely Explanations Big Sexy Beast Never Talk To Strangers It'll Be Over By Christmas Funny, It Worked Last Time... Boo! Ultimate Ship The Second Thankyou And Goodnight Excuses And Accusations Stranger Here Myself Well I Was In The Neighbourhood A Ship With A View Unwitting Accomplice Helpless In The Face Of Your Beauty Synchronize Your Dogmas Just Another Victim Of The Ambient Morality Arrested Development Heresiarch Minority Report Happy Idiot Talk Ablation God Told Me To Do It Credibility Problem You Would If You Really Loved Me Sacrificial Victim Not Wanted On Voyage Undesirable Alien You'll Thank Me Later The Precise Nature Of The Catastrope Halation Effect Dramatic Exit GCU Flexible Demeanour Unfortunate Conflict Of Evidence (D)ROU Zealot Gunboat Diplomat GCU Of Course I Still Love You Just Read The Instructions GSV Youthful Indiscretion Little Rascal clipper Screw Loose Limiting Factor Superlifter Kiss My Ass perlifter Prime Mover GSV So Much For Subtlety Cargo Cult GCU? Just Testing Sweet and Full of Grace (D)ROU Xenophobe Very Little Gravitas Indeed GSV Size Isn't Everything Congenital Optimist GSV What Are The Civilian Applications? Key: GCU - General Contact Unit GOU - General Offensive Unit GSV - General System Vehicle LOU - Limited Offensive Unit LSV - Limited System Vehicle (D)ROU - (Demilitarized) Rapid Offensive Unit Actually, there is a J-24 at Cypremort Yacht Club (Vermilliom Bay, south of Lafayette, LA) named Blew Bayou. Here are some more examples--actual Toronto-area boats, and what their names have been corrupted to: Dynamo = Dynaslow, Dynadog Impetus = Impetuous Ain't Looking = Ain't Cooking Iligimiti non carborundum (of course, spell it right! :-) How about "SPONDULICS" Funkadelic Ange de La Rochelle --- You *are* an Autissier fan, aren't you? Vivace Allegro" (lively and fast). "Andante" (slow, but not too slow) Monkey Butt Step On It = Step In It Superabimus = SuperAbyssmal (or is that "M'aidez", Pierre?). Still sound like a good name? "Honky Tonk" Also make sure there's some good theme music to go with the name. There are many good names for boats in Jimmy Buffett songs. Example for a large sailboat, how about "Quietly Making Noise", or for a motor yatch "Hemisphere Dancer"? Boats named after ladies are nice; make sure though that the woman you name "her" after is your wife! Girlsfriends come and go (but then I guess in some guys sakes so do wives)! Sailbad the Sinner Dave Sprague has a Lightning named "Janiter". He explains that he wasgoing to go to the major regattas and clean up. Seafood IRRATIONAL (in hard-to-read letters) to ILLEGIBLE PETARD to RETARD (only needs one small piece of masking tape) WILDFIRE to WILDFLYER (they almost always went the wrong way) HEART OF GOLD to CARD OF GOLD (very big and expensive boat) Highlander Incorrigable Pair-O-Dice Pride of the bank Due the First of the month 179 and counting Wind and I "Kiss my *ss Gladys!!" "Rumply Bateau", Sailing Vessel 'JoyBells' Insatiable Indubitable Three's Company Seas the Dream "Shy Talk"? ACATSGRIN Improbable (my favorite -- may use it for next boat) Irresolute (a double take-off!) Yes, there *is* a way to change a boat's name without upsetting the various deities of the sea and air. First time out with the new name on the boat, luff up into the wind and drift to a complete stop, then allow the boat to sail backwards. This represents "backing over" the old name. Sailing backwards is hard -requires a good breeze, some waves usually help, and a fair amonut ofskill. But the godesses and gods that are concerned with these matters arenot easy to impress! If the boat is a fin keel type with a separate rudder, you should be able to stabilize in backwards mode and do it for atleast a few boatlengths. For a full-keeler, the spirits will most likeley be appeased with a half-boatlength or so. Under no circumstance should you do this under power! If the boat is a powereboat, you will have bad luck with the new name until you have run aground three times. I don't know if these can be intentional groundings - perhaps someone with more experience in this area could clarify this. A new book out this year, entitled, "Superstitions of the Sea," and subtitled, "A Digest of Beliefs, Customs and Mystery" with a banner that adds, "With Startling New Facts on the Titanic," talks about name changes. It says that the ancients believed a name was integral to a ship and if it was changed, the vessel would be cursed -- and because most of the vessels were named after Gods, a name change would at least be insulting to that God. The