You often have to wonder how folks arrive at a name for their boat. There are many beautifully named vessels upon our waters and then there are also some doozies out there. Most boat names have a wonderful story behind them, as it takes a great deal of time and thought to bestow a vessel with a fitting name. Many monikers are a reflection of those aboard with a good story behind them, for better or worse, from love gone wrong to honoring loved ones, and some reflect particular lifestyles and pastimes. Whatever the boat’s name may be it is thoroughly suggested to chose your boat name wisely, something that is simple, and quite importantly easy to repeat 3 times in a VHF conversation without mincing words. 

So one day, in a summer past, we met a couple that resided down the dock from us. Upon our introduction they said with recognition ‘Oh, you are the family on that big green monster of a boat’. It is true, our boat is big and green and very aptly named Monster. But how did we arrive at this name?

The name Monster first came about when we were expecting our Son, long before our boat came into the picture. In our daily conversations Gordon would often refer to our Dog as Critter but, he also starting referring to our babe-to-be as Critter. ‘Hold on’ I said, we have to distinguish between the two! And so the baby therefore became known as Monster. Since we didn’t know the gender of our child until He was born, many of our baby gifts and cards were signed to Monster, and then there was clothing with little Monsters upon it, and thus it just began to perpetuate itself. 

A couple years later, we were visiting T & E, the Boy’s Uncle and Aunt in New York City. As a Christmas gift our Son’s Uncle took him to The Whatnot Muppet Workshop at the FAO Sharwtz Toy Shop where he designed a fabulous Muppet puppet, trench coat, ascot and all. Sadly, this fabulous toy shop has since closed, but it was the beginning of Monster, our Mascot that our Son created. 





During our boat search we came across a lovely Schooner in Florida that we strongly considered purchasing. In considering all the possibilities for names, Schooner Monster just rolled off our tongues. We loved the sound of it. However that boat wasn’t to be, but the name was hence stuck in the back of our minds. When we came upon Monster, she was the boat and she was truly Monster! The name fit perfectly. 



And Good Ship? It’s a term of endearment. In our first days aboard, while cleaning and sorting through what was in the lockers I came across a pretty little yellow tea towel. Now, I seem to have an affliction for pretty tea towels but what struck me about this particular one was it’s salty theme, an advertisement for a vessel for sale…

‘ For Sale by the Candle, …. The Good Ship Charming Jenny…’ 

~~This post ‘The Story of our Name’ first appeared on goodshipmonster.com ~~