Once you finally have the boat of your dreams, the typical right of passage is to name her. Naming the boat to some boat owners is a big deal. For many boaters the boat becomes a part of their identity thus the name of the boat becomes significant.

A boat owner has more than a few things to consider when naming a boat. There are traditions, superstitions, and spouses to consider. You also have to think about whether the name may embarrass or offend friends and family. There is also a boat naming superstition that it is bad luck to remove an old name on a previously-owned boat. I have a friend who tried to get around this superstition by adding a second name to his boat. It looked tacky and was confusing to launch boat operators and to just about everyone else he came in contact with. Now, his new boat has no name.

Many people name a boat after their spouse, significant other, children, or even their pet. This is a nice gesture, but you can run into problems if more kids are on the way or if the relationship does not work out. This is also kind of boring. There have to be a million boats out there named Jenny. My husband jokingly called our boat Jenny for years until I refused to watch Forest Gump with him again. Jenny actually is not even the real name of our boat nor my name either.

If you want to get creative about naming your boat try thinking about how you made the money to pay for the boat. You can always name your boat after your profession. After all, when you meet someone they usually ask what you do for a living. Perhaps people just might stop asking you that annoying question and find more interesting things to discuss. If you own your own company or are in a sales job, you might want to look at naming the boat from a marketing perspective. It is a clever investment to name your boat after your company or something that identifies you to more people if that is how you want to be noticed.

My sister has been creative when it comes to naming her boats. She once had a boat named I.I.T.Y.T.Y.H.T.B.M.A.B. This translates into If I Tell You Then You Have To Buy Me A Beer. It worked. We often did not have to pay for our drinks when we took trips to other seaside towns for a bite to eat. It also was a great conversation starter. We met a lot of people this way.

Even the HBO hit series The Sopranos focuses on the name of the character Tony Soprano's boat from time to time. It uses the name of the boat to add to his identity and set the mood of the scene. The name of the boat is Stugats. The actual literal translation into English is obscene, yet it fits with the stereotype the show is trying to portray.

There are few websites to help you find a name that suits you and your boat. If you take a look at www.10000boatnames.com you can search thousands of names and even register your own original boat name to the list. According to the site the top three sailboat names are Second Wind, Wind Dancer, and Serenity.

But what do you do when you finally find your dreamboat with a name that you just cannot live with. For thousands of years, sailors have sworn that the unlucky ships are those who defied the gods and changed their names. The old tradition of renaming a boat is actually quite involved. Today most people do not have a lot of time to carry out the ritual and just remove every sign of the boat's old name.

For more information about local boating, environmental issues, and other water-related activities throughout the Oyster Bay area you can email the author Jaime.VanDyke@gmail.com or reach her at 946-9464.