Ex presidential yacht Honey Fitz undergoing refit — Luxury Yacht Charter & Superyacht News Ex presidential yacht Honey Fitz undergoing refit June 22, 2010 Written by Chelsea Built in 1931 by the Defoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City, Michigan, motor yacht Honey Fitz is now undergoing a refit at Moores Marine in Florida as craftsmen return it to its former glory. John F. Kennedy named the Presidential yacht as “Honey Fitz Yacht”, after being elected as President of the United States of America in honour of his grandfather. Yacht Honeyfitz - Photo Credit Richard Graves John F. Kennedy’s Grandfather John f. Honey Fitz and his wife Mary Josephine Hannon were a well-known figure in Boston. Honey Fitz was the first Irish migrant to be named Mayor of Boston from 1906 to 1907 and then again in 1910 to 1914. Motor yacht Honey Fitz served five U.S. presidents, however it was William Kallop, who now owns the classic yacht, that commissioned Moores to repair a section of the hull, but the project has since expanded into a large-scale restoration.

“This boat has been cut up so much over the years it’s like, What was this boat like?” “It’s a beautiful boat though.” Moores commented to The Palm Beach Post. More than 30 supports are holding the yacht in place while James Moores and crew try to realign the hull by twisting it about 15 degrees and replace much of the underside of the 93 ft yacht. Much of the aft side of the yacht remains exposed, revealing the metal pipes and wires. Workers are trying to strike a balance between restoring the classic yacht Honey Fitz to its specifications when it was a presidential vessel and ensuring its long-term durability. “These boats are disappearing at such a rapid rate, and once they’re gone they’re not going to come back,” “We’re losing our maritime history.” Moores said, who has worked on over 100 restoration projects, and called this project “the pinnacle point” in his career.

Yacht Honey Fitz transom Photo Credit Mark Randall Sun Sentinel Moores notes that “The crew is using strategies, such as laminating the wood panels so they fit tightly together, that had not been developed at the time of the yacht’s construction, but the modern technology won’t be noticeable to the naked eye.” In a June 1932 article in Yachting magazine which was written before the boat became a presidential vessel or was renamed Honey Fitz called the yacht, then named Lenore II a “characteristically American” vehicle, because of its ability to travel for extended distances and reach 24 mph. The yacht Lenore II was commissioned by Sewell Avery, a wealthy businessman. She was commandeered by the United States when World War II broke out and the ship was and equipped with larger engines, gun turrets and rocket launchers. After the war, President Harry Truman and subsequent presidents used the ship as a transport vessel until Richard Nixon put it up for sale in April 1970. It was John F. Kennedy who made the classic motor yacht Honey Fitz famous, renaming it after his grandfather, John F.

Fitzgerald, known to many as “Honey Fitz.” Kennedy and his family would spend time basking on the boat’s deck, enjoying their time atop the yacht which was considered too small to hold members of the Secret Service, according to documents from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Superyacht News Related to "Ex presidential yacht Honey Fitz undergoing refit" Honey Fitz: For Nearly a Century, She’s Been One Sweet Ride Presidential yacht is just one of the nine lives of Defoe hull 148. By Vincent Daniello posted Nov 22nd, 2013 at 10:31am Photo courtesy of the Kennedy Library. Even for many born a generation or more after President John F. Kennedy’s death in 1963, the iconic images of the president on the fantail are as vivid as any memory of any president. But as I looked through the exposed skeleton of Honey Fitz — Kennedy renamed the presidential yacht with the nickname of his maternal grandfather, turn-of-the-century Boston Mayor John Francis Fitzgerald — I wasn’t seeing a thin slice of history.

I was looking forward through time, beginning when the steel stringers were welded and oak frames steam-bent by men lucky to be working at the height of the Great Depression. Her preservation, at a cost of $3.5 million during 30 months in the shipyard, is as important to yachting history as it is to presidential history. Originally called Lenore II and built for Montgomery Ward Chairman Sewell Avery, the boat was a big deal in her day. “She is a new type and for a new purpose and in her is presented a combination of speed and weatherliness,” wrote Reginald W. Crowly in Yachting’s June 1932 issue. “She is the busy man’s yacht, able to lop off the miles in short order — a fast cruiser in which to go places in hours snatched at week-ends and on short vacations.” Lenore II’s speed, range and economy — “twenty-four miles per hour for 24 hours, at a cost of about $3.50 per hour,” the 1932 article states — were owed in part to the new 500-horsepower Winton diesels, but also to her unique composite construction.

Photo courtesy of the Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green University. “The hull was built like a 90-foot canoe,” says Jim Moores, owner of Moores Marine , the company that recently restored the hull of Honey Fitz. “The size of the ribs was typical of a 30-footer.” Lenore II’s naval architect Thomas Bowes specified Douglas fir planking, cut “vertical grain” so each plank would have better strength for its weight. Two layers of planks were fastened with copper rivets. It was the 1930s version of today’s laminated cold-molded construction. Double planking wasn’t new, but Lenore II’s steel keelson, stringers and bulkheads, all interconnected with steel frames, were considered state of the art. “This construction,” Crowly wrote, “forms a long, deep girder or bridge extending the full length of the yacht [providing] great rigidity and strength for a given weight at very low cost.” As happened to many private yachts during World War II, the U.S. government commandeered Lenore II and assigned her to the Coast Guard American Anti-Submarine Coastal Picket Patrol with the moniker CG 92004.

