Posted by Adam Quinan on February 28, 2010 at 11:56:12 user Adam.
In Reply to: Re: Close-hauled posted by andyb on February 28, 2010 at 10:40:05:
Boat names are often used to express the whimsy of their owners, I had a small home-built Cape Cod Frosty which I named Chilly Willy (after the cartoon penguine of course). I never used it much for the intended cold water racing series our club hosted.
To get back to Ransome, his fictional boats' names are mostly straightforward, though Tom Dudgeon's punt Dreadnought may be a bit ironic since the most famous naval Dreadnought was the first true steam battleship. Jim Brading's dinghy Imp is obviously a smaller Goblin but we aren't told why his yacht was called Goblin.
Scarab comes from the D's father's archaeological interests in Egypt.
Jim Woodall's wherry Sir Garnet is named for Sir Garnet Wolseley, a Victorian general renowned for his efficiency and successful campaigns.