The One With Our Name And City

Before I jump into the name of our boat, I’ll first address the easier (and more comical) topic, our city.

Now that we are in the Great Lakes I’m really enjoying watching people’s expressions as they question where we’re from. Our boat clearly says Charlotte, NC on the back, yet so many people ask us about it.

Here’s my favorite conversation that’s actually happened many times in the last few weeks:

Other boaters: “North Carolina. Humm…where are you guys actually from? It’s not like you drove your boat here from North Carolina.”

Us: “You’re right. We actually drove our boat here from Georgia.”

And then I watch their jaw drop.

It’s really funny! No one expects that answer from us.

It’s a fair response. Most boats display a name and a city.

However, not all of them are reflective of the boat owners. We’ve met a lot of people who never bothered to change anything on the back of their boat (name or city.) There are others who change the city, but it reflects their hometown and not where they actually call home.

Or, in some cases, they list a port they hope to call home one day. It really varies. But we’ve learned never to assume someone is actually from the city listed on the back of their boat.

Ironically, we didn’t change our city decal either. We didn’t have to! The previous owners of our boat were also from Charlotte (we had houses like 15 minutes apart!)

But, we did change the name of our boat when we purchased it.

People ask me all the time, “How did you name your boat?”

In most cases, I think what they’re really asking is “Why did you name your boat Light & Salty?” so that’s the one I typically answer. In fact, it’s one of my favorite questions!

I’ll give you the how first, and then the why…

Our family actually selected the name of our future boat years ago. I wish I could remember the exact conversation, but honestly for as long as I can remember we planned on naming our boat Light & Salty.

When we purchased the boat it’s name was Livin’ The Dream. As much as we loved that name, there wasn’t a debate on keeping it. Some boaters think you need to do a big ceremony to re-name a boat, but we did not.

No judgement either way, but it wasn’t for us.

We simply hired a vinyl lettering company who showed us several letter designs and we selected one. A few weeks later, he came to our boat, removed the old name and replaced it with Light & Salty.

That’s pretty much the extent HOW we named our boat. Here’s the “why”…

In the Bible Jesus commands us to be light and salt (Matthew 5.)

Put in the most basic sense, to us that means that we should act lovingly. Show others a joy that comes from Him. Be generous. Offer forgiveness and lead with grace. And be kind.

Taking it a step further, we want others to see Christ in us.

When Mary Grace and Miller were just babies we began to pray with them that they would be light and salt in the world. Almost anytime we go somewhere (school, sports practice, play date, etc.) we would pray together that they could be light and salt.

It became more than a prayer. It really was our family motto.

And then, with a little nod to the nautical world…we changed salt to salty for the boat name. (Much to Mary Grace’s annoyance because she hates the grammatical error!)

Thus the name, Light & Salty.

It’s been an awesome conversation topic as we travel. Sometimes people get it and seek us out to talk to and share their own testimonies. Other times people are hearing that expression and definition for the very first time. Either way, it leads to incredible conversations.

To acknowledge the obvious: Yes, it’s a big name. And no we don’t always do a good job living up to the charge.

There’s truly nothing worse than pulling into a new marina and having a terrible docking experience. I definitely show my frustration when I set up for a port tie, and suddenly we have to switch to starbard.

Naturally with the quick change the kiddos get confused and start arguing over who gets to throw which line.

Then the wind kicks up and a current comes out of nowhere, throwing Brent for a curve.

To say that it’s stressful and we often come in looking like a hot mess is an understatement. Inevitably, people choose those moments to ask us about our boat name!

At the end of the day, we do our best to be light and salt. (But we are far from perfect!)

Two more quick names to note…

Our dinghy’s name is “The Bob.” We named it after my dad. He would have loved this adventure.

And our Kayak is named “MC.” MC stands for Meat Cellar. Which is the kids attempt to be super clever with the words light & salt. I guess you need light in a cellar and salt for meat???

As always, thanks for following along on our crazy adventures! You might also enjoy reading:

The One About East Coast Boating

The One With The Unexpected Items We Use Living On A Boat

Children’s Safety When Traveling: 10 Things We Do And Don’t Do

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