“Her speed made her a preferred vessel for the Navy,” Moores says. “She didn’t just have depth charges. The Navy fitted her with rockets and a machine gun.” The boat’s current four Detroit Diesel 671s, two engines for each transmission and shaft, were installed by the Navy. Avery, who still owned the yacht after the war ended, famously went toe-to-toe in 1944 with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, literally so with the National Guard, over a wartime labor dispute at Montgomery Ward. “At the end of the war, the Navy just wanted to give the boat back, like it did with so many others,” Moores says of the story relayed to him by Avery’s granddaughter, Nancy Campaigne. “Avery said, ‘You ruined my boat. You’re buying it.’ They didn’t want another dispute, so the Department of the Navy wrote him a check.” Restored to the name Lenore II, she became an envoy vessel to the 244-foot presidential yacht Williamsburg (also a World War II government acquisition of a private yacht). President Dwight Eisenhower retired the costly Williamsburg and pressed Lenore II into service, renaming her Barbara Anne after his first granddaughter.

Photo courtesy of the Kennedy Library. “The president needed a private yacht,” Moores says. “They already had Lenore. She was comfortable and fast. She was really just a day boat, but that’s what was needed.” The Sequoia was the official dignitary vessel, Moores says of the 104-foot Mathis-Trumpy. Officially the yacht of the secretary of the Navy, Sequoia served as presidential yacht on and off from 1931 through 1977. “Honey Fitz became the presidents’ private yacht,” Moores says. “She was a tool for decompression, to get away from the rigamarole of the Oval Office, to hop on for a day or even just a few hours.” While this yacht has been renamed often, Honey Fitz eventually stuck. “The boat has always been linked to the Kennedys. Everybody thought the family owned it,” Moores says. President Richard Nixon renamed her Patricia, after his wife, “but people still referred to the boat as Honey Fitz.” Nixon sold her in 1970. The new owner, Joe Keating Jr., renamed her The Presidents but eventually returned Honey Fitz to her transom.

Keating enclosed the afterdeck and added a bar to facilitate charter. “Keating approached McAllister Towing and Transportation to manage charters,” says Tony Bucknole, who has overseen the vessel for McAllister and for the current owner since 1985. “We were already running two boats, replicas of turn-of-the-century ships, out of South Street Seaport [at the southern tip of Manhattan].” The current owner acquired Honey Fitz in 2000. Bucknole brought the boat back to life after it had spent three years deteriorating in a Mobile, Alabama, boatyard. Since then, Honey Fitz has been in private use only. Moores, who trained in traditional wooden-boat construction in Maine during the 1970s and ’80s, began work on the hull in 2010. “I focus my energies on saving the greatest handmade pieces of art in the United States,” Moores says. This includes 29 Trumpy restorations to date. Moores’ focus isn’t on the craftsmen who built these yachts.

“Back then, naval architects would first draw a beautiful boat, and then they’d do the calculations to make the boat glide effortlessly through the water,” he says. “To go 24 miles per hour with just 1,000 horsepower was incredibly high-tech at the time, and it would be just as big a feat today.” The engines were five times heavier per horsepower than today’s models, which Moores says means that hulls had to cut through the water, rather than planing atop it. Yachting’s 1932 article details the evolution of fast boats that culminated in Lenore II. “Naval architecture back then was 60 percent engineering and 40 percent art,” an art now lost, he says. “It took months to do all of the load calculations for these incredibly refined, elegant, efficient designs. ... The evolution of water-piercing design ended with World War II. After that the focus was on planing.” Today, piercing-hull efficiency is being revived by a few yacht builders and the U.S. Navy. Photo courtesy of the Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green University. Finding details of Lenore II’s construction proved challenging for Moores.

Mystic Seaport Museum, Department of the Navy archives, the Mariners’ Museum outside of Norfolk and five presidential libraries provided photographs. Avery’s granddaughter offered the original builder’s model of the boat, but nothing detailed the original construction. Finally fellow wooden-boat restorer Earl McMillen pointed Moores toward Bowling Green State University. Its Historical Collections of the Great Lakes archive of maritime documents includes all original records from the Defoe Shipbuilding Co., which were donated when the company closed in 1976. To assess her condition when work began, precise laser scans generated 3-D computer models of Honey Fitz. “We overlaid the original drawings on the laser-generated model, comparing the differences to guide us through the project,” Moores says. “The boat had arched clamps running from bow to stern to prevent the bow and stern from sagging, [termed hogging and] common in wooden boats. They did their job until someone cut through them to install air-conditioning ducts.” The results were a bow seven inches too low and twisted 15 degrees to starboard and a stern four inches low with a four-degree starboard twist.

