Boat Name Poll

[Not Sure]

I believe that the purpose of the name of a boat must be twofold and concise:
#1) It must convey the beauty, personality, or appropriate traits of the vessel, and/or
#2) It must convey the impression that the vessel owner is not playing with a few cards short of a full deck.

Many, many boat names (particularly renames) fail either #1, #2, or both.

[DaveOnCudjoe]

I've always been a bit cautious about changing boat names. I did rename the tri but from a concept name to a proper name. I would never remove a proper name from a boat. Dave

[Tom Spohn]

Lessee here. An Aussie boat named "Roo-ark" What comes to my mind are kangaroos on a boat, not a "divine wind". You will become sick of explaining the naqme to everyone.

[Bash]

Those who have engaged in biblical studies will immediately recognize this as a Hebrew term used within the creation story narrated in the second chapter of Genesis. It's not hard to imagine that at some point you'll encounter someone who finds the use of this symbol to signify a sailboat mildly blasphemous.

I would tend to look for another name, were it my boat, for no other reason than that I wouldn't want to risk giving the impression that I'm taking the sacred history of other people lightly.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Bash

Those who have engaged in biblical studies will immediately recognize this as a Hebrew term used within the creation story narrated in the second chapter of Genesis. It's not hard to imagine that at some point you'll encounter someone who finds the use of this symbol to signify a sailboat mildly blasphemous.

Yes this did cross my mind but then again, almost everyone is offended by something

Originally Posted by Bash

I would tend to look for another name, were it my boat, for no other reason than that I wouldn't want to risk giving the impression that I'm taking the sacred history of other people lightly.

And then again, I might be giving the opposite impression....

Thanks again to everyone who voted or posted

[Roaring Girl]

I have to admit I don't like them, both because of the difficulties of saying on the radio (depending on where you're going) and because you will get called by your boat name and you might not like that. (I do prefer ruah.)

If you want a specifically Hebrew/Judaic/Christian reference - well there's lots to choose from. If you want to capture the concept of the divine wind, or breath of god, maybe there are other sources, depending on your heritage or willingness to go outside it - gaothuirlis is one Irish gaelic translation of divine wind (which does not solve the VHF problem!). Kamikaze is another! (The original kamikaze is the wind which destroyed the Chinese fleet trying to invade Japan.)

Enjoy it, whatever. It's really nice to have a boat named something no-one else has used, and we enjoy the explaining as well!

[Olorin]

"Duggans Dew. ...... - anyone tell me where it came from?"

Mr. Google says: "Duggan's Dew Blended Scotch Whisky - High Malt content from aged single malts. 86.8 proof."

[bewitched]

I though it was Gaelic at first - the ua and ch combinations - Ruadh = Brown or perhaps Cruach = a pile, a hill.

Neither of which is very nautical - so I guess it's the hebrew 'wind' translation (and not the Malay translation where ruah means 'full'.).

The pitfalls of choosing a name.!!! I remember Toyota being red faced when launching their new sportscar, the M.R.2 on to the French market.

I actually like Ruah a lot - regardless of meaning - short and a nice sound and easily spelled out over the radio

[Islandmike]

Without knowing what the names mean, Im ok with Ruah, not the other. However, if there is a special meaning, go for it....

[HHNTR111]

Originally Posted by bytownboy

I named my first sailboat Duggans Dew. My first name is Doug, my initials are d.e.w. , but that's not why I came up with that name - anyone tell me where it came from?

Guy Gilpatrick's hero of the millenium, Colin Glencannon, was a devotee of duggan's Dew of Kirkentolloch