If there’s one thing I don’t really like about Felucca, it’s her name. She was launched in 2002 as “Jubilee”, but somewhere along the line the first owners got tired of that and renamed her after a type of Egyptian yacht. We umm-ed and aah-ed about changing it but never got round to it. It seemed like a lot of paperwork, and it’s bad luck to change the name of a boat… unless it’s out of the water, or, apparently, one burns a paper effigy of the originally-named boat to appease the boating gods.
The other problem is: what would the new name be? It’s tricky. Narrowboats can be charming or idiosyncratic or loveable, but they are rarely chic or beautiful. And somehow, these missing qualities make it pretty hard to find a name that rings true. If your boat looks sleek and elegant like this, you can call it almost anything and get away with it:
But when your boat looks like this, it’s a struggle:
A narrowboat, for all its pugnacious charm, is really a 15-ton steel tube. There just isn’t the elegance to carry off “Grace”, say, nor the gravitas for “Tradewinds”, nor the carefree, nimble beauty for “Kingfisher”. Not that this stops people; indeed, Kingfisher is the number one name for narrowboats in this country. The most wonderfully apt name I’ve seen is “Sally Slapcabbage”, a piece of genius, but narrowboaters – despite trying – rarely manage to combine irreverence and charm in such perfect proportions.
So, Felucca it stays… but feel free to suggest alternatives in the comments. And here is the list of the 25 favourite narrowboat names in the UK:
1 KINGFISHER 229 boats
2 DRAGONFLY 138
3 MERLIN 120
4 WILLOW 115
5 PHOENIX 109
6 SERENITY 89
7 POPPY 89
8 FREE SPIRIT 88
9 SAPPHIRE 86
10 SERENDIPITY 77
11 OSPREY 76
12 BLUE MOON 75
13 HERON 73
14 FREEDOM 69
15 SANDPIPER 66
16 PUFFIN 66
17 MALLARD 64
18 MISTY 64
19 ROSIE 62
20 DAISY 61
21 GRACE 60
22 VOYAGER 57
23 BLUEBELL 57
24 ANDANTE 55
25 GEMINI 55
Full list etc here: http://www.jim-shead.com/waterways/boatnames.php
(There is only one “Felucca” but there is a “Felucca Jo”. There are 19 Jubilees!)
walks36
I vote for “Slam”
If you’ve got to rename her, what about naming her after a beer? Old Peculier or Bishop’s Finger or Marston’s Pedigree? Or Chuggalug, except that’s not a beer, rather an Ozzie binge.
I like the old working boat style, especially the male names eg Ross, Albert or Bill.
Nice to meet you again yesterday, sorry we did not have time for much of a chat. You in the blog
http://nbtillymay.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/felucca-and-dusty-miller.html
Regards
Jan, Chris & Spot
NB Tilly May
Hi Felucca, I have just read your blog on narrowboat names. I have nb Dollar. Sally Slapcabbage was moored near us on the Grand U some months ago and I blogged about nb names too! Deep joy! Happy boating and Merry Christmas/new year.
francesetal.blogspot
Hi I now own Felucca and I believe she is the only Narrowboat called that, I have no intention of changing her name except sometimes shorten it to Felly, she’s a fantastic boat and is still in great condition, i will only be adding to her capability and sustainability with quality upgrades, Jon Robertson