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Punny Boat Names

Is there an unspoken tradition that some boat names have a certain amount of “punny-ness” to them?

Here’s a case in point from our recent trip to Maine:

Our question is, what do they call this boat for short? SeasMoCeasemo?
© 2019 Latitude 38 Media LLC / Tim

On that same trip, we saw a lobster boat with the name Captain Mortgage written in the same font as the famed brand of rum.

At any rate, punny boat names seem to be a fixture in the sailing community. At our marina in San Rafael, there’s a boat called Knot to Worry. We’ve seen several variations off “knot,” like Knot My Problem and Knot Completely Paid For Yet. (We might have made that last one up, actually.)

We should also distinguish the punny name vs. the general funny name. Also on the San Rafael canal, there’s a motor boat named Wastin’ Away with a port of call of “Margaritaville,” and we suspect that this isn’t the only such port of call or Buffett-inspired boat name. We have photographic evidence of at least a few Salt Shakers. (Should those ports of calls be “Lost?”)

Latitude Nation: Is there a punny (or funny) boat name at a slip near you? Have you passed a few clever names on an afternoon sail or while cruising? We think it’s about time we start creating an informal but well-thought-out, well-researched encyclopedia of said names.

Please send us pictures here of clever boat names, or comment below (but pictures are paramount to this bit of research). Depending on the volume, we’ll either publish them on a future ‘Lectronic, or in a future Letters. (We certainly prefer sailboats, but if you happen to snag a photo of a good name on a motorboat’s transom, well, who’s gonna know?)

The “best” of the punny names will win a Latitude 38 hat. Good luck everyone, and thanks for playing.

20 Comments

  1. Marianne 5 years ago

    Bow Movement

  2. Jeffery Lange 5 years ago

    Not actually a pun, but I built a nesting dinghy for my sailboat. I call it Beach Break.

  3. Vikas Kapur 5 years ago

    The best one – “Never Again II ”

    ( seen in Sausalito harbor .. 🙂

  4. Jim Hassberger 5 years ago

    Back in the early 60’s my Dad bought a ski boat. Back when a 35hp 2 stroke was considered a big motor. Still, great fun for all. Can’t find a photo, but the name was NoMoDo.

  5. Jim Sinclair 5 years ago

    When both our boys were grown and gone we took a deep breath and bought a boat again. We named it Second Wind. Wise ass second son said a couple old farts like us should have named it Breaking Wind.

  6. David Hume 5 years ago

    I used to see a boat in Southampton, England. It was always very low in the water because the designers had put too much weight in the keel bulb. It was called Lead Astray.

  7. Paul Mathews 5 years ago

    “Sailbad The Sinner”. Transom photo sent by email.

  8. Ron Harben 5 years ago

    The facetious definition of a boat is: “A hole in the water that you throw money into.” Having lived in Hawaii, I thought a Hawaiian name would be appropriate; therefore, I named my Fantasia35 “Puka Kai.” In the Hawaiian language, puka means “hole” – as in puka shells (shells with holes in them. Kai is Hawaiian for sea or ocean. So, Puka Kai is loosely interpreted as “Hole in the Ocean.”

  9. David Wilson 5 years ago

    In the late 80’s saw a power boat in the Sea of Cortez named “Grampas Wet Dream”

  10. Chuck Reynolds 5 years ago

    My 12 foot aluminum bass boat for lake fishing was christened “Weather Oar Knot”. Being a medical kind of guy my next two boats ( now I’m dreaming…) would be a pure sail racer named “Systole” for the working, contractile phase of the cardiac cycle and a comfort cruiser named “Diastole” for the resting, recuperative, repolarizing phase. Not sure enough people would get my joke, though.

  11. Ben Shaw 5 years ago

    Have seen Between the Sheets out sailing on the bay a few times.

  12. Rev Dr. Malama 5 years ago

    As a retired doctor, I named my dinghy ‘THE DR’S INN’. There’s a Big game fishing boat in a nearby harbor named ‘Marlin Monroe’.

  13. Jack Alden 5 years ago

    Contextually punny?: My father’s prior boat, a Cape Dory 32, was named “Flor de Mayo,” as he is John Alden (same name as the Pilgrim cooper on the Mayflower).

  14. Brian 4 years ago

    Do you have a Youtube channel as well with this kind of content on it? I would love to see this post turned into a longer video if possible. Maybe I can share on it on my website.

    https://fishmasters.com

  15. Scott Henry 4 years ago

    There used to be a boat in my marina named “Mental Floss”. Sadly, it left before I could get a picture.

  16. Christine Weaver 4 years ago

    Scott Henry, there’s an Olson 30 called Mental Floss based in Vallejo’s Glen Cove Marina. It sails in the Delta Ditch Run and Delta Doo Dah. http://www.deltadoodah.com/alumni/2019entries.html

  17. Fishinges 3 years ago

    I am so excited right now after reading this! Thank you!

    https://fishinges.com

  18. Max owono 2 years ago

    I am so invigorated right now subsequent to understanding this! Much thanks to you!

  19. emmawriter789 2 years ago

    Pretty! This has been an extremely wonderful post. Thanks for supplying these details.

  20. Caleb Macdonald 1 year ago

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