by Captain Sonny Schindler
One warm summer day, I found myself amberjack fishing at the oil rig MC 365 or “Moxie” south of the Mississippi River. The deckhand and crew where just finishing up their limit when another boat pulled up. It was an older boat with four people aboard it. Two young men were getting ready to go diving while two very “curvy” bikini clad women oiling themselves up for an afternoon of sun bathing. Not seeing many women on land in Venice let alone 30 miles offshore, I could not look away. Willing myself to keep focus on the “mermaids”, someone aboard our boat noticed the name of the boat. SKANKTUARY was painted on the side of the vessel in big red letters and two things entered to my mind: the ladies must not have seen the side of the boat while boarding it, or there has got to be a story behind that boat name. I never got the story that day, but since then I have been asking a lot of questions about the topic. I never miss a chance to ask someone, “how in the hell did you come up with name for that boat”. Here are just a few, enjoy….
Bill Buttler
Boat: 36 Inviscible w/ triple 300 Yamaha outboards
Occupation: Co-owner Venice Marina
Port: Venice, LA
Boat Name: CRAWGATOR
“My brother Mike actually came up with the name. We where trying to think of something that was sort of “way down south” and Crawgator just stuck. We have a crawfish body and it has a alligator tail on the side of the boat as well. We liked it so much, we even named the restaurant in the marina Crawgators.”
John Marquez
Boat:1969 Bertram bahia mar w/ twin 485 mercruisers
Occupation: Fish Head Gear (Fishing Appareal Manufacturer)
Port: Brick Yard Bayou, Gulport, MS
Boat Name: BLUE BOAT
“My dad bought the boat when we where real little and had planned to one day upgrade to a bigger one. Well, over the years I guess the little blue hulled Bertram worked just fine because we kept it. By the time we where 5 or 6 all we called the boat was “Blue Boat” and to this day the name stuck.”
Lenny Maiolatesi
Boat: 32 Twin Vee w/ twin 250 Yamaha outboards
Occupation: Eye Doctor/ Charter Captain for Fighting Chicken Sportfishing
Port: Ocean Springs, MS
Boat Name: Fighting Chicken
“Me and some friends were coming in from a day of fishing in Panama. We were having a good time and someone said the phrase “Fighting Chicken”. I declared then and there that my next boat would be called that. The mate, who spoke little english just shook his head in disbelief. A couple of months later I got the twin vee and put the name on the side of it. I even mailed the mate in Panama a picture of the boat with name plastered on the side of it.”
Kevin Beach
Boat: 30 Gravois Catamaran w/ twin 350 Yamahas
Occupation: Captain for Mexican Gulf Fishing Company
Port: Venice, LA
Boat Name: PALE HORSE
“My parents are very religious so I took the name from the Bible(Revelations 7:6), it is the horse that death rode on. Growing up, we never went to the mall or stuff like that, we always hunted and fished. Between my love for the outdoors and wanting to make my momma happy I had to name it something from the “good book” to say thank you.”
Sometimes boat names can tell a story that could span a generation or it could just sound cool. Truth be told, if someone donates his or her time and money to a boat they can name it whatever they want. Don’t ever be afraid to ask someone how they came up with their boat name, it is usually one story that they never get tired of telling. As always, have fun and be safe.