new purchase Macgregor 26'

[BOAT]

The name on the back of 'boat' is not 'boat'.

[budgates]

Oh, okay. guess that's just the impression that I got from some of your posts.

[BOAT]

I am trying to not be superstitious, but on many things I still am - the boat has a female name on the stern and part of the name is my wife's first name. I used to put a coin under the mast and now I don't but I still have a coin in the galley just in case I feel the need to slide one under there. I have NEVER called my wife: 'The Admiral', and brass plates are so iconic even the movie "The Matrix" had a brass plate for the ship:



I even remember riding a ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria on the M.V.Coho and in the forward observation lounge was the brass plate prominently displayed for all to see:



As a superstitious sailor it made me feel better to see that brass plaque.

I have many superstitions I carry on the water - I am trying to not be that way but after so many years it's not easy.

[Ixneigh]

Ignorance is bliss I guess. The only rule I was aware of was the name changing bit.
My boat has one tag made of brass on the stern. Held on by aluminum rivers. That defeats the whole longevity point so I'm clear there. So far as coins I believe in order to be right and proper it must be a gold coin.
ix

[BOAT]

Ignorance is bliss I guess. The only rule I was aware of was the name changing bit.
My boat has one tag made of brass on the stern. Held on by aluminum rivers. That defeats the whole longevity point so I'm clear there. So far as coins I believe in order to be right and proper it must be a gold coin.
ix

Any coin will do - in the olden days most coins were gold but there was no rule that it had to be gold.
The brass plaque was secured to a piece of wood and bolted to the deck with iron or screws or something to intentionally rust away - this was the insurance company policy for the east India trading company. If the boat wrecked shallow the swimmers could identify the hull because of the brass plaque - the hope was if the boat wrecked deep the plaque might float to the surface on the wood proving the wreck so the trading company got their money.

It was common for a captain to pirate a ship full of goodies to a hidden location and claim a wreck so the insurance would pay. The trading companies were just scamming the insurance people. They tried all kinds of tricks trying to stop piracy and theft but most of them never worked. It did produce a lot of superstitious mythology like: don't crew on a ship without a brass plaque because it's probably pirating. If a captain claimed a wreck and then 10 years later the plaque was fished out of the water floating on a piece of wood they had some proof of the wreck. It's hard to know what captain to trust.

All these superstitious things are based on stuff that does not apply anymore.

[Highlander]

Boat said
P.S. I can often tell what guys on this site sailed prior to 1945 by the way they describe their wives as "admiral" - in the olden days you would never say that. (It's another sailor superstition and why I never say it).

*my dad firmly believed that a boats name MUST be a woman if the boat was going to have females on board AND that if a woman was to be one of the crew (your wife is LEGALLY the First Mate - NOT the ADMIRAL - and that's the law so don't even argue on that one) then the boat was to be names after your wife in some way if she was the mate. Preferably the first name and the initial of the last name

Nope u just got it all wrong u gotta explain it right to the yun one,s !!
See u & I remember in the old days Pop was the Skipper Mom/Wife was the First Mate , that's because Pop was the Boss "Skipper" Mom/Wife was the second in charge "First Mate" when the Boss " Skipper" was not around every one else was considered crew , ship,s cook or shipmate,s & "Cabin Boy,s " !!
& "Bottle Washer"

Today it,s all different see the Mom/Wife is in Total Charge the "Admiral" so while on board she always takes control so that also makes her the Acting "Skipper" her friends & or kids come next as "First Mates"

That leaves U in charge of Chief Bottle Washer , Ship,s Cook , Shipsmate, and any other job left for u "Crew" & if u do a real good job U might get "Lucky" & be promoted to "Cabin Boy"

U & I r considered most likely too Stubborn & too hard to retrain & so in "my case" most wanna be "Admirals" tend to just let me slip right on by !!

Just Sayin that's All

J

[BOAT]

Har Har! Yes that is funny. Really, I never ever heard about the "Admiral" thing until I started reading this web site!! (Really!) I was out of touch with the sailing community for over 20 years and I can tell you the moms I sailed with were always the 'mate' (usually first) and I understand people today saying the wife is "the boss" but really, in my family then AND now the captain is in charge of the boat - PERIOD. There are no negotiations about orders when underway - that's just a safety issue.

