We’ve officially christened the boat!
Sailors are a superstitious lot—which meant we had to purge every last remnant of the old name from off the boat. Just hours before, Mark found a gas can in the locker with the old name written on it. Our daughter Chloe ran and got something to scrub it off and catastrophe was averted!
We were so happy to have the Williams aboard for our big day, it seemed perfect to have them here.
We motored out to the spot on the chart plotter where last year Mark and Connor had taken the boat for the pre-purchase sea trial. Connor would have loved to have been here but he’s off on an amazing adventure of his own. So this was our way of including him.
First, we sent the old name to the depths of the sea and then officially named her Bedouin.
The name comes from the oldest inhabitants of the Arabian dessert who traversed the sands and brought their homes with them as they migrated and travelled. They are known for their generous hospitality. We have been the recipient of Bedouin kindness and hospitality from a very wonderful and long time friend we adore.
As we take our new home with us wandering the seas, we hope to be inspired by Bedouin hospitality and pass it along wherever we find ourselves.
The boat was then christened—libations for the boat (the local grocery store kept gifting us free wine each time we came to provision for the boat) and diet cokes for the crew—and the captain ceremoniously thrown overboard.
Now that we’ve appeased the sea and wind, we can’t wait to share our adventures with our kids and grandkids.
Our youngest daughter and expert Bosun Chloe found a sewing shop and bought ribbon to surprise us all with handmade leis for the christening.
She also pillaged various plants in town to make a wreath. The christening called for a wreath–some say of olive branches, and others say other types of branches. Chloe covered all our sea-god bases by clipping several kinds and weaving them all together. Thanks to Chloe, there’s a few naked trees around Preveza now.
