Ernest Hemingway and Mary Welsh Hemingway aboard Pilar | |
History | |
---|---|
Name | Pilar |
Owner | Ernest Hemingway |
Builder | Wheeler Shipyard, Inc., Brooklyn, New York |
Cost | $7,495 |
Completed | 1934 |
Fate | Museum ship |
General characteristics | |
Length | 38 ft (12 m) |
Beam | 12 ft 0 in (3.7 m) |
Height | 17.5 ft (5.3 m) |
Draught | 3 ft 6 in (1.1 m) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion | 1 main propeller shaft through the keel. The second shaft and propeller offset from the center for trolling engine. [1] |
Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
Ernest Hemingway owned a 38-foot (12 m) fishing boat named Pilar. It was acquired in April 1934 from Wheeler Shipbuilding in Brooklyn, New York, for $7,495.[1] "Pilar" was a nickname for Hemingway's second wife, Pauline, and also the name of the woman leader of the partisan band in his 1940 novel The Spanish Civil War, For Whom the Bell Tolls . Hemingway regularly fished off the boat in Key West, Florida, Marquesas Keys, and the Gulf Stream off the Cuban coast. He made three trips by boat to the Bimini Islands, wherein his fishing, drinking, and fighting exploits drew much attention and remain part of the island's history. In addition to fishing trips on Pilar, Hemingway contributed to scientific research, including collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution. Several of Hemingway's books were influenced by time spent on the boat, most notably The Old Man and the Sea (1953) and Islands in the Stream (1970). The yacht also inspired the name of Playa Pilar (Pilar Beach) on Cayo Guillermo. The opening and other scenes in the 2012 film Hemingway & Gellhorn depict a miniature boat replica.
After returning from a safari in Africa, Hemingway acquired the boat on April 18, 1934. The boat was a modified version of the Wheeler Playmate line. [2] The final price for the boat was $7,495, including modifications such as a livewell to contain fish, dual-engine set-up, lowering the boat's transom by twelve inches, and adding a full-width roller on the stern to aid in hauling large fish onto the boat. A flying bridge was added later, but not by Wheeler. In addition, the boat's hull was painted black instead of the stock white color.
The boat was constructed in the Coney Island yard of the Wheeler company, now of Chapel Hill, NC (which also built Fidel Castro's "Granma"), and delivered to Hemingway at Miami, attached to a wooden cradle which was part of the purchase price. With a friend and Wheeler representative, Hemingway sailed the boat under its power from Miami to Key West through Hawk Channel, a semi-protected waterway between the Key islands and the barrier reefs from Biscayne National Park to Key West. [3]
In addition to hunting, Hemingway was an avid fisherman and a great contributor to the development of the sport. He also contributed to the knowledge of Atlantic marine life. During his first visit to Cuba with Pilar, Hemingway hosted Charles Cadwalader, director of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and Henry Fowler, the Academy's chief ichthyologist. These two scientists were in Cuba trying to determine the taxonomy of marlin species. They attempted to determine if white, blue, black, or striped marlins were different species or just color variants of the same species. As a result of their efforts on the boat, they reclassified the North Atlantic marlin variants.
During World War II, Hemingway used his boat to search for German U-boats in the Caribbean waters. [4] Pilar was outfitted with communications gear, including HF/DF or "Huff-Duff" direction-finding equipment. His minimal armament included a Thompson submachine gun and grenades. Most accounts state that any effort to attack a submarine would have been futile. Hemingway wrote about his intent to attack if he spotted a sub. Other accounts of these patrols imply that they were a farce and that he did them in return for extra gas rations and immunity from Cuban police for driving drunk. [5] [6] His hunting for U-Boats inspired the third act, "At Sea," in his novel Islands in the Stream .
Hemingway spent three summers in Bimini, starting with the first voyage in April 1935. During the initial attempt at the crossing, he accidentally shot himself in the leg while attempting to boat a shark he caught. [7] On a subsequent trip, he fished with Bror von Blixen-Finecke, with whom he had been on a safari and whose former wife was Karen Blixen, author of Out of Africa . In addition, there are ties to him and Hemingway through Hemingway's books Green Hills of Africa and Under Kilimanjaro .
During the Bimini trips, Hemingway perfected fishing techniques for tuna. He was the first person to land a giant tuna unmutilated. Known as "apple-coring," it had been expected for sharks to attack fish as they tired and were near the boat. His technique involved applying constant pressure to the fish. Where previous methods allowed the fish to run to tire it, he would attempt to boat the fish as soon as possible. He experimented with using a skiff, which he would transfer to, and had the fish pull the boat to weaken it. He also discovered marlins had a defense mechanism in their swords and noses that made them unattractive to sharks but that tuna lacked such a defense.