“The boat had been repaired in that hogged, twisted shape so many times that it was locked into that condition,” Moores explains. Steel supports jacked the boat into her proper shape and supported much of her structure during Moores’ work. “We took out 20 feet or better of the hull at a time, right down to her bones,” he says. Only the transom and wooden keel were not replaced. Moores did this all from outside the 92-foot boat, without disturbing her interior. Photo courtesy of Francis Pavlov. Moores’ crew found old coins and countless screwdrivers, wrenches and hammers, but the boat told much more of her varied history. Charred wood painted Navy gray suggests a wartime engine-room fire. Steel reinforcements align with wartime photos of depth charges and rocket launchers. “There was an impact on the port side that broke everything inside the boat,” Moores says.

“The frames, the clamps, a bulkhead and even the inner planks were fractured, but other than a slight depression shown on the laser-generated computer model, there was no way you could tell the extent of the damage until we took the boat apart.” His experience with classic yachts unwrapped another turning point in the boat’s history. “It all looked very Trumpy to me,” Moores says, “from the door handles to the hardware on the opening windows. Even the stack and the way the deckhouse was put together seemed very Trumpy.” Then he found a 1955 advertisement for Panish controls installed during the Trumpy conversion from Lenore II to Eisenhower’s Barbara Anne. Besides her presidential connection, Honey Fitz is an artifact of naval engineering. “I was impressed that a boat built in 1931, without standardized rules or practices, met the engineering requirements for a vessel built today,” says Alan Horrell, who oversaw the project for Glowacki Engineering. The naval architecture firm generated 3-D models of the boat to assure the Coast Guard of the boat’s strength and stability. She is now certified to carry 70 passengers for hire. “It took both the wood and the steel to meet Coast Guard requirements.

The engineering was right at the edge of the requirements,” Horrell says, but given the choice for materials, “an engineer optimizing to reduce cost and weight would design the boat nearly the same today.” Moores hopes someday to restore the boat to her 1954 profile, when she first left the Trumpy yard in Annapolis, Maryland, as the presidential yacht. “The boat has been around for 80 years,” Moores says. “If that hull is taken care of, she’ll be around for another 80 years.” While the pages are closed on Honey Fitz’s place in history, the final chapter on Lenore II, the boat that was briefly the presidential yacht, is far from being written. “You don’t own these boats. You’re just their temporary keeper,” Moores says. “There are so few of these boats gracing the water; we can’t turn away from preserving them. I’d like to see how many I can propel into the next century.” Tags: JFK's yacht getting makeover in Riviera Beach - tribunedigital-sunsentinel JFK's yacht getting makeover in Riviera Beach James Moores is reconstructing the hull of the Honey Fitz June 21, 2010|By Eric P.

Newcomer, Sun Sentinel Riviera Beach The Honey Fitz, a former presidential yacht, has called many ports home, but this elegant boat, constructed in 1931 and later adored by President John F. Kennedy, is sitting on dry land as craftsmen try to return it to its former glory. Over 30 metal supports are holding the ship in place, while James Moores and his crew try to realign the hull and replace much of the underside of the 93-foot yacht, which served five American presidents. "This boat has been cut up so much over the years, it's like: 'What was this boat like?' " Moores said. The yacht is undergoing repairs at his Riviera Beach shop. "It's a beautiful boat though." In a June 1932 article in Yachting magazine — written before the boat became a presidential vessel or was renamed Honey Fitz — the Lenore II was labeled a "characteristically American" vehicle, because of its ability to travel for extended distances and reach 24 mph.

"She is the busy man's yacht, able to lop off the miles in short order — a fast cruiser in which to go places in hours snatched at week-ends and on short vacations," reads the article by Reginald Crowly. The Lenore II was commissioned by Sewell Avery, a wealthy businessman, but when World War II broke out the ship was commandeered by the United States and equipped with larger engines, gun turrets and rocket launchers. After the war, President Harry Truman and subsequent presidents used the ship as a transport vessel until Richard Nixon decided it was an extravagance in April 1970 and put it up for sale. But it was Kennedy who made the boat famous, renaming it after his grandfather, John F. Fitzgerald, known to many as "Honey Fitz." Kennedy and his family would spend time basking on the boat's deck, enjoying their time atop the yacht which was considered too small to hold members of the Secret Service, according to documents from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. William Kallop, a businessman who keeps the boat docked in Florida, now owns the boat.

Kallop originally commissioned Moores and his team to fix a section of the boat's hull, but the project has since expanded into a large-scale restoration effort. Before they began to restore the yacht's underside, it was "all lumpy and it was disfigured," Moores said. The vessel, which sold at auction in 1998 for $5.9 million, is undergoing serious repairs. Much of the aft side of the yacht remains exposed, revealing the metal pipes and wires. They realigned the hull, twisting it about 15 degrees, Moores said. Workers are trying to strike a balance between restoring the ship to its specifications when it was a presidential vessel and ensuring its long-term durability. The crew is using strategies, such as laminating the wood panels so they fit tightly together, that had not been developed at the time of the yacht's construction, Moores said. But the modern technology won't be noticeable to the naked eye, he said. "If I didn't tell you that, you wouldn't know that," he said. Moores, who contacted presidential libraries in his quest to learn everything he could about the history of the boat, was able to obtain the original blueprints from Bowling Green State University.

