You will all note that the name of this blog is called “Winds of Time”.

The first boat we owned was “Winds of Change” and the dinghy was “Small Change”.  The names Winds of Change and Time come from a Jimmy Buffett song, “Growing Older but not Up” which positively describes me to a T and JoAnne perhaps to a lesser extent.  We chose the name of our first boat from that song, Winds of Time.

Now, I know that boat names in some persons’ opinions should radiate femininity, or at least a female sounding name.   I also know (and to a small degree believe) the name should be short, easy to pronounce and to be able to phonetically SAY over the radio.  The name should be as UNIQUE as possible.  There are those who think three names or two names on a vessel is too many, and you didn’t use enough brainpower to come up with it.  I disagree.  But, I’ll talk about that again shortly.

We had kind of decided for ourselves many moons back that since our first boat was “Winds of Change” the second would be “Winds of Time” and we kept that idea in our heads, thus this blog’s name.  However, awhile back we were discussing lists of names and the type of boat we’re getting, where we’re planning to go and our previous travels.  We decided that no matter what the boat name would be, the blog’s name wouldn’t change.

So we came up with a long list of names, probably close to one hundred names, things like names of ancient gods and goddesses, animals, stars, planets and constellations.  One in particular was the name of a space station which has figured prominently in a series of books that I am working on, Estrellita – Little Star in Spanish.

About 3-4 weeks ago we decided to have a vote.  Family, some friends and some internet friends we have known for some years.  I opened a poll on a web site I help to run and let the folks there vote, and on a private Facebook family page we held a separate vote.

I kept a running tally on the voting on a spread sheet and at the end of the final eight names we’d chosen for the poll, we were to come up with the top three names; run a secondary vote to decide the top name.

Things didn’t work out that way.

We came up with two very clear leaders out of all the names we’d chosen originally, pared down the last eight names.

There are a hand full of “Third Place” holders and therefore, today JoAnne and I have decided that the CLEAR winner will be the name of the boat when we finally pick her out and purchase her.  The first runner up will become the name of our Dinghy.

Let me explain why.  Many of our friends and people we’ve read state categorically that naming your dinghy after the mother-ship is a clear indication for opportunistic thieves to visit your floating home while you’re away.  In other words naming a boat “Susie” and then dinghy “Susie II” or any other combination that might indicate your absence from home is an invitation.  So, being that the two names are significantly removed from one another, that gave us this idea.

The final Eight Names Chosen from the original 100 were:

Dreamweaver
Estrellita
Horizons
Marielee
MaryJean
Seastar
Serenity
Winds of Time

The final tally placed “Seastar” dead last.

Next from the bottom was “Marielee” and “Maryjean”.  Both names derived from our daughters’ names and our mom’s names respectively.  (Sorry Ladies; but as they say it IS the thought that counts.)

The names that got the next number of votes each were, “Dreamweaver”, “Estrellita” and “Horizons”, each a good name for a vessel; but not our vessel.

As I was stating earlier the name of a vessel is important to the owners, one hopes.  The boat name SHOULD say something about the owners, the vessel and her travels; or at least intended travels.  JoAnne and I have no intention of sitting in a slip or hanging out on some dock all the time.  We intend to travel, far and wide, visit the haunts of Pirates, islands and beaches; thus the boat must suit us to take us around the coasts as well as cross the seas.  A boat name should reflect our lives, our love of life and our character as well as perhaps our hobbies.  We are both science fiction readers, and travelers.  We’ve traversed the US several times, as well as traveled in Europe and Asia.  We’re not really “stay at home types” though we did it for our children.

So, without making you wait any longer…. the top two names were (Drum Roll please) were:

In Second Place: “Serenity”

In First Place: “Winds of Time”

Funny how that worked out.  This was the name we originally chose for our cruising boat; and yet gave almost one hundred other names the chance and still, the name with three words came in first.

With ONE small caveat the new boat when purchased will be re-christened to “Winds of Time” and the dinghy will be named “Serenity”.

Here’s the caveat; if we locate a boat, probably older, bigger and already a “successful” cruiser that has “made a name for herself” – and is possibly a well-know boat, we might not change from that name and the “Winds of Time” will likely go back into the name bucket for next time.

However, if we pick up a boat with no name, or a name that is dumb, stupid or even unpronounceable (like many are to me) then we’ll do a renaming ceremony.

As to the Dinghy.  When we buy the boat, if there is one, we’ll use that boat, but the first opportunity I get, I’m building our dinghy.  I already have the plans for it, know what it will be like and how long she will be.  She will be a wooden two piece nestable dinghy that can be sailed and row.  Thus she WILL get the name “Serenity” (not the “comes with the mother ship dinghy” dinghy).

Thanks to all our kids and their spouses and our friends who chose to vote on the names.  A special thanks goes to my good friend Ryan Ruck in Ohio for coming up with the name “Serenity” and congrats Ryan that your choice came in second!  ( I know he’s a rabid Firefly Fan so good on him!) haha

Thanks to my dear Lady JoAnne for putting up with my incessant bothering over this for the past few weeks too.