Why
Jess made flyers for the nights she DJ’d at the Bluemoon in Seattle. One of them is a tangle of charcoal line with TANGLEFOOT hand-lettered across the top of it — it is the picture at the top of this site, and the name of this site, and it is going on the transom.
Seattle is where the two of us spent most of our life together, so Seattle is the hailing port, even though the slip stays in Everett for now. The boat is a good boat with somebody else’s name on her. OTIUM is Latin for leisure, which is a fine thing to name a boat and is not what I want to read off the stern.
So: TANGLEFOOT, of Seattle. This page is the plan for doing it properly — the ceremony because it matters to me, and the paperwork because the Coast Guard does not care how I feel about it.
Written for one boat, in Washington, in 2026. The ceremony is tradition and you can do it however you like. The paperwork is not tradition: verify every line of it against the current USCG and Washington rules before you file anything, because they change and this page does not.
The tradition says the old name must be gone from the vessel entirely before the new one is spoken. Not painted over. Gone. The practical version of the same idea: anything still carrying the old name will eventually contradict the new one, usually on the radio.
How Vinyl comes off with a heat gun on low and patience; the adhesive shadow comes off with an adhesive remover made for gelcoat, then a light polish. Do not go after it with a scraper — the gelcoat loses.
Watch for A ghost of the old name in the unfaded gelcoat underneath. Polish and let it weather before the new lettering goes on.
How Keep the logs themselves — they are the boat’s history and they are allowed to say OTIUM. It is the covers and the templates you are going forward with that change.
How Chartplotter: usually under system or vessel setup. VHF: the DSC user setup, which may need the MMSI re-entered. AIS, if fitted, carries a static name that is transmitted — that one is not cosmetic.
Watch for An AIS target still broadcasting the old name is the most public possible version of this mistake.
How This is the one you keep for the ceremony. Traditionally it goes into a metal tag or is written on a strip of paper, and the sea takes it back at the denaming.
Neptune is said to keep a Ledger of the Deep with every vessel’s name in it. You are asking for one entry to be struck. Ask before you name her again, not after.
Said aloud, to the sea
In the name of all who have sailed aboard this vessel in the past, and in the name of all who may sail aboard her in the future, we invoke the ancient gods of the wind and the sea to favor us with their blessing today. Mighty Neptune, king of all that moves or would move upon your waves, we offer you this libation, and we implore you to expunge for all time from your records and recollection the name OTIUM, which has ceased to be an entity in your kingdom. As proof of our gratitude, we offer you this libation.
How Off the bow, and let the ink go. Some people use a metal tag so it sinks. The point is that the name leaves the boat and is given to the sea rather than thrown away.
How Traditionally a decent bottle, not the cheap one, poured from the bow into the water — not over the deck. The sea gets the first and best of it.
How Some do both in one afternoon; some leave a day. We are leaving the ceremony to the end of the day and doing the renaming in the morning, because it reads better and because nobody should be christening anything after the libations.
New name spoken first, then given to her in the christening, then the four winds asked to carry it.
Said aloud, before the bottle
Mighty Neptune, king of all that moves or would move upon your waves, we implore you in your graciousness to take unto your records and recollection this worthy vessel, hereafter and for all time known as TANGLEFOOT, guarding her with your mighty arm and trident and ensuring her of safe and rapid passage throughout her days. In appreciation of your munificence, dispensation and in honor of your greatness, we offer these libations to your majesty and your court.
How Cheap paper and low-tack tape. It comes off in one pull at the right moment, which is the whole theatre of it.
How A bottle in a mesh bag against a cleat or the anchor roller, not swung at the gelcoat. Champagne on the stem, not on the topsides.
Watch for Hitting the boat hard enough to mark her while naming her is a story you will be told about for years.
How Face north, east, south and west in turn, pour a little each way, and name them: Boreas of the north, Eurus of the east, Notus of the south, Zephyrus of the west. Ask the north and the east for restraint; thank the south and the west for a fair passage.
How Date, position, who was aboard, and what the weather did. It is the first line of her history under this name and it takes thirty seconds.
The ceremony is optional and the paperwork is not. Which path applies depends on whether she is federally documented or state-registered, and those are different processes with different rules about what has to be painted on the stern.
Which is she?
The clue is already on the transom. A name and a hailing port lettered across the stern (OTIUM, OAK HARBOR WA) is the format the Coast Guard requires of a documented vessel. A state-registered boat carries WN numbers on the bow and has no hailing-port requirement at all. Confirm it against the paperwork before filing anything — if there is a Certificate of Documentation in the ship’s papers with an official number, that settles it.
If she is documented
- File for a new Certificate of Documentation showing the new name and hailing port, and pay the fee. The official number does not change — the name is what changes.
- The official number stays permanently affixed inside the hull. Do not touch it.
- Name and hailing port must be marked on the stern in letters at least four inches high, clearly legible.
- The hailing port must be a place in the United States, and it may be a place you do not keep the boat — which is the whole point here.
If she is state-registered
- Washington registration follows the hull identification number, not the name, so the state may have nothing to change.
- There is no hailing-port lettering requirement, so SEATTLE on the transom is a choice rather than an obligation.
- Check whether anything in the registration record carries a vessel name before assuming there is nothing to file.
How The form is filed with the National Vessel Documentation Center. Confirm the current form number, fee and processing time directly with them — all three move.
How Whoever issued the MMSI holds it — BoatUS or Sea Tow for a US-only number, the FCC if there is a station license. This is the name that reaches the Coast Guard when the DSC distress button is pressed.
Watch for A distress call that announces a boat name nobody can match to a registration costs someone minutes at the worst possible time.
How Beacon registration is renewed every two years anyway; update the vessel name at the same time. It is free and it is the record that gets read when the beacon fires.
How Call rather than email, and get the endorsement in writing. A claim on a boat whose name does not match the policy is a conversation worth avoiding.
How The person ashore who gets your float plan is the person who calls it in. They need the new name before the first trip under it, not after.
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