Official launching

[Oliver]

How do you 'officially' launch the boat once it is finished?

 

When the shell got put in the water we shared a bottle of champagne with builder and the crane driver (once he had the boat in the water), but what do we do when we take it out of the shed and cruise off to our moorings. (Boat hasn't been taken out of the water again so no more craning to do)

[Paul Evans]

Drink more champagne!

 

I don't think there is any tradition around launching narrowboats so just make up a ceremony that you enjoy. And if you tell us what you decide to do, perhaps we'll adopt it and in 20 years' time you will be able to claim that you were the first.

[wynd lass(nb.Black Pearl)]

Its funny you should ask that.

 

We were just on about this very thing last night. Personaly, I think once the crane has lowered it into the water. Like Paul says.....hardly matters , as long as some champers is involved somewhere along the proceedure.

[Rick]

There is a school of thought that for narrowboats a bottle of brown ale would be more appropriate

 

Richard

[Guest Sweeney]

At today's build prices that's not true, but anyway, Boddingtons is the one but I think we just went into the pub.

 

Sweeney

[wynd lass(nb.Black Pearl)]

I look at it like this....Its not every day you launch a new boat, so "Push the boat out" I say, (pun intended)

 

[Richard Bustens]

Hi all what, if anything did you give the steel workers for building the boat?

I put £100 behind the bar at there local but felt a bet mean as i should think it only lasted about 1/2 hour.

[dor]

Good grief Richard: is there anything I can build for you? I'm sure I could last at least an hour with £100 behind the bar. Seems generous to me, I bet very few people would consider giving any tip at all.

[Bernie]

The only official launching we had was watching the boat being craned into the canal and holding our breath hoping the straps wouldn't break. I took the camera to hopefully take some pictures and the battery ran out after the first one.

Being the skinflint that I am we just bought the builder a drink in the local pub because he came down to the launch site to make sure everything was OK, felt we had paid enough anyway.

[dor]

I always though it was the seller that bought the customer a drink - after all you will have just handed over a substantial wad of beer tokens.

[Bernie]

I always though it was the seller that bought the customer a drink - after all you will have just handed over a substantial wad of beer tokens.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Well since he had travelled just the week before Xmas from W Yorkshire to Wincham Wharf where the launch took place I did feel rather obliged.

[Richard Bustens]

Hi all

It was not for the builder , it was for the workers in the steel shop there are 4 of them, and i was going to get a barrel of beer but they all drank diferent things so i thought it easer to put behind the bar for them

[brich]

How do you 'officially' launch the boat once it is finished?

 

When the shell got put in the water we shared a bottle of champagne with builder and the crane driver (once he had the boat in the water), but what do we do when we take it out of the shed and cruise off to our moorings.  (Boat hasn't been taken out of the water again so no more craning to do)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I understood that the tradition was that the boat had to have a NAME before you launched her (him, it in these PC days?), and the breaking of a bottle of champagne, ale, whatever on the bow and saying the name was akin to sploshing water over the baby's head at a Christening so that the community at large was aware that the baby/boat had been given that name. I had also been told that if you want to change your boat's name, then you had to do this by taking her/him/it our of the water, renaming it and putting it back in. Some friends invited us to a boat blessing for a narrowboat they had bought from the previous owner; it was a really good evening, and certainly meant a lot to them, and we now associate them with that narrowboat.

 

I have to say that I'm not superstitious or religious, but I like the idea of making a public statement so that the community (and even your narrowboat?) knows that you have given it that name.

 

Whilst it is still just a shell, why not invite all your friends over for a naming party - tell them to bring their own bottle, food, and chairs and you'll provide the venue, lighting and music (and the PortaPotti?) I'm sure that they will all remember the boat and you'll remember the evening... or the other way around? You might even recruit some labourers to help with the fit out.

[Oliver]

Brich

 

Like your idea - may base something around it. We aren't doing our own fit-out but the move to our moorings will be part of the snagging & final handover. So I think that once we are at the moorings we can christen the boat, introduce her to our friends and meet the new neighbours.

 

Cheers

[David Schweizer]

I was going to say exactly the same thing Brich, I was told by someone who started working on Narrowboats more than 50 years ago, that you should always name a boat when it is out of the water and to do otherwise is unlucky. He didn't mention the champagne bit though. Like you I am not supersticious but when I renamed my boat I did so whilst it was on the slip waiting to be hauled back into the canal (having already painted the old name out). So far we have not had any bad luck.

[wynd lass(nb.Black Pearl)]

Hmmm nice ideas folks:))

We intend buying the lads who built the shell, a case of ale each, and prolly the same to the fitter out chappie:)

 

As for the owners of the boatbuilders yard, after being 4 months late, and for them telling us a few pork pies before and during the build, it would stick im my craw, i think.

 

I really think that they have caused quite a few people besides us to be a tad dissapointed by their lateness, and although they build a beautiful boat, I'd be sure to for-warn anyone who intended having them to build a boat for them, to watch out for a bit of sharp practice on their part. They have mis-led quite a few people into thinking their boats would definitely be built months ago, and morally that is wrong.....and knowing full well that a good few of those people had sold their houses to buy the boats from them, too!

 

Anyway, I won' let this overshadow the day...