Froth on the Daydream

We have a name!

The sign-writing was done by Robin Wagg of Real Sign Writing. Here he is at work:

The photos scarcely do justice to all the subtleties. Views from the bow end:

We like the jauntiness, the lettering, the spirals, evoking the spirit of the pianocktail. The what? We hear you ask…

‘Froth on the Daydream’ is an unusual name for a boat. People are intrigued.

It all comes from a beautiful novel entitled ‘L’ecume des jours‘, by the French writer, musician and pataphysician Boris Vian, The pianocktail is a piano that mixes drinks according to the combinations of keys played. This is just one of many delightfully inventive ideas in the book. Boris Vian is much-loved in France, but relatively little known in Britain. Indeed, we might not know about him at all were it not for the fantastic translation by our dear friend the late Stanley Chapman. The phrase ‘Froth on the Daydream’ is his invention (‘L’ecume des jours’ translates more literally as ‘spume of days’).

Stanley once sent me a copy of the book with his own hand-designed cover:

He included the following inscription in the flyleaf:

So ‘Froth on the Daydream’ is our chosen name because it is in the same spirit as Vian’s book and Stanley’s translation. It will be fun, free, and will go we know not where, for reasons which we cannot fully understand. It will be both a home and an inspiration.