Yacht owners are arguably some of the most creative people around. Take a walk along the docks of your local marina and you’ll see names like Office Ours, Fantasea, Liquid Asset and Seas the Day.

But puns aren’t the only way they express their inspiration. Owners sometimes wear their hearts on their sleeves, naming their boats for family members. Spy any transom whose lettering begins with “Lady,” for example, and you instantly know the name of the wife. Some yachts are further named for the owner’s children. One of my favorites: JeMaSa, where each two-letter grouping represents the first two letters in each child’s name.

There’s yet another way that owners wear their hearts on their sleeves, and it’s particularly pertinent to this Independence Day weekend. They christen their yachts in honor of their love of country. In fact, Liberty, Freedom and Victory are the most common patriotic-oriented names, according to Andrew Canepari, the owner of FirstBoat. FirstBoat, an independent online guide to recreational boating for novices and experienced owners alike, also has a blog, called Daily Boater, and is a sister company to Boat Name Gear. Canepari says all three sites attract interest and commentary from patriot-minded boaters. If the owners do a lot of stateside cruising and therefore register the yacht here, he adds, there’s a bonus: “They hang the flag over the back, and if they have a patriotic name, it really pops.” Besides the names given above, some other recent choices he’s noticed include Patriot Games, Flag’s Up, NAUT COUNTRY, Livin’ The Dream and Free Speech, the latter proudly displayed by a lawyer.

Canepari also notes an interesting trend as of late. He’s been receiving emails from veterans returning home from Iraq who want to buy a boat. Some ask for help in choosing a nationalistic name, he says, requesting it evoke the theme of freedom or liberty. Others know exactly what they want. One soldier, Canepari relates, contacted him through the Boat Name Gear site to get custom lettering. His name of choice? Freedom’s Song.

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