JFK+50: Volume 6, No. 1999
KENNEDYS ANCHORED ON LEWIS BAY 55 YEARS AGO TODAY
Hyannis, Massachusetts (JFK+50) President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy, along with family and friends, took a cruise on the Marlin* fifty-five years ago today, July 3, 1961, as they enjoyed the Independence Day holidays.
The Marlin dropped anchor at Lewis Bay**.
Also on board for the cruise were JFK's brothers Bob and Ted, sister Eunice and speech writer Ted Sorenson.
The Marlin underwent a major reconstruction in 1962. In 1970, the Kennedy family sold her to a Florida university which in turn put it on the auction block. It was purchased by Diego Della Valle.
*Marlin was built by F.D. Lawley of Quincy, MA in 1930 & commissioned by Edsel Ford . She was drafted into service by the US Coast Guard during WWII & purchased by Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. in 1952.
President Kennedy used the Marlin for both recreational and business purposes, holding meetings with his cabinet aboard the boat.
According to the JFK Library, the Marlin is 52 feet in length, with a beam of 12 feet and a draft of 3.5 feet.
**Lewis Bay, Hyannis Harbor is protected by a breakwater & used by coasting vessels and pleasure craft of less than 14' draft as a refuge.
The most prominent objects in view when approaching the harbor include the day beacon on Great Rock, two red & white checkered standpipes, a light blue tank, the breakwater light, an abandoned lighthouse tower and the square gray stone church belfry on the hill.
SOURCES
"Lewis Bay," Newsletter article, April 2007, Sustain Cape Cod, www.sustaincapecod.org/
"US Harbors: Massachusetts," www.ma.usharbors.com/
KENNEDYS ANCHORED ON LEWIS BAY 55 YEARS AGO TODAY
Hyannis, Massachusetts (JFK+50) President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy, along with family and friends, took a cruise on the Marlin* fifty-five years ago today, July 3, 1961, as they enjoyed the Independence Day holidays.
The Marlin dropped anchor at Lewis Bay**.
Also on board for the cruise were JFK's brothers Bob and Ted, sister Eunice and speech writer Ted Sorenson.
The Marlin underwent a major reconstruction in 1962. In 1970, the Kennedy family sold her to a Florida university which in turn put it on the auction block. It was purchased by Diego Della Valle.
*Marlin was built by F.D. Lawley of Quincy, MA in 1930 & commissioned by Edsel Ford . She was drafted into service by the US Coast Guard during WWII & purchased by Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. in 1952.
President Kennedy used the Marlin for both recreational and business purposes, holding meetings with his cabinet aboard the boat.
According to the JFK Library, the Marlin is 52 feet in length, with a beam of 12 feet and a draft of 3.5 feet.
**Lewis Bay, Hyannis Harbor is protected by a breakwater & used by coasting vessels and pleasure craft of less than 14' draft as a refuge.
The most prominent objects in view when approaching the harbor include the day beacon on Great Rock, two red & white checkered standpipes, a light blue tank, the breakwater light, an abandoned lighthouse tower and the square gray stone church belfry on the hill.
SOURCES
"Lewis Bay," Newsletter article, April 2007, Sustain Cape Cod, www.sustaincapecod.org/
"US Harbors: Massachusetts," www.ma.usharbors.com/
Lewis Bay, Cape Cod
