Jonalyn's Watercolor Blog

July 15, 2024, we moved aboard our catamaran. It’s time we shared why we named her “Lady Grey.”

Since packing our bags and traveling to South Africa, we stopped in Cape Town for two weeks, then we drove six hours east. Vision Yachts operates their boat-building in a cozy lagoon right about the center of the country, right on the Indian Ocean in a town called Knysna.

On July 1, we visited our 45’ catamaran, Lady Grey, for the first time. If you’ve been following us on social, you will have seen daily updates of our adventure to this moment. To keep up with our journey, take a look on either Instagram or Facebook @sailingladygrey. Be sure to keep an eye on the stories as well. My blogging will slow down in this season as I’m devoting more time to learning this catamaran. My painting will start up again once we know how to sail Lady Grey properly.

Our Lady of the Sea

As we have been gathering friends to share in the adventure, this question keeps popping up “Why did you name your boat ‘Lady Grey’?” It’s actually quite simple.

Ships are ladies and our catamaran is grey; she is Lady Grey.

Our family also wanted a name that was easy to say and understand on the VHF radio and short enough to spell with the phonetic alphabet.

L. Lima A. Alpha D. Delta Y. Yankee.

G. Golf R. Romeo E. Echo Y. Yankee.

Undoubtably a British name, Lady Grey also honors four British authors who have left us indelibly enchanted by the Christian Faith: C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Dorothy L. Sayers, and George MacDonald, all authors who understood the power of Jesus making us more fully human. It is no exaggeration to state that one of us Finchers is always reading one of them.

More Layers to the Name

After we chose “Lady Grey”, we discovered more good reasons for her name.

Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days’ Queen of England, is perhaps the most famous Lady Grey. Her monarchy ended when the English tide turned from Protestant to Catholic and her cousin, Mary (aka Bloody Mary), signed her death warrant. Lady Jane Grey died at the block, loyal to God, faithful to her friends. She was 17.

Then we discovered that in South Africa they’ve named a little town Lady Grey. The craftsman, Richard, who applied our “Lady Grey” decals grew up in Lady Grey. How apropos!

Living in New England since 2020, we have learned that Nantucket island is also dubbed “the little Grey Lady of the sea”. After our four years in New Hampshire, this New England connection seems important to mention.

Finally, many of you know about our three Welsh Corgis, Lady Lucy, Lady Jane and Lady Victoria. We now own a fourth lady, Lady Grey of the seas.

What about those Finches?

If you study our logo you will see several finches, one nested on top of the “Y” of Lady Grey. As the Fincher family, we are named after the finch bird, a tiny creature overlooked by most humans.

Dale (our skipper and my husband) designed our logo. We chose these birds to remind us of Jesus’ words,

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows (Matthew 10:29-31).

Nothing is too small for the Good Shepherd. God knows where we are, he sees the sparrow and the hairs on our head. He will see us in Lady Grey on the waters.

We are ready to begin the adventure!