book adds that the Lloyds registry show thousands of name changes, ignoring the superstition (but does not say how many of those boats subsequently sank.) Then it says: "Name changing, UNLESS A SHIP'S NAME IS CHANGED WITH NEW OWNERSHIP OF A VESSEL, [my emphasis] is still consider by some as unlucky. If the change is absolutely necessary, it is usually accomplished by simple announcement, void of fanfare or ceremony." But that would also suggest that it's okay to buy a used boat and rename it, without any bad luck to be expected. The book says that thirteen-letter names are considered unlucky, but seven-letter names are considered to be lucky, especially if the name contains three a's. It notes that the seven-letter named Mataafa, with four a's, was lost near Duluth in 1905 with nine lives. Salvaged and rebuilt in 1906, she rammed and sank the steamer Sacramento in October 1908, and collided with the steamer G. Watson French in 1912... so watch the number of a's you put in... The book was written by a nautical painter, Jim Clary. And I know an 80-year-old Yugoslavian who finds it unecessary to give a name to his Santa Cruz 27 here in Berkeley. Maybe he thinks "Santa Cruz 27" IS its name -- and doesn't want to change it because it'll offend the gods. If the gentleman in question is Serbian, it is possible that the CF number looks like a name in Cyrillic. QWhat did the president of Intel name his boat? A"Chips Ahoy" Hakki -- Greetings! The Cal 29 we bought last Fall has the old name (29 Again) in vinyl letters on the transom. I tried removing the letters with a straight-edge razor, but had little luck. Do you suppose using a heat gun might help out? If you've had similar experience, I would appreciate hearing about how you were able to get these things off. They're pretty stubborn! I was able to remove them with a hair dryer: Heat up one end and as you are pulling it off, work the blowdryer just ahead of the portion that's lifted. I removed vinyl letters with a heat gun. It just about melts the letters off and you don't need a razor blade. Becareful it gets very hot. Good luck. To remove old stickers from fiberglass I use a heat gun to soften it so I can peel it off and acetone to remove the remaining adhesive. A word of caution, use as little heat as you can, you can damage the gel-coat with a good heat gun if your not careful. I have a sign painter friend who tells me that a good hair dryer should work. If you use a heat gun, be very careful...they really generate heat. Charlie, if you really want a treat, try using 3M's new tools for removing vinyl. Its a wheel that spins on a high speed drill...its made of some new space-age material that hasn't broken down on me yet, (although my drill has). Its melts and removes at the same time and is my method of choice when working with a really nice finish....otherwise SCRAPE it! Nothing a little elbow grease and a good buffing won't cure! FELLOWSHIP Just acquired a dinghy, can anyone suggest a suitable name for it? >> Fellowdink >> Fellowboat >> Fellowpram...? How about Followship? Try:
"Followship"
or since it is in Sheddiac
"Followdeship"
>Other good suggestions I received were "Hindsight" and >"Catchup", from a friend who knows the long story very well.How about the 'Helping Hand' - that's pretty close to Fellowship Well if the ship is called Fellowship ... the dinghy must be Fellow! As far as other stupid names, in the SF bay, there must be 10 boats named fantasy or fantasea, etc. In the name of decent taste, please stop naming boats any derivative of the aforementioned. In the wake of the O.J. trial, how about "SEA-QUESTERED 1/ You have to change it to your boat's _correct_ name. If the boat doesn't like it, you're headed for trouble. 2/ Never speak the old name in the boat's "hearing". NB The current name is for my grandmother - I tried every "cute" pun I could think of, and finally just gave up and conferred upon the boat its right name. Secondly, in its previous incarnation was a Great Lakes charter fishing boat, and it had been "The Rod Bender" - kinda' cute, but I also got a lot of funny looks! Never understood why ;-) PS No, I'm not superstitious - but what if ... ? I heard long ago that sailors only "got" to wear an earring if they had survived a shipwreck. Is this at all true or was someone pulling my leg? I also heard that one did not rename a boat simply because someone bought it, it was only named when it was launched or if it underwent a major refitting. Is this just another story or is there some truth to this? >From what I've