There is an age-old sailing superstition that says you should never rename a boat. Sea God Neptune keeps a record of every vessel in his waters and he doesn't like change. So what if the name of your new boat is something unbearable like "Dead Fish"? What can be done? The answer is to hold a renaming ceremony. First, remove all traces of the old name, not only from the yacht itself, but also from the lifebuoys and transom, as well as from any logbooks, charts or papers it features in. Second, thank Neptune and Aeolus, the keeper of the winds, for the protection they've provided your yacht so far. Then kindly request that Neptune strikes the old name from his Ledger of the Deep and ask that the gods give your newly named yacht their blessing. Finally, it's necessary to sacrifice some alcohol to appease the gods. Any bottle of alcoholic beverage will do. Not all of us have Queen Elizabeth II on hand to break a bottle of expensive champagne over the bow.
