What's in a name?

[troy2000]

I like hearing how and why a boat got its name. The sharpie I keep talking about (and actually plan to build) will be named the "Cantoo Canoe." Why?

Because twenty years ago in Pompano Beach, Florida, I was on my way home from work and passed a yard sale with a huge green monster of a canoe, cheap. Unfortunately, I had just spent all my money moving the family out to join me. As my dad used to say, if they had been selling Cadillacs a hundred dollars a dozen that day, I couldn't have bought a matched pair.

And I didn't really need a canoe; I already had a lateen-rigged sailing dinghy, with oars and a small outboard. But I mentioned the canoe wistfully when I got home, anyway. And then I guess I mentioned it a couple more times. And then after dinner I was idly wondering out loud if it was still there, and if I could make some arrangement with them if it didn't sell by the time the weekend was over....

Finally, my wife had had enough. She walked around the table, placed both hands on my shoulder, stared me straight in the eyes, and said, "Troy. We...are...broke. You can not canoe! Got that? Now sit down, and shut up about the damn canoe." And that was the end of that.


Three or four years later, I was working on a housing tract in the middle of the California Delta. And I dumpster-dived for materials to build myself a flat bottomed canoe out of scrap lumber, to use while I was away from home. I painted the name on the square stern: Cantoo Canoe.

Despite being knocked together on the sidewalk in a couple of evenings after work, racing the sun, it lasted for years (held together mostly by layers of paint, I think). I dragged it home and the kids and their friends used it up, until it just flat wore out. I finally cut it to pieces and dumped it this summer. And yes, my wife got a good laugh out of the name.

I guess the sharpie will have to be Cantoo Canoe II, if I'm going to keep track....she's fighting me on this one, too.

[masalai]

If you are going to build a boat, make sure it is big enough to be able to permanently live on, anchored - and will easily make coastal passages... If you are "kicked out" you still have a 'home', Your boat... A new adventure awaits wherever you point her...

[troy2000]

Originally Posted by masalai

If you are going to build a boat, make sure it is big enough to be able to permanently live on, anchored - and will easily make coastal passages... If you are "kicked out" you still have a 'home', Your boat... A new adventure awaits wherever you point her...

I've never worried about a place to go if I get kicked out; there's always the dog house.

[masalai]

Ahhhh but a boat is better...

[troy2000]

Originally Posted by masalai

Ahhhh but a boat is better...

True...except that you don't have the dog to keep you warm, while you're doing without the old lady.

But I am planning my 30' sharpie with enough room for one person to be quite comfortable for extended periods. I've noticed that despite the size of the 32' motor home I live in while I'm working away from home, I actually use very little of the available space. I have my computer desk and chair, for everything from communicating with the outside world to building boat models. I keep a clear path between it, the bathroom and my bed. I have a secure gun cabinet across from the bed, a minimal closet, and a tiny refrigerator with a microwave sitting on top of it. The rest of the motor home's 256 square feet pretty much goes unused, or builds up junk. I do almost all my cooking outside (gotta love California's climate), so I don't even really need most of the built-in kitchen.

Overall, I'd say the experience of staying in my motor home half the time is a good trial run for living aboard a boat. As long as I had storage space somewhere ashore for my sentimental treasures and the tools I don't use everyday, I think I'd be quite comfortable.

[masalai]

Why not? but then I would rather relocate to warmer regions