What's in a name by Jane Tolbert

High Heels at the Melbourne(Fla.) Harbor



The Dilbar at the Antibes Harbor with the Fort Carre in the background

I always assumed the difficult part about owning a boat was procuring the money. But now I realize it’s much more complex. Money isn’t the issue—the name is! Some of those in the Melbourne, Fla., harbor carry interesting names—High Heels, Love Nest 4 Two, Miller Time III and Free and Clear (now for sale) and Fish Story Part II. We can only speculate how these names were chosen.

Since the Americans seem to name their boats (as well as their racehorses and greyhounds) in a clever way, are the French equally imaginative? A visit to the Antibes harbor (where most of the boats have non-French owners) revealed names like the Désirée, Fahrenheit, Developing Fast II and Just for Fun. Of course, many of these were the size of small cruise liners. . . . the deck hands were so busy polishing and preparing that no one had time to explain the origin of the name.

At the Port de la Galice on the Cap D’Antibes, I found names like Nikaia, Ideal 1, Octant and Equinox. This port was devoid of deck hands, and the boats were much smaller. One fuzzy dog remained on a sailboat. . . and the owner of a catamaran did not understand my fascination with boat names (“Je peux vous aider,” translates to mean Can I help you, but in this context, it was more of a rhetorical comment, What are you doing here!)

A French forum provides some insight into the dilemma of selecting a name. The forum moderator had just purchased a sailboat with two other friends. One of the owners had chosen the name, the JaJa. The moderator asked participants to come up with a better name—something that alluded to wine, good speed and other “sensible” things about a boat. The prize, he claimed, would be a ride on the boat or a picture of the three owners “en petit tenu.” (I will leave that translation to the reader’s imagination.)

The nine pages of posts hint at the popularity of the topic.

One forum participant suggested Le Grand Cru, and another, 11°. Another participant (a male) said he really was not interested in the photo. . . . The moderator provided the narrative of the delivery of the boat. . . and the final decision about the name. The JaJa. . . .

The only thing preventing me from buying a boat is the name. . . . Je rigole. Je ne suis pas trop bateau. Actually, I am fond of the Lucien.




The Lucien at the Antibes Harbor


Life is Good at a private dock on Tropical Trail