heard, sailors went through a "King Neptune" ritual, once >they had crossed over the equator, and had their ear pierced. I can't >remember if it was the right or left ear, though. >Some consider it bad luck, but I can't help you more than >that with this one. >Earring in the left ear and i've heard both the shipwreck and the equator >crossing. Hey if you want one go for it. >Renameing a boat in most countries is to change the boats luck for the >better if the boat has had perceived bad luck. Of course, the black cat >crossing is opposite in America too. >Takes yer chances KNOT-A-KONDO. His friends call it KNOT-A-CONDOM Cruising in the San Juans this summer, I heard a radio call from "Suds R Us". I'm glad to say I never got within visual range of him - I would've made every attempt to keep at least one island between us. And it would be REAL embarassing to find out that he is a teetotaler with a laundromat chain... :^) The Chairman of the RYA Cruising Commitee owns a Riva 50 called Royal Sabine for down river cruising and a Broom 37 called Sibling Sabine for up river work. Boats boat are immaculate and so is his handling of them. "NEVER AGAIN II" Good one - but it's not stupid, it's a profound statement about the basic nature of recreational boating. "Wet Dream" "Ring Dang Doo" (Greaseman's boat?) How about "The Wet Spot"? One of the dumbest names I've seen I can't repeat here because I never understood it. It was a yiddish expression (I think) and I'm sure that in an emergency no one would be able to understand or repeat it on the radio. One of the most offensive names in this area is "Poverty Sucks". Well , it's the same with me. Never understood how people can give such names to there boats. Let them give names to therer boats, I won't give my canary, but the one I saw in the harbour of Laboe (Germany) was not only stupid but also not harmless. It was called 'Leichtsinn' (means carelessness). I hope they never will be in the situation to need to call SAR over VHF. They might answer: >>Thats what we thought. My club has a Sailing section, a River section and I'm in the >"Sea Section". I just saw a good one last night. "Shavings and Loans" was on the side of the boat being pulled out of a hard wood flooring shop. I guess this was how (s)he paid for the boat. Wet Dreams Bringyagrogalong One of my favorites was painted on the bottom of a boat so as to be visible only when the boat was heeled. "This Side Down" This summer, on our "minicruise" to Florida, as Hurricane Allison was bearing down on us and seas were whipping up, a small fishing boat capsized. The 3 people on board were rescued by a boat named "Overboard". The ensuing conversation between "Overboard" and the Coast Guard sounded like Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First" routine, with the Coastie dispatcher repeatedly asking "But who's overboard?" and the boat owner responding "I'M overboard, but I have rescued 3 people who capsized" "And someone is still overboard?" "I'M OVERBOARD"...etc. I bought a boat named "Lick'em and Stick'em". In spite of explaining that the previous owner was a postal worker, and that changing a boats name was bad luck, my girlfriend made me remove it. My granparents had a Sea Ray from about '75 to the early 80's. Since, there names were Lena and Virgel, they called the boat the LEEVI. Bought my 1971 Santana 21' torn apart for restoration. The hull was done but I had to do the painting, reinstall the electrical system, all the rigging and so-on. Named the boat "JIGSAW", natural name for a dink if I needed one would be "PUZZLE" A friend of mine has a Nonsuch 30 named 'Time Bandit'. I love it! My girlfriend's father has a Columbia 30 named "Runaway" His dingy is appropriately named "Runabout" There used to be (maybe still is) a charter SCUBA diving boat out of San Pedro, CA called the "Bold Contender." On the back of the boat was a life raft/rescue dinghy with the name "IMA Bold Contender II." GARY:THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I HAVE CONNECTED TO THE WWW SO I HOPE THIS MAIL GETS TO YOU! ... WE CAME ACROSS A SPORTFISH ...THAT IN HUGE LETTERS SAID "MUFF DIVER".... I can add one here, if I may. Several years ago, while working in/at a Canadian Coast Guard VTS (Radar) Centre, I heard a perfectly phrased Mayday call on Ch16. "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. This is @#$%^&*. @#$%^&*. @#$%^&*. Position, etc. etc. etc." Everything was right "out of the book" with the exception of... the name/callsign was garbled three times. Everything else was perfect, as