"These boats are disappearing at such a rapid rate and once they're gone, they're not going to come back," Moores said. "We're losing our maritime history." Moores, who said he has worked on over 100 restoration projects, called this project "the pinnacle point" in his career. Staf researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report. Eric P. Newcomer can be reached at enewcomer@SunSentinel.com or 561-243-6633. Get breaking news sent right to your inbox. Sign up for our Daily Newsletter at SunSentinel.com/joinus MORE: MyBayCity.com Defoe Built Presidential Yacht "Honey Fitz" Undergoing Refit in Florida Printer Friendly Story View Every so often the glory days of Bay City pop up in the news. If it's not the visit of President William Howard Taft to Bay City in 1908, it's the recollection of the Industrial Browhoist's huge cranes helping built the Panama Canal, or the sight of Bay City Shovels in the South Pacific during World War II.

The history is so rich it is mind-boggling and no historian can keep up with, although Marvin Kusmierz of Bay-Journal.com makes a valiant attempt. Latest to surface is the presidential yacht famously called "Honey Fitz," by John F. Kennedy that in recent years has been visible afloat at Palm Beach, Florida. Built in 1931 by the Defoe Boat and Motor Works in Bay City the motor yacht "Honey Fitz" is now undergoing a refit at Moores' Marine in Florida as craftsmen return it to its former glory. After his election as President in 1960, John F. Kennedy named the Presidential yacht in honor of his grandfather "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald. "Honey Fitz" and his wife Mary Josephine Hannon were well-known figures in Boston. "Honey Fitz" was the first Irish migrant to be named Mayor of Boston, serving from 1906 to 1907, and then again 1910 to 1914. The Defoe yacht served five U.S. presidents and for a time in the 1970s was used as an excursion vessel.

Present owner William Kallop, an Alabama oilman, has commissioned James Moores to repair a section of the hull. The project has since expanded into a large-scale restoration. "This boat has been cut up so much over the years it's like, What was this boat like?" said Kallop. "It's a beautiful boat though." Moores commented to The Palm Beach Post. More than 30 supports are holding the yacht in place while Moores and crew try to realign the hull by twisting it about 15 degrees while trying to replace much of the underside of the 92 ft yacht. Much of the aft side of the yacht remains exposed, revealing the metal pipes and wires. Workers are trying to strike a balance between restoring the classic yacht to its specifications when it was a presidential vessel and ensuring its long-term durability. "These boats are disappearing at such a rapid rate, and once they're gone they're not going to come back. We're losing our maritime history." said Moores, who has worked on over 100 restoration projects. He called this project "the pinnacle point" in his career.

Moores notes "The crew is using strategies, such as laminating the wood panels so they fit tightly together, that had not been developed at the time of the yacht's construction, but the modern technology won't be noticeable to the naked eye." "Lenore" was commissioned from Defoe Boat and Motor Works in Bay City, Michigan, by crusty Sewell Avery, president of Montgomery Ward, a nationwide retail chain. She was commandeered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt when World War II broke out and Avery resisted wartime regulations. After defying FDR's orders to comply with wartime wage and price controls, Avery was famously carried from his office in Chicago by two hefty soldiers. A photograph of the incident made front pages of newspapers across the country. The ship was reconditioned by the U.S. Coast Guard and served as a coastal picket boat off New York during World War II. During World War II the ship was and equipped with larger engines, gun turrets and rocket launchers. Although the ship originally was rated at top speed of 12 knots, the new engines doubled her speed. She was transferred to the U.S. Navy in 1945 and then was used as a Presidential yacht.

Harry Truman renamed her "Lenore II" and Dwight Eisenhower called her "Barbara Anne." The name John F. Kennedy called her, "Honey Fitz," has been revived by its present owner. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy had redecorated the "Honey Fitz" and had color television installed aboard to provide entertainment for her children. President Kennedy and family spent Easter and Christmas holidays on the yacht at Palm Beach. The JFK Presidential Library history recalls that Kennedy and his family would spend time basking on the boat's deck, enjoying their time atop the yacht which was considered too small to hold members of the Secret Service. Voluptous actress Marilyn Monroe reportedly was sneaked aboard during one of JFK's wild times in the early part of his Presidency. Lyndon Johnson said he would no more think of changing the name of "Honey Fitz" than he would change the name of the Washington Monument. He used it mainly for cocktail parties and small state dinners. Richard Nixon called the ship "Patricia" but apparently preferred a larger, more luxurious yacht, and placed the Defoe built vessel up for sale.

Greenwich, Connecticut restaurant owner Joe Keating bought the yacht for a reported $170,000 and completely restored the interior with the advice of Kennedy's architect. Keating called it "The Presidents" and offered charters for groups. For the last half of 1944 she served as a training ship for submarine crews at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. On June 23, 1945, she was assigned to the Navy Yard in Washington as a tender for the USS Potomac. On November 28, 1945 she was officially transferred to the U. S. Navy. She was used by Presidents Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower (who renamed her "Barbara Anne"), Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon (who renamed her "Patricia.") Nixon sold her in a government auction in 1970 to Joe Keating who recommissioned her as the yacht "Presidents" on December 4, 1970. The Kennedy estate acquired the yacht from Keating for an undisclosed price and Kallop bought it at an auction of JFK memorabilia in 1998 for $5.9 million.

