Algonquin Adventures / Does your boat have a name?

**Posted by CanoeClaire** 5/02/2018 1:48 pm

Does your canoe have a name? How did you come up with it?

We got a new boat over the winter and she definitely needs a name. Do you have any inspiration for me?

A little bit about the boat - to help with proper inspiration giving and so I can brag
It's a Laker from Backcountry Custom Canoes (http://www.backcountrycustomcanoes.ca). She's 16 ft and weighs a whopping 36 lbs. It's a skin on frame boat with a wooden frame with a ballistic nylon skin. So far she's only been out and about around home but we're looking forward to her getting on the water in Algonquin!

**Posted by boknows** 5/02/2018 2:34 pm

CanoeClaire,,

About 35 years ago I bought a brand new 16.5 ft. Grumman light weight canoe, weighing in at 66 lbs.

I named it "ENTERPRISE 1701"......being a Star Trek fan. In my mind I was thinking "TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO CANOE HAS GONE BEFORE".

**Posted by AlgonquinLakes** 5/02/2018 3:15 pm

boknows wrote:
CanoeClaire,,

About 35 years ago I bought a brand new 16.5 ft. Grumman light weight canoe, weighing in at 66 lbs.

I named it "ENTERPRISE 1701"......being a Star Trek fan. In my mind I was thinking "TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO CANOE HAS GONE BEFORE".

I am 100% in board with this name. And if you get another one at some point it can be 1701-A

**Posted by dontgroandaddy** 5/02/2018 4:05 pm

I love this topic. Generally we haven't named canoes, but they get called one thing or another, and I'm a big believer that boats develop personalities (that we assign to them of course), and a name goes a long way toward placing human characteristics on inanimate objects. We picked up the new Nova Craft on Saturday, and not even ten minutes down the road my son says "What are we gonna name it?" We spent several minutes trying to come up with something, but as yet the boat is un-named. Not even a nickname. Horror! We'll pick something so as to not insult the new boat, but the name will not have sticking power until it is in the water/on a trip, and that's when the name will come.

The Merrimack was almost always referred to as "The Merrimack". Very creative, but it was for that reason I sometimes referred to the Old Town Lightweight Canvas as "The Monitor". My wife disliked that, but I loved having the Monitor and the Merrimack. Mostly we refer to the Old Town as "The Canvas", however, I also call it "My Midlife Crisis" since that is exactly what it is. The aluminum wilderness battleship Grumman we had in my youth was donated to a camp last spring, and I actually used stickers to put a name on it - "Grampa" - so my kids would always know which one was Grampa's boat when they go there.

Now, to your immediate situation. Claire, I look at that boat and one name comes to my mind. "Woody". If that isn't a good name for a trusted wilderness companion and guide, I don't know what is.

**Posted by perrythomas** 5/02/2018 5:34 pm

I posted this on a different thread, but I just pulled the trigger on a Langford Prospector 17'4" with carbon fiber and wood gunnels. I'm picking it up from the factory on the 14th and leaving for our trip on the 15th of May. I've never seen a Langford in the US before, so I'm excited to spread the word. It's a beauty....AND it needs a name for sure. I'll have to see what sticks on our trip.

My old canoe was named the Snickerfish. Something about drinking too much whiskey around a fire one night on a canoe trip in Northern Maine and thinking it was a good idea to stuff a trout with a Snicker's bar, thus the Snickerfish. It's a foggy memory to say the least, but the name stuck.

**Posted by ReadyIn-10** 5/02/2018 7:04 pm

First thing that came to my mind was "Woody" as well.

**Posted by tentsterforever** 5/02/2018 7:55 pm

I think your new boat is worthy of the name PORKY

Packed
Organized
Ready
KIckoff
YESSSSSS!

**Posted by PaPaddler** 5/03/2018 6:10 am

I'm one to let a boat collect a name over time, unlike a person. You'll find it has a personality or event that it grows into.

Last edited by PaPaddler (5/03/2018 6:23 am)

**Posted by CanoeClaire** 5/03/2018 10:02 am

John Connelly wrote:
First thought that came to mind was the similarity in lightweight construction to the traditional Inuk kayak/canoe ....Umiak.

This was our thought as well! There are some very old boats in the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough that look very similar to ours!

Thanks for all the suggestions. I love hearing about everyone's boat name origination stories. I do like the idea of "discovering" it's name on a trip. I don't want to force a name; I want it to grow into one I think.