Leela Re-Naming Paarty!!!

May 30th, 2015 will go down in history as one of the best ever. First off it was Emmanuel’s birthday. Second, we decided to host a boat renaming ceremony and boat-warming party. The combination of celebrating the past 6 months of intense work, our boat launching and birthday celebration with our best friends were all we could ever ask for.

We did some research on the process and superstitions surrounding renaming celebrations. We explain why we decided to rename our boat in this post. Apparently, Poseidon, the god of the sea, is a very smart and know-it-all kind of god and he knows of all vessels that travel on his waters. All boat names are written in the “Ledger of the Deep” which I guess is kind of like his Excel spreadsheet of boat names. Should a boat have the misfortune of travelling on his waters without being recognized by him then all hell will break loose. Hence why a proper renaming ceremony must be held. The ceremony must be fun, loud and properly imbued with alcohol in order that Poseidon, who is a busy God, notice the fanfare and take note ( ie adjust the Ledger of the Deep/spreadsheet) of the new vessel name. While not overly superstitious, we realize that sailing on the big Pacific Ocean is a scary proposition and we wouldn’t want to skip on any step that could potentially cause us bad luck.

First things first, we finally got to wash the outside of Leela from months of dust accumulation in the shop. The sanded teak looks incredible. We know the teak will fade to grey, so here is a little video of a moment in time.

We spread the word to all the friends who helped us along the boat project as well as my family. We are so lucky to have amazing, hilarious and wonderfully generous friends and family that support and surround us. We made a special list of people to specifically thank for their help during the past six months. When we looked around at the re-naming ceremony every person there had helped us in a huge and significant way.

While carting the 17 bottles of sparkling wine, 3 boxes of white wine and way too many beers to Leela we ran into fellow liveaboards who asked what was going on. We invited them for a drink and they offered to show up with the music. It could not have been more perfect, Banjo and friends entertained us for the entire evening and night playing folksy music to which we were dancing on the docks. Serendipity! We are sure Leela could not have been more pleased with the serenade.

We found some guidance from the bluewater sailing website for the ceremony itself. Essentially we toasted the boat, the gods, ourselves, our friends, Peter Green and Free to Roam, ourselves again. I think you get the picture. Here is a short video edit of the “champagne on the bowsprit” moment!

At sunset ,we continued the festivities at a friends house where the geodesic dome we fabricated last summer with our Provibers crew had been set up during the day. We sat around a camp fire with our closest friends along with new friends and sang, climbed the dome, ate and continued indulging in libations until the wee hours of the morning.

Note to self: being hungover on a sailboat is no fun at all.

Hyuma, Nick and Leah enjoying the cockpit. Hyuma taped the entire cockpit along with Jessie for caulking and Leah sanded the side planks!
Hyuma, Nick and Leah enjoying the cockpit. Hyuma taped the entire cockpit along with Jessie for caulking and Leah sanded the side planks!
Paula, Saxony and Tenley 'steering'. Paula helped remove 900+ screws from our teak decks and Tenley is the cutest niece in the world.
Paula, Saxony and Tenley ‘steering’. Paula helped remove 900+ screws from our teak decks and Tenley is the cutest niece in the world.
Emmanuel and Jesse. Globetrotters.
Emmanuel and Jesse. Globetrotters.
Sailor Sara Bean! helped us sand and remove screws from teak decks.
Sailor Sara Bean! helped us sand and remove screws from teak decks.
Our new friend Banjo serenading Leela.
Our new friend Banjo serenading Leela.
Nick and Saxony toasting each other.
Nick and Saxony toasting each other.
Emmanuel appeasing the gods by pouring champagne on the bow!
Emmanuel appeasing the gods by pouring champagne on the bow!
The greatest friends and family!
The greatest friends and family!
She has a new name!
She has a new name!
The geodesic dome where we continued the celebrations. Photo credit © Daniel Zetterstrom from WhatTheFestival 2014.
The geodesic dome where we continued the celebrations. Photo credit © Daniel Zetterstrom from WhatTheFestival 2014.
4 Responses
    1. Emmanuel

      Oh my gosh Christine it was a party, that is certainly something our group of friends do very well! Hope your boat life and adventure is going well!

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