Have you noticed while reading these blog posts that I keep referring to “our boat” and “the sail boat”? Have you felt a little bit insulted on her behalf that she isn’t being referred to with a more appropriate level of respect? Well, I shall remedy that today. Upon arrival at the St Petersburg Municipal Marina, we set out to throw one huge shindig to officially rename our new home, and to ensure that Neptune, god of the oceans, and Aeolus, god of the winds, treat her well forever onward.

Tradition has it, that you must throw a big party to celebrate the renaming of a vessel, inviting everyone in the marina, and showing your sailboat that you are proud of her, respect her, and are willing to lavish money on her (as if we haven’t been doing that already, see “Tool of the Day” posts.) So we set out to do just that. We stocked up on red wine, champagne (or a reasonably priced facsimile from Costco), snacks, burgers, and all the fixings, and we invited everyone who walked by to help us curry the favors of the gods.

Mike rang the ship’s bell and gave a toast to her previous captain Jock, and all of her previous adventures. Then we dropped an ingot inscribed with her previous name into the water, asking Neptune to erase that name from his records. We offered toasts to the North, South, East, and West winds, and poured wine over her bow. I offered a toast to Captain Mike and the hard work he has performed to get us to this point. And FINALLY, after much toasting and bell ringing, we unveiled the new name of Sanitas.

Sanitas means “healthy or sane” in Spanish, and is sometimes used as a girl’s name. We hope that this small life on the water will bring us sanity and peace of mind. Our home in Boulder, CO was at the base of Mount Sanitas – one of our favorite local hiking trails. So we love having this tie back to an important part of our old lives.

I hope that we followed the rituals correctly to ensure good luck and safety for SV Sanitas and her crew. I do know that we met and befriended many people that night, both fellow transients passing through the marina, and folks who live there full time. So I feel that we have already felt the benefit of good luck and a successful naming ceremony!