far as "format" goes. I asked "What station calling?" and as clear as a bell, the reply was... "None of Your Business", "None of Your Business", None of Your Business". This WAS the actual name of the boat! FARCE ABOUT ACE There's one down here in Texas called the 'Bow Movement' Tom's Foolery C, Ann, Em and Me (say it fast!) My Catalina 36 is called "Far Cove" ('cuz it get me one cove farther than my Cal 25 did!). The dinghy: "Near Cove" (of course!). Good grief, I needed a good laugh this morning My wife spotted a boat called "Out House", and I spotted one called "Gotta Go." I can hear the radio conversation now "Out House, this is Gotta Go, where are you located?" I don't know how true it is but I've heard of a Sunseeker called Hasty Banana. Apparently when the builders rang the purchaser in Spain to ask what he wanted to call the boat, he replied "Hasta Manyana". My family and I have started construction of a 17 ft. outboard cruiser from plans drawn in '64, cabin styling will be more of 50's vintage. Her name will be "Retro Fits". >One of my favorites was painted on the bottom of a boat so as to be >visible only when the boat was heeled. > >"This Side Down" There is an IMS-racer over here called "Call-Girl" crewed by - you guessed it- girls. They are sponsored by one of Swedens three cellular operators and when the boat heels a phone number emerges. A friend of mine tried to call that number during a race but to no avail. s/y KETCHUP with a 3 by 3 feet red ketcup patch figure on the classically modeled white side of the boat. How about "Sputnik"? It means "fellow traveller" in Russian. Ive seen "B of A and Me" on San Francisco Bay. : My girlfriend's father has a Columbia 30 named "Runaway" If you like songs from that era, you might consider "Wanderer". Names with two close "r" sounds can be a little hard to say, though. Try it on the tongue a few times before deciding. No good dingy name comes to mind. DILLIGAF Do I Look Like I give a Fuck! On the Swedish west-coast there is (was?) a tug serving as a pleasure craft, its name is Billy. It always towed its tender called Dinghy which was trailed by half of an old oil-drum called Grilly. I didn't start this :-) I was recently at a regatta and saw many stupid boat names. One that stuck in my mind had arrows pointing up. It read, "This side up" I thought it was pretty clever. How about "The Wet Spot"? if this one was a 32' amerosport chris craft, it was me. 8) the first day i got the boat, it stormed like crazy. we ran up to the restaurant at our marina and had dinner. when i got back to the boat after a fine evening of celebration, i found that the forward hatch leaked (bad) and the forward cabin bed was drenched. 8) at least that is the reason for the name that i told my mom when she asked... another marina neighbor has a house boat named "one knight" with a great picture of a dragon with a beer in one hand, and a girl in the other. my personal favorite this year was a restored 40' burnscraft named "Mutants on the Bounty". Along time ago I saw this name on a stinkpot, ahh, I mean a cabin cruiser. BUCKING FUZZARD BAD BREATH, WYM. I saw the name "Oh Drat" painted on the bottom of a dinghy so that it was only visible when on its side. Kinda' reminds me of a well-sailed Santana 30 in Monterey that is called Bustin' Loose. Written in small but legible print on the transom is "see ya!" likwise there was "having fun", then "now" only visable while heeled. Can't take credit for observing it though, it was mentioned last time this thread came around. I really take exception to the subject line of the thread. If y'all remembered the name it must not be *that* stupid.. My previous boat was (is still) named 'ARCHIMEDES' and her dingey was Fb=pVgc (as in bouyant Force is equal to density x volume x gravity) In seven years only two people ever got it... One of my all time favorites was Fe3O4, or rust. It was a steel houseboat. It was owned by a metalurgist Last summer I saw a sleek looking sailboat named "So Inclined" A fellow I met this summer in Killarney used Registered Retirement Investment Funds to finance the purchase of his sailboat. He named his boat the RRIF Raft. He sailed regularly with his wife and the name of their dinghy was WIFF Raft. My grandparents, whose name is Crocker, owned a succession of sailboats named Crocodile. At one time, they also owned a powerboat, which they named Crocodile Tears. The dinghy was named Handkerchief. Was having dinner in the Back of the Bay cafe in Maneto, NC and say a fishing boat named "Bottom Scrapper". I