She got a name

The boat with no name. Notice the sides are empty, too.

We've had the boat since late October. From that first day, we knew she had a new name. We had all the documents ready, designed decals for the stern, and had quarterboards made for the sides. We even had our AGLCA (America's Great Loop Cruisers Association) burgee waiting to be raised. We just needed the thing stripped of its old name to make the change.

While George was a knowledgeable owner (remember George? He's doing fine, by the way) he didn't love this boat. It probably needed to be detailed for many months prior to our purchasing it. The sides were dull and every surface got dirty really quickly. Cleaning it was always a chore.

Getting ready to put on the decals

In early November we contacted a company to get the boat detailed, which included stripping the old decals. At that time, however, they were booked through December because of the holidays -- apparently, they also hang holiday lights on boats, so they were slammed. They could do it in late December, but we were going to be in Key West. So we planned on January 9th.

About a week out we called to confirm. Good thing, too. Due to the lousy weather Palmetto had in the late part of December they were behind. They confirmed for January 13th.

To do this Russ is standing on the dinghy

Finally, the day came and they showed up almost on time. But they could only do the detailing, not strip the old decals. After a phone call and a little bit of churn, they agreed to get it done. It took these guys three days of hard work to get the boat shiny. She looks completely different, almost brand new.

Behold. Cat-n-Dogs!

Note the quarterboard just under the hard canopy

Turns out there are a lot of superstitions and traditions that go into renaming a boat, everything from "never mention the name until the new decal is on" to "don't christen the boat on Friday" to "pour some champagne into the sea for Poseiden." Thankfully, we aren't superstitious. We did pour ourselves some champagne and remarked on how eventful the last couple of months had been already, and we haven't started the loop officially.

The burgee means we're committed, now

The famed dogs of Cat-n-Dogs, also known as
"the tongues of the sea."

...but we did give Poseiden his share.