I'm sure that using the word "Admiral" helps with the egos involved, but such formalities are not used aboard 'boat'.

[Highlander]

Ah , I see U r 50% halfway thru the retraining Process already !!

"but really, in my family then AND now the captain is in charge of the boat"

In all my yr,s I,ve only been with one woman who could actually sail & skipper a sail boat that was about 12yrs ago & even had a sail boat 17ft Siren , but sadly enough she was also a little "Crazy" so I had to let her "Go" !!!

Just sayin that,s All "was too bad" !!

J

[Jimmyt]

In my case, the Admiral designation is a bit of tongue in cheek humor. Generally, the wife and I split duties according to specialty and interest. On the boat, I generally call the shots regarding course, and sails/trim, and she calls the shots on when we get to go and with whom. Her sailing experience is limited, but she is a good sport and is figuring things out pretty quickly. Oh yeah, and she generally calls foul on excessive heel (when she hears stuff falling in the cabin).

We're both engineers and work together, so our relationship is not the same as our parents had (and I'm good with that).

Co-Captains maybe?

All that said, when the wife ain't having fun, nobody's having fun... So, maybe in some respects, Admiral might not be too far off...

[Don T]

Hello,
Rules we sail by:
Whomever is piloting is the one who maintains situational awareness and should always be obeyed when barking out commands. Bad stuff can happen very quickly and "others" won't have time to assess the situation, they need only to respond quickly, no second guessing. Exception would be when the owner / captain has to make a judgment call based on their knowledge and skill after the emergency is over or after they've responded and had time to assess the situation further.

Don T

[NiceAft]

Hey,

I'm reading all of this and I refer to my wife as the Admiral. It's just how I want to refer to her on this site. I also always use a capital “A”

As for naming a boat for a woman, I did. I named my boat for the Admiral. The boats name is NICE AFT She likes it.

Ray

[BOAT]

Hey,

I'm reading all of this and I refer to my wife as the Admiral. It's just how I want to refer to her on this site. I also always use a capital “A”

As for naming a boat for a woman, I did. I named my boat for the Admiral. The boats name is NICE AFT She likes it.

Ray

Yes, that is a good proper name for a boat that sails with a female on board.

And just to be clear - I looked up Maritime Law and the term "'Admiral' is used only as a term of endearment towards ANY member of the crew" but does not diminish the final responsibility of the Captain for anything that happens on-board a boat. If your wife is at the helm barking orders and you follow an order that crashed the boat YOU are legally responsible as the captain.

I also found out this whole "Admiral" thing is fairly recent as far as maritime history is concerned, (as I suspected) and that it arose because some felt the term "mate" or First Mate to be a derogatory term in light of civil rights and womens rights advances in the United States in the 60's and 70's.

After reading the law I can indeed guarantee you that a Captain will not be able to get out of a lawsuit or penalty for dereliction of duty caused by a bad command because "my wife told me to do it" - that will not work in Admiralty Law today, (at least not yet - maybe in the future).

I defer to your own judgment in how you all address your wife when on board as I am indeed long out of date on this issue. I am still stuck in the pre-60's mentality so for me there is no "admiral" on board my boat. I have no problem being wrong on this and I accept that this is now common practice but I have never said "Admiral" in that setting and properly never will. I guess I am a dinosaur.

[Tomfoolery]

Not to anyone in particular, but just remember that an admiral aboard a Navy vessel is not normally the master or skipper (or whatever - I was never in the Navy), and the captain retains control of, and responsibility for, the ship or boat (in the case of a sub). He/she may be directed to perform in a certain way, especially in battle, but the Captain is the one that owns it, in a manner of speaking.

So my Admiral is the bureaucrat who to great degree controls the budget and finances, and often determines the destination, yet she's essentially a passenger when under way, and it's all on me as to what that boat does and when it does it.

I single-hand almost always, even with 'crew' aboard, so this is no different, at least as I see it, and especially when brass is on board.

[BOAT]

Very appropriate Tom. Hey! Do you have one of those fancy CAD picture of the aft section of an M boat? Or maybe a geometric representation of the angle of the rudder at the waterline at the 50 degree angle? We are trying to figure out when the rudder comes out of the water on another post.

[yukonbob]

My understanding is the admiral says where the boat goes but the captain says how it gets there.