When one buys a used boat, and the boat is already named, there is common lore that it is taboo to change the name. Poseidon can only hold onto so many names…and if you change one without asking him, well, I won’t be sailing on your boat this summer!
Does anyone know the current state of affairs with a ceremony to change the name of a boat? I just can’t live with “ICBM”* as a name. It’s a very heavy, slow nonsuch sailboat. The name was meant to be a farce.
*Intercontinental Ballistic Missle.
And while we’re at it, is it appropriate to call it a christening if the boat is owned by a non-Christian?
[QUOTE=Sunspace]
And while we’re at it, is it appropriate to call it a christening if the boat is owned by a non-Christian?
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Yes that’s a formality…I know plenty of non-christians who have christened their vessels.
Oh and I found this with a little googling.
There are a number of ceremonies for renaming boats with many curious rituals. You could, for example, convince a virgin (presumably female) to urinate on the bow. Or you could sail the boat backwards.
But the only ritual that actually matters is the one that goes “Hi, I’d like to register my boat. Here’s your $40.00 and the sales tax on the transaction.”
Finding a virgin should be no problem. The SDMB is lousy with 'em. 
I think we should test out this bad luck lore once and for all - in the interest of fighting ignorance, and all that.
Rename the boat Fuck You, Poseidon, and report back to us in six months. 
Oh my yes. It is mandatory you dance backwards, counterclockwise (widdershins) calling out the old name backwards to banish it, lest the sea spirits be displeased.
Brandishing of cutlass optional, but recommended, to keep the curious at a distance.
You may then proceed with the naming ceremony of your choice.
AFAICT, Poseidon seems mostly pissed off when people actually name boats after him…I mean, he’s rogue-waved two huge cruise ships already, yea verily we must fear his wrath
One of the ones I recall from my days as a budding junior yachtsman was that you should place a penny under the mast if you changed a boat’s name, FWIW.
Smash a bottle of white-out against the bow?
[QUOTE=Sublight]
Smash a bottle of white-out against the bow?
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???
Well we are going to get the boat smudged, and use some of the online info we found, as well as place a penny of the year she was made on the bow in resin.
Otherwise, we just need a new name. I’m thinking something elvish.
[QUOTE=Phlosphr]
Otherwise, we just need a new name. I’m thinking something elvish.
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Preshley?
[QUOTE=Tragically Dip]
Preshley?
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Bravo!
[QUOTE=Tragically Dip]
Preshley?
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OOOO!!! I like that!