Boat Names

Cruise through a marina or walk along a boat dock and the names on the backs of the boats are bound to get your attention.

You see one like "Drift Away" and you know this was someone looking for escape. Nothing too fancy there.

But they can be sooo clever.

Aquaholic, My Wake, Three Sheets to the Wind -- now those took some thought.

Lots of people use the word "Miss" in front of a woman's name -- usually a woman in their life. Thus we get, Miss Monica, Miss Mary, Miss Belle.

But take it one step further into the gray matter and you get, Miss Behaven. I like that.

All of this was so intriguing to Linda Sturgill that she bought a camera and started taking pictures of boat names, and interviewing the owners who coined them. Spending half the year at Smith Mountain Lake and the other half in Florida, she has ample opportunity. (Or should i say a Boatload?)

She took 4,000 pictures and put 2,000 into the book, with as many of the stories as she could gather.

The book is called: Boats, Their names & Why.

There is a long list of stores that sell the book -- many around Roanoke and Smith Mountain Like.

You can contact Linda directly at boatbook@comcast.net

We had a great time shooting this story thanks to George Blosser and the members of the Smith Mountain Lake Antique and Classic Boat Society. They showed up in four gorgeous boats and took us around to get some b-roll and to talk about boats.

The best story I heard from the group is in the TV report. It's the story behind Bill Goold's boat, Firewood. Though it's gorgeous now, it was a heap when he brought it home -- complete with dry rot and holes in the side. His buddy told him it was nothing but firewood. The name stuck.

At any rate, thanks to everyone who took us for rides and shared the stories about the names on the back of their boats.

If nothing else I now have a yearning for an wooden boat so I can name one. But it's Ashore Bet that it won't happen anytime soon.