Having blown one of her two gasoline engines within sight of Brooklin Boat Yard after the long, slow run from Florida, and having her hull crack like an egg while in the Travelift slings next day, it was clear the Aphrodite’s time had come for a complete restoration. She was a treasure, widely known and well worth preserving. Here’s a brief rundown:

Aphrodite was built by the Purdy Boat Company, Port Washington, NY, and launched in May of 1937 for Wall Street financier and later Ambassador to the Court of St. James, John Hay (Jock) Whitney of Manhasset, Long Island.

Best described as a “Commuter Yacht”, this elegant and sleek 74-footer would each morning whisk Mr. Whitney from his large two-story boat house westward down Long Island Sound and the East River to his Wall Street office. During the 45-minute commute Mr. Whitney would go up to the forward cockpit and read the Herald Tribune to catch up on the day’s news.

Aphrodite’s guest list over the years reads like a “Who’s Who” in the worlds of government, business, and entertainment with such luminaries as Fred Astaire, Sir Laurence Olivier, Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, Henry Ford II, FDR advisor Harry Hopkins and Nelson Rockefeller aboard for summer day cruises. Aphrodite also once hosted a birthday party for Shirley Temple.

The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Mr. Whitney offered Aphrodite to the government for war service, and she was commissioned in April 1942 as a Coast Guard auxiliary vessel (CGR-557). The boat spent most of its war-time career ferrying dignitaries up and down the Atlantic coast and transporting President Roosevelt to and from his home at Hyde Park on the Hudson River.

In the early 1960’s Mr. Whitney no longer needed a boat of Aphrodite’s size and so donated the boat to Anthony Drexel Duke and Boy’s Harbor, a summer program for disadvantaged inner-city youth which operated on Mr. Duke’s estate at East Hampton, Long Island.

In the late 1960’s or early 1970’s Aphrodite was renamed Moonfire and under this name she went through a series of owners as her condition deteriorated to the point where she was parked ashore with weeds sprouting around her neglected hull.

Around 1977 Mr. John Pannell started a marine repair business (Harbor View Marine) on the site of the old Purdy Boat Company where Aphrodite was originally built. In 1983 Mr. Pannell was approached by a gentleman from New Jersey who told him he had just bought an old boat, would he be interested in a restoration project and added “she’s got Moonfire on the transom but I think she’s Aphrodite.” The boat was launched and towed back to her original birthplace where she was then hauled, and restoration begun.

The unexpected death that owner brought the restoration to a halt, but work began again in earnest when John Pannell accepted ownership from the heirs as payment for work done to date.

After relaunching in 1984, Aphrodite traveled up and down the East Coast and attended many classic boat events and garnered many a prize.

In the fall of 2000 John Pannell sold Aphrodite to her present owner, a true classic boat enthusiast. In the late fall of 2003 Aphrodite was delivered to Brooklin Boat Yard for a complete restoration and to bring her systems up to today’s standards.

Aphrodite’s Rebirth

The “Aphrodite” went through complete restoration using the original boat as a template from which to create what would become the reborn “Aphrodite”.

The first stage of this project was to extensively catalog all aspects of the boat for later reference. Once this historical documentation was completed, molds were placed into the boat to retain her hull shape. Next the job of disassembly began in earnest with the removal of the deck, superstructure, bulkheads, all interior accommodations and ship’s systems leaving only the hull in place.

Reconstruction began with the replacement of the original backbone, stem, floors and the reframing of the intricate curves of “Aphrodite’s” signature torpedo stern. Next on the list was the removal of the original hull planking and the fastening of temporary ribbands to the original frames. After all planking was removed, new white oak frames were fabricated and steam bent into position, gradually replacing the originals.

On September 2, 2004 the final original frame (last original wood in the boat) was removed marking the transition from old to new.

Once the all important structural framing work was completed the hull was then re-planked as originally built with two layers of Philippine mahogany, copper-riveted. With basic hull restoration complete, the work of engine and systems installation went forward along with the reconstruction of the interior accommodations, a new deck, and the crafting of Aphrodite’s distinctive cabin and superstructure.

Launching Aphrodite

On a crisp clear October day in 2005, with a huge crowd made up of Aphrodite’s owners, the crew of Brooklin Boat Yard, and families, friends, and neighbors on hand to wish her well, Aphrodite slipped into the waters of Center Harbor to begin a new life based in Watch Hill, Rhode Island.