What's in a name?

When you buy a second hand boat, one of your first challenges is naming. Do you keep the old name, or change it to a new one? A decision sometimes made easier if you're changing registration location.
With "Manx Mist", I acquired a boat and the previous owner's boat name.
"Manx" comes from the Isle of Man, in the Irish Sea off the NW coast of England, and the name "Manx Mist" has a story behind it - mythology.
The Celtic sea god, Manannan, protected the island by shrouding it in mists.

Not a bad story. Good to have the Gods on your side. I decided I liked the name, and left it alone.

There's all sorts of superstition around the sea, sailors and boats, and re-naming a boat is supposed to bring one nothing but bad luck.
I remember Hil and I bumping into one salty seadog and, over a few beers, we touched on the subject of re-naming boats. He emphatically said "Not a problem!" He was on his 4th boat, and had renamed every one of them. We asked what had happened to the previous 3 - and the sequence was - wrecked on a reef; sunk in a storm; sunk in a collision. Makes you think!

However, legend also allows re-naming providing that various acts are undertaken, rules are followed, and the involved sea-gods are appeased. This is usually done through a sequence of partaking of alcoholic refreshments, and sharing the same with friends and  the appropriate dieties.
Here's two of the many ceremony options available online: Re-naming ceremony, and Renaming your boat