Kagán (pronounced ka-gone) means light in the Tlingit language, and this magic carpet that sails me around the Salish Sea has been a source of light in my life for twenty summers. She has made dreams come true, mine, for sure. But first, she was the culmination of a years-long dream for my late partner, Jerry.
After thinking on it long and hard, he decided to sell a house he never thought he’d let go (he’d been there while walking through a dark time of deep grief, and it had helped heal him), but he realized that if he sold that house he could buy the boat of his dreams, and move from darkness to light. Hence Kagán. When I would ask him if he missed the house, he always answered with a resounding “No!” because he was fulfilling his dream on Kagán.
She has been mine since Jerry left her to me, after he died of cancer. Sometimes she drains my savings account, but she always fills my heart with wonder and my life with adventure. I have learned so much and changed in huge and positive ways sailing Kagán. What a privilege it has been, and is (yes, I’m swinging at anchor as I write these words).
And speaking of Privilege, the first cruise-and-learn I did was on a boat named just that.
For so many, buying a boat is the realization of a dream and naming it (no, it doesn’t have to be gendered, but more on that later) is an important statement about that dream. Here are just a few boat names I’ve seen (or heard on the VHF radio) over the years: Sea Sparrow, Osprey, Peregrine, Heaven Can Wait, Wayfinder, Wander, Yonder, Tethys, Trinity, Sirius, Loki, Ta Da, Isobar, Providence, Adventuress, Imagine, Waitabit, Winter Solstice, Gypsy Spirit, Wind Dancer, Rendezvous, Moondance, Glorybe, Gemini, Seeker, and Sundance.
There are hundreds (that I have seen, and probably tens of thousands out there) of boats named for beloved women in mariners’ lives. A little internet research reveals that, yes, boats (particularly sailing vessels) are traditionally given female names and referred to with feminine pronouns due to a combination of historical, linguistic, and cultural factors. The practice stems from ancient maritime traditions in which ships were personified as nurturing, like mothers, or protective and/or powerful, like goddesses. And in some languages, the word for ship is grammatically feminine. This linguistic influence carried over into English, despite the fact that in English most objects are assigned gender-neutral pronouns.
Then there are the play-on-word names, like Important Business (Can’t you just hear them saying, “Sorry, I can’t take that meeting. . .I’m away on Important Business.”), Partnership, Friendship, Finalee, @ Ease, and Going Overboard (Really. . . someone named their boat Going Overboard. The Coast Guard was not amused.) And there are more ‘knotty’ and ‘knot’ name iterations than I could imagine, like Y-Knot, Knot Dreamin’, Knotty Girl, and more (just think of how many names you can could come up with using ‘sea’ or ‘nauti’ or ‘ship’).
Words in different languages, like Kagán, with meanings that are, well, meaningful to the mariner abound. I think I’ve seen ten boats named Andiamo this year alone. And today, I met the owner of Terrwyn, the Celtic word for ‘precocious young child.’ Then there are those names that seem to challenge Poseidon or Aeolus (that would make this superstitious sailor nervous, but others have embraced), like Wave Catcher, Wind Tamer, Tsunami, and Storm Chaser.
I’m sure each name means something important to the boater who chose it. and that’s intriguing, whether I can understand the meaning behind it, or not.
So, please, take a moment and tell me what’s in a name for you. What name would you bestow upon a boat of your own, and why?
I would want to name MY boat (hypothetical of course!) something to do with inspiration for creating artwork – because naturally I would be painting or gaining inspiration for paintings while sailing. Aesthetic Voyager or Muses’ Whisper perhaps. But then again, I have named my car and HER name is Bex. The meaning behind Bex… it sounded cool and a little edgy! 🙂
Just remember, one might have to spell one’s boat name on the VHF with the phonetic alphabet, so something along the lines of cool and edgy Bex might be just the ticket. Though I love your boat name choices.
There’s something so alluring about _Heart of Gold_. Especially if the boat is equipped with an Infinite Improbability Drive.
Thank you for sharing this etymology and backstory.
Love that! Given our engine saga of the last year, I might have wished for an Infinite Improbability Drive, though things felt pretty improbable part of the time…
And, of course, love the literary reference.
I’d go with Avocet, because they are beautiful coastal cruisers 🙂
I really like bird boat names. Maybe because on good sailing days it feels like flying?
Note: This lighter-hearted web post was drafted and scheduled well before the current storms on social media. And perhaps some light is needed in these dark days? Which harkens to the name of my boat, Kagán. Though I never plan to have a different boat, maybe I would contemplate a name like Inner Peace, since it is only the inner we have control of, whether there is peace or turmoil around us.
Our boat name was Liberación, because she was a free spirit upon the water. We’ve been land-bound for quite a while now, but still have so many fond memories of quiet nights at anchor under spectacular desert sunsets and crystalline skies..
No idea what I would name a boat, if ever I was to have one. But your post prompted me to do some research into the name that was given to my newest granddaughter last week. Learned some interesting stuff. So thanks for that, Deb. And continued enLIGHTened sailing…