When we purchased our boat it was named “Kokomo.” Indeed a worthy name for any boat. There is many a water vessel bearing such a name. We proudly tote that at the time of registration there were no other boats by the name of “Flapdoodle”.
When Harry portrayed his dream to me in a power point with all the positive reasons we should take on the cruising life, I was not convinced and thought of this change in lifestyle as a load of nonsense with lots of disadvantages. I only had to look to my extended family and some acquaintances to receive validation for these feelings.
As Harry’s dream started becoming reality we made the decision to name the boat “Flapdoodle” [Another story in itself]. It indeed, at the time, felt to me like a load of nonsense; however as time has proceeded instead of our boat being synonymous with
balderdash, baloney, malarkey, poppycock, hogwash or twaddle
it has also become synonymous with
liberation, solitude, escape, inspiration, haven, life changing, slowing down, and the next book…
interspersed with
junkyard, expensive, time consuming, frustrating, and never-ending project…
As the feelings evoked by owning a boat and taking on the cruising life continue to evolve it would be very time consuming to change the name each time our feelings ebb and flow. So I guess the name in fact is all encompassing, it is a lot of silliness and comes in handy when you really cannot remember the correct nautical name for the thing-a- me-jiggit that holds the flip- flap up.
And as a side note I am continuing to spread the rumor that cruising is a load of nonsense as if everyone wanted to sign up it would quickly deplete the serenity and uniqueness of the experience. Some might offer this is already the case.
[Thanks to Jim and Lyne from “MALUHIA” Hawaiian for peacefulness for the provocation to think more about our boat name and identity.]