Bon Voyage!

Have you ever planned a boat christening? This is an event where someone with a new boat or “vessel” officially names it. They gather their friends, wine and dine everyone, then send the vessel it off on its maiden voyage after hitting it with a bottle of champagne. Planning this type of event can be either like planning a simple cocktail party or more complex such as a full-on, red carpet, VIP banquet. It’s also an event laden with tradition and superstition both of which need to be taken into consideration when working with the vessel owner during the planning process. So what goes into a boat christening? Let’s find out.

When someone purchases a new vessel, they need to give it a name. A lot of thought can go into giving a boat its name. The US Coast Guard provides parameters for number of characters and both allows and prohibits certain names for a boat. Sometimes the name is simply influenced by whether or not the vessel was purchased after the owner experienced a recent life event like a marriage, break up, the birth of a child, or having received an inheritance.  

Traditionally the owner hits the bow of a new vessel with a bottle of champagne as a sign of good luck for the boat and her crew. While the vessel receives its ceremonial bubbly bath, they recite some form of the traditional toast such as, “Oh mighty rulers of the winds, through whose power our frail vessels traverse the wild and faceless deep, we implore you to grant this worthy vessel [boat’s name] the benefits and pleasures of your bounty, ensuring us of your gentle ministration according to our needs.” ¹ After the toast, a branch with green leaves is placed on the boat’s deck as a good luck omen and symbolizes safe returns from its journeys.

When planning a neighborhood or corporate boat christening event, you will most likely be on the cocktail party end of the planning spectrum. This would involve catering some appetizers and cocktails and serving them boat-side on the dock or at the marina. Invite the vessel owner’s friends and family members who are all hoping for a future invitation to swing by for the weekend and you’d have a successful event. However when the event involves christening a cruise ship, the gala event can feel like the Oscars. There is usually a red carpet involved, a celebrity lineup of guests and cruise line executives, and everyone who helped create the ship from designers, to travel agents, journalists, investors, the flagship voyage patrons, and other VIPs.

Superstition becomes very real to the vessel owner during the event if the bottle of champagne fails to break. When that happens, it is said that the vessel and its passengers will be cursed with bad luck. When planning a boat christening ceremony, be sure to purchase a pre-scored champagne bottle so that not only does the bottle actually break but it doesn’t damage the vessel in the process.

A great deal of superstition is also included in an event renaming a vessel. Apparently what you don’t want to do unless absolutely necessary is change the name of a boat. Once a vessel has a name, when it is sold, the new owner better get used to it or give it a nickname because not only is there superstition around owning a renamed vessel, there is a whole ritual required to bring the vessel into a state of “neutral.” Legend says that when every vessel is christened its name goes into a “ledger of the deep” maintained by King Neptune or Poseidon himself. Renaming a vessel means you are trying to slip something past the gods and you will be punished for your deviousness.

So if you are planning a boat-renaming event, be sure that you include the ritualistic cleansing which includes:

1. Removing every trace of the old name
2. Performing a purging ceremony (which means there is now a 2nd event to plan)
3. Performing a renaming ceremony (if keeping track, there’s now a 3rd event)
4. Making a sacrifice (I didn’t go into the rabbit hole of what this entailed)
5. Toasting to the new name
6. Appeasing the four wind gods (again, I didn’t dig into this one)

Albeit to say if you haven’t planned a boat christening before, it might be a good idea to either hire someone for the project who has or at the very least consult a professional in this market. Heaven forbid you send a new vessel out on its maiden voyage having purchased a bottle from the winery of Fort Knox cursing it for the foreseeable future.

Have you planned a boat christening event? If so, share one thing you learned that we need to know or send me an email. I am very curious!

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