If I Had a Boat

This past weekend, Chris and I got a 16-foot sailboat. We've been saving for over a year into what we call our "Boat Account," which allowed us to get a trailer hitch put on Chris's van and to then purchase this boat. And, we still have some leftover.

The original plan was to get a 25+ foot boat in a few years in order to spend a long period of time (a couple or a few months) living on it on the Chesapeake Bay. That is still the plan, but we decided it made sense to spend some money on a smaller boat now so that we can get our sea legs under us before we spend a significant amount of time on our eventual big boat. Well, I at least need to find my sea legs... I don't know how to sail, and I get motion sickness. Chris has been sailing for years and is quite adept at it.

Here are some pictures of Chris with our new boat (You should have seen us getting that thing into the back yard from the street!):

Now is where we need your help. We spent a good deal of time yesterday compiling a list of possible boat names. We then went through and picked our favorites. Here they are, and please tell me what your opinion is and/or if you have another good idea:

"Serenity": The name of Captain Mal's ship on the show Firefly (which we both love). The only reason I hesitate is that I saw a beautiful sailboat with this name when we were in Florida. I guess it would make me feel like a bit of a copycat. Other than that, it is pretty much the perfect name!

"Anabel Lee": This is the name of the ship in a song by Josh Ritter that is called "Another New World." The main character is convinced that there is another new world "at the top of the world" and he takes his trusty ship, The Anabel Lee, and goes off searching for it. The line I like is "Oh the Anabel Lee, I saw their eyes shine, the most beautiful ship in the sea..." At the end of the story, the main character has to burn the Anabel Lee in order to keep from freezing to death at the top of the world (Jack London style). I did some digging and found that Edgar Alan Poe wrote a poem called "Anabel Lee," which is surely where Josh Ritter got his inspiration and the name for his fictional boat. In the poem, Anabel Lee freezes to death (Oh, Poe!). So, I guess the downside to this would be that name is, perhaps, a bit morbid. However, in the story, I view The Anabel Lee as an incredibly loyal ship, who would die for her captain.

"Whisper": Chris and I both read Chesapeake by James Michener in the past year (I think I've mentioned it before, one because it took me so long to read, and two because it is one of the best books I've ever read. And I've read quite a few books). There is a Quaker family in the book, The Paxmores, and they build ships. Even though they're peaceful by nature, one of their best ships ends up getting involved in trade and warfare. It's captained by a crazy MoFo named Turlock, who tries to run goods from all over back to the Eastern Shore. The ship is called "Whisper," and it's the fastest, most maneuverable boat out there.

"The Twombly": This is another Chesapeake reference. Towards the end of the book, the Turlock family has possesion of a "long gun," which can kill a hundred geese or ducks with one fire. They are outlawed, but the Turlocks manage to hold on to their gun by their cunning. The long gun they own is named The Twombly, for the man the Turlocks bought it off. It sort of represents holding on to the old ways.

"Anne Bonny": We were trying to think of some cool, non-obvious pirate reference, and this one is awesome: Anne Bonny (along with another woman named Mary Read) ended up on Calico Jack's pirate ship (Calico Jack was Jack Rackham, who is famous for designing the Jolly Roger pirate flag). She and Jack were supposedly lovers, but she dressed as a man while on board to fool the rest of the crew. She was sentenced to hang for being a pirate. The end of her story is unclear; she either got out of the hanging by claiming pregancy (and then went on to die in her 80's in York County, VA) or she was hanged/disappeared right after the trial.

"Kestrel": This was Chris's idea. A Kestrel is a relatively small falcon that is known for its brownish, greyish feathers. It hovers above its prey and then drops right on top of it. It's fast and striking.

"Windhover": This is going off of Chris's Kestrel idea. Apparently, a colloquial term for a Kestrel is "Windhover" because they use a headwind to stay in one place before diving for their prey. I was excited about this because I studied Gerard Manely Hopkins in college, and he wrote a very cool poem called "The Windhover." Yay for literature! Plus, (duh), sailboats and wind definitely go together.

"Slainte": (Pronounced Slan-Cha). This is the Gaelic way of saying "cheers!" which literally translates to "health!" Chris and I are both Irish, he more than me (could you tell?).

"Raga Sa": A Raga is a scale in Indian music. "Sa" is a specific scale. The different scales have different meanings and are attribted to different seasons. We liked the way Raga Sa sounded, and thought it would be cool to name the boat after something musical.

"Wilda Faye": This was my grandmother's name, though she went by "Faye." She died when I was five years old. We thought it would be a nice name for the boat, and a nice way of remembering.

"If I Had A...": This was my dad's idea. The title of this post is named after a Lyle Lovett song called "If I Had a Boat." It's pretty much a fantastic song... the chorus goes: "If I had a boat, I'd sail out on the ocen. If I had a pony, I'd ride him on my boat..." Good stuff! Seriously, check out the song.

Now is where you come in. What should we name the boat? Either cast your Boat Vote (pick one of the above) or suggest something else entirely!

Thanks guys!