REnaming a Boat

[nolaboater99]

On another thread on boat names It was suggested I provide this info here.

Many people buy a used boat that is already named. Sometimes the name is really cool and a keeper but most often it just needs to go like....Larry's Wet Dream or some other crap. However, changing the name of a boat should not be taken lightly. Changing the name of a boat without paying homage the God of the Seas, Neptune can cause bad luck and misfortune to the vessel and all souls aboard. All this bad juju can be pushed away by following the proper procedure and ceremony....and it makes for one helluva party.

One day several years ago my wife came to me and said, "When we retire can we buy like a 50' boat, live on it and cruise for like 5 years." After tearfully professing my love for this woman we began the search and settled on a 1984 Taiwanese-built, 52' cockpit motor yacht. (CPMY). We were still about 5 years from retirement at this time but having the boat now was going to allow us to make it ready for the trip of a lifetime.

The boat was named "Trident" when we bought it. Not bad but we wanted to name it "Makai" which means "To the Sea" in Hawaiian as that was what we were planning to do....go to sea. But I knew there was a process that needed to be done to rename the boat. Part of that process is the ceremony. Here is a link to that. http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/rename.htm

For us, we followed all the rules for removal of the old name, picked a date, bought a case of champagne and invited 24 friends to the marina. Here is a record of the event....

This is our friend Brian performing the task mid ceremony....

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An obscene amount of spirits must be offered to the God of the Sea Neptune during the ceremony to the protests of the attendees. Here a salvage effort is under way....

Makai Dock Crowd.jpg

An event like this takes many supporting cast members. Here are a few. (For those of you curious; there were 18 people on board, 22 life jackets, a flat foredeck, speed never over 8 kts and the skipper, me, does not drink prior to, or when operating, the vessel)

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More to follow....see next post

[AsLan7]

.
Such great fun NB99!....Awesome renaming ceremony & great story.

Cheers!

.

[nolaboater99]

This site's photo process is a bit challenging....

Here's more....

Amy and I the morning after....

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A full picture of Makai....

Ext 3.jpg

So, the rest of the story....

Plans were being made for this trip. We had the rough itinerary planned and we were on moving forward with our plans. I was planning to retire in April of 2017 on my 67th birthday. The company I was with had a very aggressive and lucrative retirement plan and we were taking full advantage of it. But in November of 2014, new leadership eliminated my position along with 4 others. I found myself 64 years old and unemployed. The lucrative employer contributions ended and along with it, our goal. A few months later we made the decision to make the move to the New Orleans area to be closer to my wife's family and where the cost of living is substantially lower. I took a 1 year contract for a job and we made plans to move.

Knowing we just weren't going to have the funds needed for our dream cruise we sadly sold the 52' boat. About this time I had the opportunity to buy back my old 1985 Cobalt CM23 and here we are living in Covington, LA. happily retired. We have not ruled out another cruiser and cruising the Gulf Coast. Time will tell....

Shawn

[Ytmsn]

Awesome story! See, aren't you glad you joined us here? We are

[AsLan7]

Life certainly turns on a dime. That's also so cool you found your CM23 and bought it back. Love having you on this site, Shawn. Great contribution my friend.

(& once again...beautiful boat & bride)

[jhnmdahl]

Pretty cool story, and boat! I thin that some of the lore around not changing it was made up by the people who buy those boats new, only to sell them to the next owner for half price a few years later

As for the pictures - it's a known bug in the forum software that should be fixed with the next release later this spring.

[NautiGirl]

Very cool story... A little sad but everything worked out and very cool you got your boat back.

We also performed the re-naming ceremony last summer... It was a must do. And we added in our twist by toasting with some "Naughty Girl" beer... Seemed appropriate!

[nolaboater99]

Thanks everyone....I truly appreciate the comments.
Shawn

[cmattj]

Thank you Shawn.. wow what a great read !! Felt like I was with you on your journey .

NOLA pal!! Looking forward to some water picks in your new digs!!

[thunder550]

Love the ceremony! Thanks for sharing.

[nolaboater99]

Thank you Shawn.. wow what a great read !! Felt like I was with you on your journey .

NOLA pal!! Looking forward to some water picks in your new digs!!

Ask and you receive....
This is where we will do most of our boating. This is the Tchefuncte River in Madisonville, LA. It empties into Lake Pontchatrain. From the Lake we can get to the Gulf of Mexico and go anywhere and have access to the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway (GICW). From Madisonville here is a pic looking South towards the Lake....

Tchef South.JPG

And her is looking North....

Tchef North.JPG

I will be posting more as I get them.
Shawn

[AsLan7]

Oh that’s nice, nb99. Freshwater with access to a lake...and more if desired. Beautiful there.

[nolaboater99]

Yeah, it's nice. I've only had my Cobalt on it once for some testing but my brother-in-law keeps a 29' Proline on the river and I go out with him occasionally.

Madisonville is a very cool small town on the river and lakeshore and is officially listed having a population of 748. It is the home of the annual Wooden Boat Festival. http://www.louisiananorthshore.com/even ... -festival/. It is really a lot of fun. My CM23 has sooo much teak in it, it actually qualifies for entry in the runabout class. If I get it looking right I may enter it this year.

[AsLan7]

Oh definitely enter that teak machine. I have a lot of respect for you teak guys. Maintenance heavy but man it sure pops when shined up.

[nolaboater99]

Here is the official website to the festival.... http://www.woodenboatfest.org/boats/allboats?year=2017