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From HMS Invincible to Boaty McBoatface, Seas the Day to Shoot Low They´re Riding Chickens, naming ships and boats has always been a tradition that separates the inspired from the woefully unfunny. This book explores some of the fascinating history behind famous names, and bizarre stories behind the stranger ones.

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Naming a boat is as personal as naming a baby (even if few male skippers would risk telling the wife that). The culmination of many years of dreaming and penny pinching, the purchase of a boat of any size is a huge event for any sailor, and with that comes serious naming pressure. Many boatowners have a secret fear that someone else got their brilliantly original name first - or ruined it for ever by reducing its reputation to snigger-worthy opprobrium. Sometimes it´s so difficult to name a boat that skippers are desperate enough to ask the sorts of people who think Boaty McBoatface would be a good choice.
The perfect gift for any skipper or would-be skipper, and featuring hundreds of common and uncommon names, this entertaining little book will answer perhaps the most important question new owners should ask themselves: what will this name say about me? And as everyone knows, once you´ve named a boat, you never ever change it, so it also answers the question: what is my boat name saying about me?
Names will be categorised and listed alphabetically within these chapters:
- Pun Intended (some reveal a classic wit, others reveal just how many desperate unfunny dullards there are sailing around in yachts called Seas the Day)
- Common as Muck (bad names - Moondancer, Wave Catcher and others that sound like names from a bad children´s novel: where they come from, why they´re bad, and how to avoid inventing another)
- A Bit of Pedigree (good names - but probably too classy for you to get away with copying them)
- Don´t Even Go There (they might be uncommon these days, but sometimes there´s a good reason for that)
- Word Piracy (expressions borrowed from other languages - with varying degrees of wisdom)
- Myths, Legends and Gods (inspired by heroes and deities of cultures now lost to the past)
- The Devil´s Own (don´t tempt fate by calling your boat Invincible, as the Royal Navy did each time the last one sank/exploded - plus other superstition-violating names)
With fascinating history, a fair bit of psychology and a lot of humour, this is the essential guide for all would-be boat owners, and anyone buying a gift for Dad for Father´s Day or Christmas.

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BOOK OF THE MONTH: Underpinned by history, psychology and a large dash of humour, his latest book is a witty guide to boat naming. Coast magazine

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