Official Renaming

There are five necessary steps in the important ceremony of renaming a boat:

1. Invocation and blessing. Call upon the gods of the sea to favor the vessel with their blessing.
2. Expression of gratitude. Offer thanks to the gods for protection of the vessel in the past. Toast the old boat name and prior boat names.
3. Supplication and de-naming. Request the nautical gods to erase all records of the previous boat name. All appearances of the boat name is removed from the vessel and an offering of wine is poured into the sea from east to west.
4. Rededication and renaming. A rededication to the gods of the sea is made for the vessel’s new name.
5. Libation. The remaining wine is shared with the gods and distinguished guests on the bow of the vessel.

During the renaming ceremony red wine is typically used because it symbolizes the blood of a virgin (which used to be sacrificed). Urine is sometimes used in certain cultures to wash away any trace of the old boat name and to clean wounds of the “soul” of the boat that was captured by the new owner.

Sailors may also want to include gods of the wind in their ceremony – Boreas of the North Wind, Zephyrus of the West Wind, Eurus of the East Wind and Notus of the South Wind.

Fair winds and following seas,

Keith