We are so happy to have finally renamed our boat so we can now properly call her "Vesper." The name has a lot of meaning to our family.  First of all, Vesper means "evening prayer." As we set sail, I can't imagine there won't be lots of prayers of thanksgiving and for guidance as we watch beautiful sunsets over the water. In addition, Stephen and I met when we were counselors at Camp Lake Stephens, a children's camp in Oxford, MS. The outdoor sanctuary there was named Vesper Hill. So many memories were formed there, and many prayers said, and so to carry us on this journey, it is fitting, that Vesper take us where we go.

And then, for a cheesy kicker, Vesper was the only girl James Bond ever loved ,with whom he planned to sail around the world, from the movie Casino Royale, one of our favorite movies.  And yes, our last name is Bond, and yes, we really like James Bond movies. Stephen warned me that once I married him I would get the, "Bond, James Bond," line often when I told people my last name.  He was not mistaken. So while we did not name our boat after a James Bond girl, it is a fun little side note to our "Evening Prayer."

And I suppose you've noticed the hailing port is Mount Desert, Maine.  Not exactly where we are from.  Well, we are land-locked in Oxford, MS, so we looked for ocean towns that had meaning to us. We favored St. Petersburg, FL, which is one of the first places our boat search took us.  And while it was a cool, eclectic, older beach town, it didn't really have personal meaning to us.  Once we bought this boat, Mt. Desert, ME was the current hailing port.  And it turns out, this was the first place Emily ever sailed when we took a trip up the east coast and to Acadia National Park. And so with that, we adopted Mt. Desert as our own.  Sure to need lots of explaining in years to come.