Boat Names

Our C36 is named ANNIQUE. My wife and I have two daughters. Annalies and Frederique. The first three letters of Annalies and the last four of Frederique give the name ANNIQUE.

- Family Baas, Holland

My father, who developed his love of sailing as a midshipman at the Naval Academy, taught me how to sail when I was about 12 years old. Our family summer vacations were spent plying the waters of Puget Sound, the San Juans and the Canadian Gulf Islands on our home-built 31' trimaran. Dad's last boat that he owned, just a few years before he passed away, was a Catalina 34. Years later, when my wife and I purchased our Catalina 36, we struggled for months coming up with an appropriate name.

For us, our 2001 Catalina 36 (#1929) is the ideal boat (and we have owned about 15 or so - both power and sail - over the past 30 years.) Whenever we are aboard, we are relaxed, happy and content. And, we also happen to have three cats (actually, they have us...). So, given all of this, the name "Purrrfect" spelled with 3 R's.

- Bob Gauvreau

I am an ophthalmologist, and my wife an optician. Our last boat, "Reflection" had a name that dealt in the "optical realm." After purchasing our new 36 mkII this past winter, and while skiing (what we do when the boat is on the hard), we came across a trail named Illusion. We had found the perfect name for our boat- something optical and a favorite trail at the mountain we ski at.

- Elwin Schwartz

During a sailing trip in our Newport 27, my 10 year old daughter enquired if we could actually name our next boat with anything we wanted. I said this would certainly be possible but it would have to reflect the whole family's views too.

As we were walking to a restaurant, I noticed she was quite quiet and just when I was about to ask her if she was OK - she said "Dad, I have it! I have figured a way to get the whole family involved with a name for that new boat you want - It should be JACK.

G. V. Black lived in the early 1900's and is generally acknowledged as being the 'father' of modern dentistry. He established many of the procedures and guidelines still inherent in today's philosophy of clinical practice. An interesting (?) note about our boat:

When we met the painter that our dealer had recommended for painting our boat name, the dealer told the old guy (he was in his eighties) that he would never guess the significance of "G. V. Black". The old guy frowned and thought.

"Anuqa" (pronounced Anooka) is an Inupiat-Eskimo word. When Eskimos in the 'old days hunting,' would feel signs of wind coming up, it meant a storm was coming and they had to build a shelter - the elder would look into the wind and speak to it by saying the word "Anuqa" - meaning "Aaaa, it's the wind" (i.e. showing respect for the wind and its power/authority over his simple life).

- Dennis & Mary Stovall

My wife and I have been married for a bit more than 35 years. We began our life together in 1966. An award-winning movie, Dr. Zhivago, was playing in the theaters at that time and is still one of our favorites. It starred Omar Sharif and the beautiful Julie Christie in the role of "Lara". "Lara's Theme" still brings back fond memories of that wonderful time when everything was new in our lives.

As we start our sailing adventure, aboard our beautiful Lara, the name serves as a constant reminder from whence we came.

- June & Greg Starr (#2058)

My wife and I met where she spent summers and I lived, Higgins Lake Michigan. We bought our first boat after I moved to Cleveland, OH...

One Saturday afternoon my wife and I were aboard having a cocktail after an absolutely beautiful day sailing on Lake Erie. The sun was setting over Edgewater Park, other boaters were coming in after a day on the water. We looked around and at nearly the same time commented, "...this is nice, but I miss Higgins..." Well the spark of recognition exploded in my wife's eyes, and I new we had a name for our (not so) new boat!

When I began to get into sailing, about ten years ago, it was a transitional time for me. I was in my mid-forties and thinking it was about time to ease out of the music business and possibly retire. The plan was to give up my seven-piece show band which I both managed and played drums for, and possibly put together a trio just for fun. I'd always wanted to play Latin drums, but since 1960 had been a drumset drummer.