A Bay City committee headed by former Bay City Times editor Tony Dearing offered Kallop $1.5 million for the boat in the early 2000s. The reported value at that time was about $10 million and the Bay City group was prepared to give Kallop a tax write-off for the amount in excess of the offer, but that idea was rejected by the oilman. ### 81-year-old former presidential yacht cruises to Jacksonville Posted May 9, 2013 05:47 pm - Updated May 10, 2013 05:03 am By 81-year-old former presidential yacht cruises to Jacksonville The Honey Fitz is still alive and well. The 81-year-old Honey Fitz idles in the St. Johns River Wednesday as its crew prepares to dock at The Jacksonville Landing on Thursday, May 9. The main cabins of the restored 81-year-old Honey Fitz yacht have mahogany walls and comfortable furniture, some dating back to its days as a presidential yacht that served presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Richard Nixon.

The upper deck of the Honey Fitz has presidential-blue carpet and a varnished teak table offering a view of downtown Jacksonville. It was known as the “Yacht of Camelot” during President John F. Kennedy’s tenure. Inside the main cabin are photos of some of the presidents who used it as their office. Truman and Winston Churchill are on the lower right, while Eisenhower’s presidential seal flag for the yacht is framed in the center. The waterborne vacation home to five presidents and the scene of meetings with foreign leaders is making a state visit to The Jacksonville Landing this weekend. Now owned by a Texas oilman, the Honey Fitz was a private yacht from 1931 to 1945, then the presidents’ through 1970, known as the “Yacht of Camelot” during President John F. Kennedy’s tenure. The 93-foot yacht is on a 12-stop “goodwill tour” that includes fundraising cruises for a multitude of nonprofits from Jacksonville to Nantucket. This weekend is its first stop after a three-year restoration. Before it leaves Monday, it will host a private Susan Komen Race for the Cure party and a Saturday cruise to benefit the Jacksonville Maritime Heritage Center.

It won’t be open to the public for tours. “It is a national treasure and we were given instructions to reintroduce it to the public, to let them know that the Honey Fitz is alive and well,” said Francis Pavlov, executive chef and event coordinator. “What better way to notify the public than for it to be used to help charities.” Pavlov had been contacting nonprofits to offer it for fundraisers and called maritime heritage president Paul Ghiotto. “Because it is very famous, it is a real blessing [to have it here]. These things don’t happen very often,” Ghiotto said. Presidential history First called the Lenore, it was purchased in 1942 by the government as a patrol vessel. In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt used it as a tender for his presidential yacht. President Harry Truman renamed it Lenore II before President Dwight D. Eisenhower designated it his office’s yacht in the 1950s, renamed Barbara Anne. Kennedy named it Honey Fitz, his maternal grandfather’s nickname. President Richard Nixon sold it in 1970 to Joe Keating Sr., who sold it to its current owner in 1998.

Named Honey Fitz again, the Great Gatsby-era ship was in sad shape. “It was close to being cut up and thrown away,” Capt. Mark Glasser said. “… The bow was down and the stern was down. It took months to get it to go straight.” Original blueprints were used to restore the ship like it looked when Kennedy sailed it. The cabins’ mahogany walls have photos of presidents plus Eisenhower’s presidential flag. Comfy furniture, some dating to presidential owners like Kennedy’s desk, fills the narrow cabins. The 82-year-old vessel is certified to carry up to 70 and will be used for wedding receptions, film projects and fundraisers. Being able to helm its four Detroit Diesels to a top speed of 12 knots is “pretty exciting,” Glasser said. “I’ve worked on the interior myself for the last year and a half and it’s a labor of love to me,” he said.

“I enjoy the boat and I want to see it preserved for the country.” The maritime center fundraiser is booked and Ghiotto on it, saying it “adds just one more to the bucket list.” dan.scanlan@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4549 92’ Honey Fitz’ Golden Years | Yachts International 92’ Honey Fitz’ Golden Years 92’ Honey Fitz’ Golden Years Keeping a legendary wooden boat alive She served her country dutifully, transporting secret service agents and entertaining heads of State. Now 77, she shows signs of her age but anyone can see that Honey Fitz was a beauty in her day. Her current owner is determined to restore that beauty and dignity. We visited the former presidential yacht after she underwent extensive work at Fort Lauderdale’s Bradford Marine boatyard. Photos David Decoteau and Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University Originally, this wooden yacht bore the name Lenore The yacht, known once again as Honey Fitz, started her life as Lenore at the Defoe Boat Works in Bay City, Mich., in 1931. The 92’ wooden boat had a full life that included serving several U.S.

presidents, most publicly John F. Kennedy Jr., and some may believe the damage done by time and rot is just an inevitable reality for a pre-WWII wooden hull. Fortunately, others, including her current owners, believe a Presidential yacht deserves better than to be left to decay. Curiously, the fate of a yacht with a very public life is in the hands of private benefactors. Businessman William Kallop, who bought the deteriorating yacht after it served as a charter vessel for a couple of decades, in 2001 decided it was time to bring her back to life. A first $1 million restoration—perhaps best described as a resurrection given the condition of the yacht before work started—took place in a Mobile, Ala., shipyard, but it was only the beginning. Honey Fitz, which her owner had brought back to Palm Beach after years of absence, has been a much-honored guest at Bradford Marine off and on for three years now, and additional repairs, including a new mahogany transom, have amounted so far to an additional $1.6 million.

