Why the name Lil' Mule II?
By Ryan on Saturday 28 November 2009, 17:04 - Permalink
When I
found the boat, I only knew her by the name "Pen Coat", as that was the name
painted on the hull. There is nothing particularly wrong with that name, which
means something like "stubborn" in the Breton language.However, it did not speak to me particularly, and I knew that I would be transforming this boat, and so a new name was just the logical thing to do.
Originally, this sailboat (n°11887-41301 31579 00720 I7238 according to the French administration, 253349E with the Affaires Maritimes de Saint Brieuc, or n°75 in the line of Jouët Caprice) had the name NANTIS, then PEN COAT, and then LA MOUETTE, before I had it changed to LIL' MULE II.
So what was LIL' MULE?
Lil' Mule, or just 'the Mule" was the affectionate nickname of the 1979 MGB that I had from my days in high school up to when I left for France in 2001. I happen to have a photograph of me in the Mule in 1997:
And why call a sports car a "mule"?
Anyone who has ever owned an MG knows that it spends nearly all of its time in the garage, under repairs. Or alongside the road, being repaired, or being jump-started, or being towed, etc. etc....While it is a wonderful car to drive, it is also something that requires constant attention. It may, or may not, decide to run as it pleases. And as such, it merited the name of Mule. :)
And why name a sailboat after a car that barely worked?
Because, in part, to remember that she will need constant attention, and maintenance in order to sail straight and true. Sure, there is more than a bit of nostalgia, however, when two other people simultaneously suggest it being called LIL' MULE II, is can only be called that.So, with the major renovation work in the planning, Jouët Caprice number 75 is about to be transformed into LIL' MULE II.