don't know whether this name qualifies as stupid or clever, but the most memorable boat name I ever saw was a runabout named "Frigate Awl." Two of the entries in last weekend's San Diego - Ensenada race were "Breaking Wind" and "White Ford Bronco". My little 12' aluminum boat is named "Tinpanic" A Class II ocean racer built of plywood in a furniture factory in England: Maid of Pligh Culture note: when I was a kid there were many boats named "Maid of ..." where "..." was usually the name of an island or a town. In those days this convention was not considered to be corny, as it is today. There is no place named "Pligh", or at least, none known to the boat owner. Ha. Dilligaf is great. Of course, the best names you can find for a boat are on the adult movies in the local video store: My favorite, "Twilight Moan" My Excalibur 26 is named Wasp After the boat that Stuart Little sailed on the model boat pond against the Lillian B. Womrath. I tell those that aren't familiar with children's books that WASP stands for; When Arthur's Sword Prevailed ps. The Catalina 30 that I live on was going to get named Cat House, but I thought better of it and named her Befana, after Italy's Christmas Witch because the paperwork closed in December My boat is called `Murorum'is palindromic, it works nicely on both sides of the boat. Murorum is Latin for `Of the Walls' or `Belonging to the Walls'. -Colin Walls intramural: (within the walls; as intramural sports, within a school) intermural: (outside the walls; as sports between different schools) mural: a large painting done on a wall I have restored an old wooden 22' cruiser which looks like a Chris Craft. In fact, it was registered as a 1963 CC. Research on the hull number has proved IT IS NOT a CC. So, of course, without knowing the manufacture, we call it "Which Craft". I work for an investment bank and was going to name my new Pro-Line "Floating Debt" (debt instrument which coupon, or interest, changes periodicaly - or floats). Instead I named her "The Insider" which is also a financial term describing an individual with priviledged information before it is released to general public. A woman I work with also suggested "Free Willy" - think about this one for a minute :) This was later changed to "Wet Willy." I kinda like the name of my 17' sailboat, 'Passing Wind'. My ex father-in-law has a dingy that he tows and stores upside down. On the back is the name 'Confused' written upside down read right side up while towing. Name: "Break'n Wind" I break up every time I hail him on the VHF so I have started to use his call sign instead of the boat name. Is the boat name "SailBad the Sinner" unique to Cleveland, or have you seen it elsewhere? In a boating book, I saw this name on a high-powered racing boat: BAD NEWS Travels Fast A good friend of mine has an 18.5 ft. rigid hull inflatable named "Blow Me". I was going to name my last boat Vector and the dinghy Scalar. The boat has some magnitude and should be going in a certain direction, while the dink just has a size, being nearly as wide as it is long. People seemed to feel that was much too nurdy so I went with a more classic name. Compass Rose There's a boat in the marina next to ours named "You're Dead a Long Time"! How about "Merci Le Banque" (thank the bank)! I've had two named "Isle-a-view" and Isle-a-view 2". (Iloveyoutoo!) My thirty footer is named ' It's Always Somethin' (else)' as it seems to be with any boat. The dingy follows along as ' A Little Somethin'. DILLIGAF: Do I Look Like I give a Fuck? JAFS: Just Another F-ing Shark A Trinidad mega yacht, JAFEICA - Just Another F..g Expense I Can't Afford I wrote a book several years ago called The Ultimate Boat Name Guide. It contains over 15,000 "stupid" boat names (150 pages of names). Some of my favorites are: Minnow Pause Cirrosis of the River Vintage Whine Tide One On Thigh's Man Trophy T Many Martunis Slippery When Wet Sham Pain Shake, Rattle & Row Rock of Wages Nooner Schnooner Clawstrophobia Clothes Encounter Pressure Hooker I call my 41' Chris Craft "Perfect Excuse"...because it's the perfect excuse for eating, drinking, relaxing, girl watching, etc..... My family and I share our boat with two other families and we named her "Twenty Minutes" because the boat is one third (h)ours! My understanding is that the U.S. Coast Guard's training tall ship the Eagle was seized from Germany after WW II as a war prize. Anybody out there know what the name of the vessel was before it became the Eagle? The "Horst Wessel" (sp?) Named for a Nazi youth "hero", I believe. There