Captain Tony Bucknole knows this is not the end but says Honey Fitz’s owners are dedicated to preserving a valuable and colorful piece of the American past. The JFK Presidential library offers a detailed account of that history up to the 1970s. The Defoe shipyard built the yacht, designed by Thomas D. Bowes, for financier and Montgomery Ward Chairman Sewell Avery. Avery, a controversial figure whom two soldiers forcibly removed from his office while he was in his 70s, publicly disagreed with government policies of the post-depression recovery; and many believe that the 1942 government seizure of his prized wooden-hulled yacht, named Lenore after his daughter, was retaliation for his very public anti-New Deal rhetoric. Ostensibly, Lenore, renamed CG-92004, was requisitioned to participate in the war effort. Her assignments included patrol duty at Rockaway Point and Fire Island in New York and submarine training in New Hampshire. She later became a tender for the vessel Franklin Roosevelt used as presidential yacht, the USS Potomac.

By the time Harry Truman became president, the Williamsburg had become the new presidential yacht, and Truman used it extensively to entertain guests such as Winston Churchill, to play Poker games up and down the Potomac River and to cruise to Florida and the Caribbean. Truman renamed the tender yacht Lenore II and used her mostly to ferry his secret service detail. In the 1950s, contrary to his predecessor, Dwight Eisenhower found the 244’ Williamsburg “too rich” for his blood and invested $200,000 to upgrade Lenore. He renamed her Barbara Anne, after one of his granddaughters, yet the Eisenhower family rarely used the yacht. However, Ike reportedly shuttled to the Newport Golf Club on Barbara Anne for daily golf games during his vacation. President JFK onboard Honey Fitz The wooden yacht acquired a more public profile in the 1960s during John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s presidency. JFK renamed her Honey Fitz, the nickname used by his maternal grandfather, and spent most summer weekends and numerous holidays in Palm Beach and Newport aboard with family and close friends. Kennedy friend Dave Powers reported that JFK spent some of his happiest moments aboard the yacht, most often alone with his children.

In May 1963, just a few months before JFK was assassinated, Jackie Kennedy threw a surprise birthday party for him onboard Honey Fitz. After Lyndon Johnson took office, he continued using the yacht mainly for dinner parties and cocktails parties. “Although it was my prerogative to do so, I would no more have considered changing the name of the Honey Fitz— the name Jack Kennedy had given one of the Presidential yachts—than I would have thought of changing the name of the Washington Monument,” he wrote in his memoir. Not so in the coming years. Honey Fitz’s legacy as a presidential yacht came to an end during the Nixon era. After renaming her Patricia, the president decided he needed a larger yacht, and the former Honey Fitz was put up for sale. Here details get a bit murky. The boat may have been acquired by a New York cruise operator at a bargain $170,000, according to a newspaper article and then sold to Joseph Keating, a JFK admirer, who renamed her Presidents, but the JFK Presidential Library, which keeps a record of the boat’s ownership up to Keating, makes no mention of that intermediary step.

What everyone seems to agree on is that Keating, a Greenwich, Conn., restaurateur, found original drawings in one of the yacht’s closets and had his architect consult with the Kennedy architect to restore the boat’s interior to its Camelot-era charm. Former presidents and their families sent original pictures that now hang in the yacht’s main salon. Presidents served as a charter vessel from the 1970s until at least the mid-1990s. A controversial March 1998 auction held in New York sold JFK memorabilia collected by a friend of JFK’s personal secretary. Among the items for sale was the former Honey Fitz, at the time under restoration in Louisiana and owned by McAllister Towing and Transportation Company of New York, according to the auction house president quoted in a NY Times article. Newspapers articles later reported the 88-ton boat sold for between $5.4 to $5.9 million to a then unidentified telephone bidder. When Kallop acquired the yacht, his first step was to restore the name Honey Fitz in honor of his father, who attended Princeton during the same years as JFK. Both Kallop and his wife Cristina recognize the yacht’s intrinsic value.

Captain Bucknole, a former merchant marine engineer who has worked with Kallop for more than 30 years, says he loves the boat as much as her owner. “Our focus is to keep her alive since she is a part of living history,” he says. Bucknole first brought Honey Fitz to Bradford Marine in 2005 to repair her frame and hull. Amazingly, all of the yacht’s mechanics were original and still in good working order. After two years, however, the transom started leaking badly. A closer inspection revealed at least half of the keel needed replacement. Amazingly, 60 percent of the hull is still original,” says Colin Lord, assistant superintendent at Bradford Marine, adding most of the work is done with the goal to preserve as much of the original boat as possible. A crew of five, including wooden boat specialist Andrew Barnett, started work in July 2007 and spent five months replacing much of the keel and bottom planking with mahogany. Workers removed shafts and struts for realignment but kept the transom carefully intact while they worked on the keel so as not to take the hull apart.

