Thirty Days Later

Seems like an eternity to go without a blog post.  We've gone longer, but a lot has happened over the past month.

A custom shirt from BoatNameGear

First, we've been flat out busy with our two online stores. Taken as a whole, it's the busiest time of year for the two sites. Custom Boat Names is active as people are ordering new boat names for the back of their boat to kick off the season. And Boat Name Gear is hopping for Father's Day... our personalized gear makes great gifts!

We've also done a boat show recently, again exhibiting as Boat Name Gear; this time, it was in Mystic, Connecticut, at a new show called SailQuest Mystic.  The weather was rough, and the crowds were small, but this new event has potential if the organizers keep at it - and the timing (spring, right before Father's Day) and location (on the water at historic Mystic Seaport) are perfect for our business, so I hope it continues. While the sun was out, and without many attendees, I was able to snap a few pictures of both the newer boats on display for the boat show as well as the historic boats that are part of the Seaport. Thanks again to the folks at WindCheck Magazine for their effort with the show.

The weather was beautiful on the 1st day of the show...

On other fronts, we are:

 - putting out a press release (in just a few minutes) announcing a partnership that allows us to put some intense video of sailing news on FirstBoat.

 - sponsoring a huge contest with the NMMA to promote their new Welcome to the Water campaign (Look for details any day now on the NMMA's Discover Boating facebook page). BoatNameGear is the sponsor, and is in good company with the likes of Sperry and Bass Pro Shops.

 - getting close to finally launching a new boating site or two, and continuing to expand our existing sites.

 - seeing a lot of activity on advertising, and we've even closed a few deals, so be sure to visit our sponsors anywhere you see a new banner or text link. Contact me (via email or the contact link to the right) if you want to get in on the action, and by that I mean buy some advertising!

 - now under contract to exhibit (in our BoatNameGear booth) at the Newport (RI) Boat Show in September, 2011.

I'm sure there's more, but gotta get back to the press release I promised you.

Tight lines,

Andrew

Our Most Popular Boat Names of 2011

(The following press release went out this morning. It was a lot of fun to sift through the thousands and thousands of boat names in coming up with this list. Hope you have as much fun reading it as we did writing it... Enjoy!)

Most Popular Boat Names of 2011
The top ten most popular boat names of 2011 confirm that boaters are seeking serenity

Newington, CT - April 19, 2011 – FirstBoat.com, the premier boating information site for new and experienced boaters, today announced the most popular boat names of 2011. A trend seems to have emerged from this year’s list that demonstrates how boaters enjoy their time on the water. “Boat names like Serenity, Happy Ours, Family Time and Just Chillin dominated this year’s top ten,” stated FirstBoat publisher Andrew Canepari. “It is clear from these names, perhaps now more than ever, that boating really provides people with a way to relax and make the most of their time with family and friends,” Canepari added.

The list is compiled annually by FirstBoat in collaboration with www.CustomBoatNames.com - where boaters design their own boat name lettering online, and www.BoatNameGear.com - the leading retailer of personalized gear and gifts for boaters. FirstBoat is also the home of the original Boat Name Machine, featuring over 100,000 randomly generated boat names. The Boat Name Machine and other boat naming resources are available online at www.FirstBoat.com.

Following are the top ten most popular boat names for 2011:

1. Serenity (In addition to “Serenity” we saw variations such as “Serenity Now!” of Seinfeld fame, as well as clever misspellings including “Sea-Renity”)
2. Happy Ours (Time was a common theme in boat names this year. Variations on this boat name included “Happy Hours” and “Happy Hour”)
3. Feelin' Nauti (This one surprised us when it rose to the top five, as there are so many other popular boat names that include “Nauti” in the name)
4. Family Time (Another variation of the Time theme that we saw again and again. There were many other boat names that referenced Time that came close to the top ten.)
5. Liberty (Always a favorite, we also saw variations such as Miss Liberty, Lady Liberty, and Liberty Belle)
6. Black Pearl (Every boater feels like a pirate sometimes. Just plain “Pearl” was popular as well, but it didn’t crack our top ten)
7. Andiamo (Let’s Go! A quick internet search will show you that this is not only a popular name for boats, but also for Italian restaurants in America)
8. Knot On Call (Several boat names used the word “Knot” cleverly, but only this one made the top ten)
9. High Maintenance (Yes, this describes most boats very accurately)
10. Just Chillin (Looks like relaxing is on the mind of even the younger generation of boaters)

About FirstBoat.com
FirstBoat.com is the flagship site of Nautical Sites Media, which publishes a network of websites that provide information and resources to recreational boaters. To learn more about FirstBoat and other properties in the Nautical Sites network, visit www.NauticalSites.com or call 800-306-8708.

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Media Contact: Andrew Canepari, (860) 249-1166, andrew@firstboat.com

Interview with About.com

I was interviewed by Ericka Watson a couple of weeks ago. Ericka is the About.com Powerboating Guide - she asked me a bunch of questions about boat names. Some of them made me think; some of them made me wish I had answered them differently. After not hearing from her for a couple of weeks, she let me know today that this article was appearing on her site.

Needless to say the interview seems to have gone pretty well. Not only did she get my company names and website links correct, she pretty much quoted me accurately throughout the article. Most importantly, she actually pulled some good advice out of me for naming a boat - when I re-read her article, I realized that I shared many tips that I have never mentioned in my own How to Choose a Boat Name article or on the Boat Name Blog.

In addition to the interview, Ericka also created a forum for people to share stories about how they named their boat. You can share your own boat name story on About.com here. And here's the link to the interview: Naming a Boat - Suggestions From an Expert (Guess who the "boat name expert" is! :-D)