was also a "Horst Wessel" song associated with the "hero." She was built in 1936 and launched as the HORST WESSEL She was taken over by the USCG in 1945. Not quite. She was acquired in January 1946 at Bremerhaven. "LAGNAF" Lets All Get Naked And F@#$! The late Jimmie Morris was great at naming boats. His best may have been the Olson 30, Aliens Ate My Buick. I've owned a lot of racing sailboats with some pretty stupid names--Harass, Party Girl, Free Lunch, Dead Earnest, Squirrel Cage and my current boat, Pinocchio. It's a Melges 24 with a retractable pole. "Abeona" - named after the goddess that protects voyagers! Current Cutter Power Race Boats: Money for Nothing Tweet Revenge Breezes Recovery High Risk Fatal Attraction Flyer Nuff Respect Villa D' Este Touchdown Catch This Kamikaze Nightmare Predator Sudden Impact Slam Jams Buzzi Buzzard Instigator Heartbeat Jawanna Magic Potion Tsunami Buckshot Imagine That Shockwave Conch Attack Flashpoint Breathless Scatterbrain Ballistic Pure Energy Shogun Duces-R-Wild Final Notice Final PersuasionWith the prices of vinyl lettering so cheap I can't imagine wanting to paint your vessel. Go to a sign shop with a print-out of your design and they will reproduce it with self stick vinyl letters. Boat U.S. will also do this for a modest fee. Lettering enamel...available at your local sign supply store. I'd have to agree with this guy, although I'm no less expensive than a painter! === Is there anyone else here that thinks vinyl letters are just a bit tacky? An owner insisted that I have vinyl letters put on his boat. It looked clumsy and cost as much (or more) than a real hand-painted name. I am sure that the technology has improved in the years since then, but I doubt if vinyl lettering could equal a good hand lettered transom. The ones I see are clumsy and garish. === You're not looking hard enough, probably passing by some excellent vinyl lettering art and thinking its painted! Sometimes its hard to tell. Although I'll admit there are plenty of eysores out there....obviously vinyl. Once saw a boatname, "The Last Penny" done with glue and pennies. It was exactly what it was supposed to be...perfectly tacky. When computer sign shops started popping up, the sign business became one of the fastest growing small businesses in the country. Hence, many (untrained) people were hopping on the band wagon. Right about the same time "Graphic Artist" became synonymous with "Desktop Publisher" as a matter of fact. Point is, technology doesn't have anything to do with good design. Computers are only tools. The best sign painters in the business are all using vinyl to some degree. For example, I can take any of my designs and instead of cutting vinyl, run paper through the plotter and create a quick pounce pattern, chalk the transom and paint between the lines. I don't for several reasons. First, I can garantee vinyl (even gold) for up to seven years, meaning that it will actually probably look great for over ten years. Can't do that with paint, especially gold leaf, which requires maintaining every two or three years. Second, I don't have to wait for any special weather. I might even airbrush on it in the comfort of my own shop, then apply it that evening, when its raining, whenever. And third, I can even give it to you to install yourself, and if you follow a few simple pointers, it will look just like a pro did it! === I have to agree with John. I just re-did the lettering on Wyvern and I used a vinyl graphic for the first time. It looks like the best painted lettering that I have ever seen. It was a bit tricky to get it straight on the coumpound curved transom while siting in the dinghy, but the end result is super (a tape measure, masking tape and patience did the trick). I can't speak about the life of the vinyl first hand, but it does look *good*. === Vinyl letters are terrible. They look tacky and in salt water use, the edges of the letters begin to lift. Also, pieces chip off all the time. At least with painted letters, if you use standard colors and you damage a letter, you can touch 'em up withthe same color paints. === Early man made vinyl by pressing and rolling a big ball of plastic into sheets. Some grades are still made that way today and are called "Calendered Films." Because of the way it is made this kind of vinyl "retains its memory" and tends to shrink over time. It is about .11 mm thick. The manufacturers suggest outdoor weatheribility from 3-5 years. Good shops use only the newest material (Premium) which is made differently. It's thinner (.08 mm