Eventually the transom was also redone in mahogany, and the name Honey Fitz and port of call Washington D.C. were carefully stenciled in 24-karat gold leaf once more. “There’s still a lot of original planking on the boat that will need attention at some point but for now the hull is sound, has a brand new paint job and looks really good,” Barnett says. Although not quite back to her original state—at some point after the 1960s someone extended the cabin—, any resemblance to a former charter yacht, Coast Guard patrol, or tour boat is gone. Bucknole’s favorite time aboard Honey Fitz is at night. “With the low light and mahogany interior, she’s really quite cozy,” he says. Indeed Honey Fitz is much more modest, for all of her history, than today’s luxury vessels, but she has charisma. Previous interior restoration projects installed carpeting identical in pattern, color and style to that of the original Kennedy era. JFK’s White House chair sits near his desk. Pictures of six U.S. Presidents adorn the small salon. One quickly daydreams of times long ago when presidents found calm and happiness onboard this historic vessel. Length: 92ft.

3in. Kennedy Boat "Honey Fitz" - John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum Kennedy Boat "Honey Fitz" Built: 1931 by Defoe Boat Works in Bay City, Michigan Background report on the yacht "Presidents" Owners are listed individually, below. SEWELL AVERY A financier best known for his controversial career as Board Chair and sometime President of Montgomery Ward from November 1931 to May 1955, Sewell Avery was a great lover of the sea and boating was one of his favorite hobbies. He commissioned the original building of the boat by Defoe Boat Works, naming the yacht after his daughter, Lenore. He cruised the boat on Lake Michigan in the waters near his private estate in the Les Cheneaux Islands. Credited with helping Montgomery Ward to reverse losses sustained during the Depression, Avery began clashing with the government (c. 1935) over new wage and price provisions stipulated in President Roosevelt's National Recovery Administration.

The disagreements continued for years and resulted in seizures of Ward plants; perhaps the most famous of these was Avery's refusal to leave the Ward building (1944), requiring that he be physically removed (he was 70 years old at the time) by two Army soldiers. Eventually, the Federal Government seized Avery's boat, ostensibly for use as a wartime vessel; many viewed the siezure as yet another attempt to "provoke" Avery. UNITED STATES COAST GUARD According to the U.S. Coast Guard's records, the boat was purchased from Mr. Avery on August 15, 1942. Known as CG-92004, the boat was reconditioned at the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, MD and declared ready for duty on January 9, 1943. That year she was assigned to coastal picket duty at Rockaway Point and Fire Island and in the latter half of 1944 was used as a training ship for submarine crews in Portsmouth, NH until resuming her patrol picket duty at Rockaway Point in May 1945.

On June 23, 1945 the boat was assigned to the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. where she became a tender for the U.S.S. Potomac. Her permanent transfer to the Navy became effective November 28, 1945. HARRY S. TRUMAN Retaining the yacht's original name, President Truman used the boat primarily as a tender for the Williamsburg, the 244' yacht he preferred to use for entertaining visiting statesmen, for his trips to Florida and the Caribbean, and for casual poker games on the Potomac. The Lenore II frequently carried the Secret Service staff who accompanied the President on these cruises. In a memorandum from an Admiral Dennison, there is mention that Truman used the Lenore II in the Presidential Cup Regatta in August 1949 and photos show President Truman and Charlie Ross on the aft deck of the boat during a boat race between the Naval Academy and Cornell University in May 1948. The captain of the President's fleet was Capt. MacDonald.

According to a former owner of the boat, President Truman issued an urgent order for larger and sturdier chairs aboard the yacht following an evening party in which Winston Churchill fell through one of the chairs. No confirmation of this story, however, has been obtained. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER After one cruise on the Williamsburg, President Eisenhower decided the yacht was "too rich for my blood" and retired the vessel as a "symbol of needless luxury." He chose instead the Lenore II, which he renamed the BARBARA ANNE after one of his granddaughters. Refurbished and overhauled at a cost of approximately $200,000, the yacht was used sparingly by the First Family in Washington. Eventually, the President's physicians urged him to forego his yearly vacations at the Air Force Academy in Colorado because of the altitude.

As a result, the First Family vacationed in Newport aboard the Barbara Anne in the summers of 1957, 1958, and 1960; the press humorously referred to the yacht as a "floating locker room" since President Eisenhower used her to be transported across Narragansett Bay for his daily round of golf at the Newport Golf Club, often showering on the boat on his way home. The First Family last used the yacht on the Potomac on Labor Day weekend 1960, though in a letter to Cmdr. Slye, the President expressed his regret that he had not had time to use her more frequently. JOHN F. KENNEDY According to Dave Powers (former head of NAIA, author of Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye, and a long-time close associate of John F. Kennedy), President Kennedy had some of his happiest moments aboard the "Honey Fitz" (renamed for his maternal grandfather). A life-long lover of the sea, the President liked to slip away from the White House for a few quiet hours on the yacht in the Potomac.

He also spent Easter and Christmas on the boat (in Palm Beach, FL) and in September and October took time aboard her at Hammersmith Farm (Newport, RI). Commanded by Lt. Cmdr. Walter C. Slye and later by Lt. Cmdr. Delbert F. Barbee (both of the Naval Administrative Unit), the Honey Fitz was redecorated by Jacqueline Kennedy, who installed a color television for the first time aboard the vessel, primarily for the enjoyment of her young children. The vessel was used primarily for family and close friends, though dignitaries visited from time to time (Dave Powers recollected Harold MacMillan on board once) and numerous photographs were taken on the yacht. (The cover of Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye [paperback edition] featured President Kennedy on the aft deck of the yacht, one of his favorite photographs.) Documentation confirms that the boat was also used to transfer guests down the Potomac River to Mount Vernon for one of President Kennedy's State dinners. From the President's birthday (May 29) until approximately mid-September, the yacht was kept at Cape Cod and used every weekend.

