Lots of fun. Have you tried adding a little variation to the second S -- maybe it drops a little lower and wraps into the first -- or the second L? The way that the RA letter combo almost appears to be interacting is really nice. I might also consider varying the Bs a little.

thanks for the response.
well, i'm not exactly sure what you mean, but initially i did try doing things with the 'SS' pair. it seemed to make the wordmark feel unbalanced--more complicated on one side than the other... i just wasn't pulling it off right somehow, so i simplified it...

/aaron

i think the key is to find balance as you have seen. The right stroke on the A could fall down behind the normal stroke of the S (from the first jpg) and then the second S could interact with the first S. You could have a entrance swash on the first B and maybe an extra swash on the bottom loop of the second B, or maybe the E could interact a little with the first L or something like that. I guess it depends on how swashy you want it to become. Perhaps to see what is possible you could check out the gallery at Letterhead Fonts, there are some really great examples there.

hey man, i think i like more the first version but the last "ELL" are not well aligned
think thats it

nice work man !!!

As mentioned above I think you should look at the bottom strokes and alignment of the ELL, you could also look at making the letters slightly wider to match better the R & A; you could also look at modulating the stroke on the bottom counter of B, like the top counter, a slightly more protruding serif on the Bs and R might look good; the terminals of the Ss is a bit too decorative compared with the simpler strokes used for the other letters you could look at reducing the spiral shape. Overall though it is a friendly image that goes well with the handbuilt quality of wooden boats.
Tim