thick) a little more colorful, expensive, and garanteed not to chip, fade or peel for up to seven years. Good adhesion requires it be applied at temperatures of atleast 40 F (4 c) and a clean surface. Most sign painters would agree - "the outdoor weatherability of vinyl lettering is FAR superior to paint". If its effect you desire, you can even paint on vinyl, although then you're back to the same weatherability of sign paint. Let me know if you'd like to see a sample! Well chosen type style, size, etc., should make for an attractive name no matter whether it's computer generated vinyl or handpainted. I have seen very garish vinyl and and very garish painted lettering. Proper application of attractive vinyl letters is as important as is quality of paintjob. Many of us apply vinyl letters ourselves, frequently resulting in a poor job if care is not taken and simple instructions followed. The same can be said for the messy touchups I have seen with paint, many times not even the same colour as the original. If you take note of the font, etc., with vinyl you just replace the damaged letter(s). Vinyl letters are easy to apply once you learn how to do it (I don't know what could be easier), last well, and perhaps very importantly later on, are very easy to remove. When I bought a new (to me) boat four years ago, I spent over 20 hours removing the painted name from stern and bows, and used several very nasty solvents. I didn't like that. With vinyl a heat gun and a small blade does the trick. === 12 Months in the Florida Sun with black vinyl and I have had no problems so far. Make sure you remove the wax and follow the instructions TO THE LETTER. I did mine in the water with no swim platform....lets see a painter do that. I might be eating my words in a another year or two but for now i'm happy. === I am looking for any input re: superstition regarding chainging name of a used boat, "procedures" to follow to avert bad luck, etc. Don't do it!!! I don't care how lame you think the original name is, Don't change it. I did it and immediately suffered the "Curse of a Thousand Ancient Mariners". Strange things began to happen. Expensive Things! I went to the Maritime Museum, to ask how to remove the curse, the "Old Salt" told me to go home and put the name back on and "May God have mercy on your sole" I changed the name of at least 3 boats... no problems until now. Finger crossing. Sorry for my bad english... will try to give an explanation. In old times tha boats had a wooden figure (polena in Italian) which was considered to keep the boat under good luck. This figure was often related with the name of the vessel. This means if you changed the name of the ship you was obliged to change this statue and taking it outboard was a cause of bad luck. I recently bought a boat, late last fall. It does not have the most appealing monnicker, "Lure Washer". In fact she despite her name does not have a single rod holder on her. I'm still reluctant to change her name (despite my wife's anguished calls "what does Lure Washer mean?". Well as a little bit of a "wanna be" fisherman my self, I figure leave her be and we may be able to grow dislussional together. Have owned three boats over a period of years(two used, one new): (1) Purchased used boat that was owned by a husband & wife (he was "Russell", she was "Jane"), boat name (very prominently displayed aft on both sides: "Jane Russell" --- being young and single at the time, the name hadda go - owned the boat for 7 years, nary a problem..... (2) Purchased used boat that, again, was owned by a husband & wife (he was "Ron", she was "Sue"), boat name (painted on the stern in a circlular manner): "Ron Around Sue" --- clever, but way too personal for our (no longer single, still on the young side) tastes, once again the name hadda go - owned this boat for 7 years and loved every minute. (3) Purchased new boat, used entire 1995 boating season, never did get around to getting her name painted on the stern --- more problems in one year with new boat than fourteen with used boats. In all fairness, the "new boat" problems were pretty much what I would call dealer prep related and NOT structural in nature (thankfully, 'cause we learned that the manufacturer went out of business just before we experienced our first problem --- nice timing... In retrospect, I don't believe that changing the names on two boats had any negative effects with the boats useful lifes. BTW - Our boat's names: Nauti-Gal --- Depending on who purchased the old ones, they might have responded "Gotta Go". |