One particularly happy occasion was the surprise birthday party Jacqueline Kennedy threw for her husband in 1963, with most of the family on board. President Kennedy loved to spend time alone with his children on the yacht. The bullshot was the favorite drink aboard the Honey Fitz. One of the original Kennedy life preservers and two of the boat's flags are currently housed in the Kennedy Library. According to Dave Powers (who began working with John F. Kennedy in 1946), he and President Kennedy often took the ferry from Boston to Nantucket, a ride that the President apparently enjoyed. However, one winter's day in Palm Beach as they lounged on the aft deck of the Honey Fitz, the President turned suddenly to Powers and said, "This sure beats the Nantucket ride, doesn't it?" LYNDON B. JOHNSON When President Johnson entered the White House, he was quite mindful of the yacht. "I eventually developed my own programs and policies, but I never lost sight of the fact that I was the trustee and custodian of the Kennedy administration.

Although it was my prerogative to do so, I would no more have considered changing the name of the Honey Fitz - the name Jack Kennedy had given one of the Presidential yachts - than I would have thought of changing the name of the Washington Monument." (From The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency, 1963-1969 by Lyndon Baines Johnson). The yacht was used during the Johnson Administration (along with two others) for cocktail parties (maximum 35 guests), buffet dinners (maximum 25 guests), semi-formal dinners for 12, and formal dinners for 8.

A typical menu for one buffet party of 30 included: Mexican chalupas; broiled chicken livers wrapped in bacon; bite-sized pizza; cocktail cherry tomatoes stuffed with chicken salad; potato chips, Fritos, and, popcorn; lobster/shrimp creole; steamed white rice; sautéed fresh zucchini; fresh tomato/avocado salad with poppy seed dressing; hot rolls with butter and jelly; vanilla ice cream with creme de menthe served with cookies; coffee, tea, and milk; mixed nuts; chocolate mints; white mints; cigars and cigarettes; and after-dinner liqueurs. Two particular parties on record are those of Chief Justice McShane on Monday, September 26, 1966 and of Secretary of State Dean Rusk on Monday, August 19, 1968 (a buffet dinner he and Mrs. Rusk gave for some members of the Diplomatic Corps and their wives). RICHARD M. NIXON By the time President Nixon came to office, the Honey Fitz was a well-known boat. Though he renamed her the Patricia after his wife, the press and many others continued to think of the yacht as the Honey Fitz.

It came as no surprise when President Nixon decided a larger vessel would be more to his liking and put the Patricia up for sale in April 1970. At first the bidding was closed, but restrictions for buying were so stringent (she could never be used for commercial purposes or be sold to a foreign country, etc.) that no one made an offer. Later that year, the boat was placed on sale without restrictions for open bidding. Before her sale, however, she was used by Cabinet officers, for cruises for hospitalized Vietnam veterans, and in support of Mrs. Nixon's sponsorship of "Children in the Parks" program. JOE KEATING On December 4, 1970 the yacht "Presidents" was commissioned in Greenwich, CT. The boat was owned by Joseph Keating, an avid lover of the sea and a great admirer of the Kennedys; in one of the boat's closets Keating had found the original artist's rendition (for decorating purposes) of the boat's interior. Keating's architect contacted the original Kennedy architect and together they restored the boat as a replica from the Kennedy Administration period (down to the bathroom wallpaper, onstensibly a favorite of Jacqueline Kennedy).

The presidential photographs that hung in the main salon were furnished to Keating by the Presidents or their families, as were the Kennedy Administration photographs given to him by Edward M. Kennedy. The yacht still retains the original (and very sophisticated) radar that was used during all of the Presidents' terms. Today, the yacht is used by private groups for entertaining. There have been several weddings on board, including that of Mr. Keating's daughter. On July 4, 1975 the yacht was chartered by the Hospitality Industry Foundation of New York, which threw a party for French dignitaries. Present were the French Consul-General and Mme. Gerard Gaussen, Angier Biddle Duke, and La Comtesse Guy de Brantes, among others. Catering the affair of Mumm's Champagne, poached salmon, ham mousse, strawberries, and zabaglione were the O'Neal's (of The Ginger Man and O'Neal's Balloon) and Stuart Levin of Top of the Park. But one of Keating's fondest memories originates from his own restaurant, the Showboat Inn, in Greenwich, CT. Standing at the bar one evening, he was approached by a group of young boys.

One introduced himself as Joe Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy's eldest son, who was sailing to the Cape and docked at Greenwich for the night. Seeing the Presidents at dock brought back many fond childhood memories and Kennedy asked Keating if he might go on board for awhile just to look again. Keating was overjoyed to take him; today, the boat proudly features photographs of the two of them on board. JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM Columbia Point, Boston MA 02125 (617) 514-1600

Question: Which American owned a yacht called 'Honey Fitz'?
Answer: John F KENNEDY