The Boat: Nameless No More!

The first time was pretty easy: my favorite skipper took an old Flying Scot and made like a mad scientist to create an Everglades Challenge boat.

​Of course it had to be called Frankenscot. What else?

This time around, he started from scratch. There was a stack of wood, actual plans from O.H. Rodgers, computer-rendered drawings from Dave Sawicki...and very little idea of what the creation would be called.  

When in doubt, call a friend! The naming contest generated something like 66 suggestions, proving again that the internet can rather handily produce brilliance (Ned Johnston's "Irregardless" and Tim Snow's "Jeff's Last Boat VI" seem particularly clever, while there were a touching number of references to the Small Dog and to Jeff's dad, as well as some excellent plays on words).

​The arbiter and sole judge of the contest himself however, went with one of the original place-holder names: Spawn of Frankenscot.  "Spawn" for stable-use. 

A simple name, albeit one with a superhero movie referent that's not quite awful enough (unlike, say,  Mothra, or the Frankenstein franchises –– or this charmer, Slithis) for us to adopt as a mascot. Still, it has a certain ring. 

Onboard Spawn will be my favorite skipper, WaterTribe name "TwoBeers," plus Jahnny Tihansky, aka "Moresailesaid," and newcomer-to-the-event, O.H. Rodgers, whose moniker among the Challenger gang will be "Ninjee."

Why "Ninjee"? Because of his affinity with the Ojibway First Nation of Ontario, O.H. went to Ojibway for his handle. And in Ojibway, "crazy boatbuilder" becomes "crazy canoebuilder," which translates to  "Ninjee Wanadeez Jeemani Kewininee."  "Ninjee" for short.  

Hip, hip, Hurrah for Spawn and crew!

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