He found that a tuna's primary defense against sharks was speed, and as the fish tire, they became easy targets. He used a Thompson sub-machine gun to shoot at sharks that would appear as the tuna tired and neared the boat.
The photo labelled "Hemingway and Strater with the remaining 500 lb of marlin" shows Hemingway and Henry "Mike" Strater with a half-eaten ("apple-cored") marlin. This fish weighed more than 500 pounds in its half-eaten state. It was projected to be more than 1,000 lb when whole. During the fish landing, Hemingway used a Thompson machine gun to shoot at the sharks and ward them off. Unfortunately, the effect of the shark blood in the water attracted more sharks, which damaged the marlin. Ultimately, the marlin's state somewhat recalls the monster marlin in Hemingway's later masterpiece, The Old Man and the Sea . The incident significantly damaged his relationship with Strater, who believed the use of Hemingway's machine gun against the sharks was the primary reason he lost the most significant fish he had ever caught. [8]
While on Bimini, Hemingway wrote magazine articles for Esquire and worked on his novel, To Have And Have Not. His reputation as a big game angler began to grow. He landed many giant tuna and marlin. He also staged boxing matches with the locals, offering $100 (which ranged upward to $250 based on various accounts) to anyone who could last a few rounds with him. His fighting was not contained to the ring. During a dockside brawl, he punched and knocked out Joe Knapp, a wealthy magazine publisher. [9] Hemingway at first lived in Pilar. He later moved to a cottage near Brown's Dock and eventually, a room at the Compleat Angler Hotel, staying in Room Number 1. [10]
Hemingway caught numerous record-breaking fish from Pilar. In 1935, he won every tournament in the Key West-Havana-Bimini triangle, competing against notable sportsmen Michael Lerner and S. Kip Farrington. In 1938, he established a world record by catching seven marlins in one day. [11] He was the first person to boat a giant tuna in an undamaged state. This effort was attributed to him pulling the fish into the boat before it had tired, thereby preventing sharks from eating it. Hemingway kept meticulous fishing logs, including guests, weather, current conditions, fish caught, and other information. During the first summer of owning the boat, an aspiring writer, Arnold Samuelson, served as a deckhand and recorded the dictated logs on paper. He subsequently typed out the logs on display at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. [12] Samuelson later wrote an account of the summer in book form, published posthumously by his daughter. [13]
Named after him, The Hemingway Fishing Tournament has been held in Cuba since 1950. It is a four-day tournament where contestants go for marlin, tuna, wahoo, and other fish using a 50-pound fishing line. Hemingway won the first three years it was held. [14]
The boat is on display in Cuba at Finca La Vigía, Havana. Hemingway left the boat to his captain, Gregorio Fuentes. [17] Fuentes, one of the hired captains of the boat, is said to have been the basis for the character Santiago from The Old Man and the Sea and Eddy from Islands in the Stream. The Cuban government now owns the boat after Fuentes donated it to the people of Cuba. The sister ship of Pilar is on display in the Bass Pro Shops store in Islamorada, Florida. Hemingway fished from the sister ship, which made him have Pilar commissioned. [18]
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized for his adventurous lifestyle and outspoken, blunt public image. Some of his seven novels, six short-story collections and two non-fiction works have become classics of American literature, and he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature.
The Old Man and the Sea is a 1952 novella by the American author Ernest Hemingway. Written between December 1950 and February 1951, it was the last major fictional work Hemingway published during his lifetime. It tells the story of Santiago, an aging fisherman, and his long struggle to catch a giant marlin. The novella was highly anticipated and was released to record sales; the initial critical reception was equally positive, but attitudes have varied significantly since then.
G.L Fuentes was a fisherman and the first mate of the Pilar, the boat belonging to the American writer Ernest Hemingway.
Big-game fishing, also known as offshore sportfishing, offshore gamefishing or blue-water fishing, is a form of recreational fishing targeting large game fish, usually on a large body of water such as a sea or ocean.
Bimini is the westernmost district of the Bahamas and comprises a chain of islands located about 80 kilometres (50 mi) due east of Miami. Bimini is the closest point in the Bahamas to the mainland United States and approximately 210 km (130 mi) west-northwest of Nassau. The population is 2,417 as of the 2022 census.
The Atlantic blue marlin is a species of marlin endemic to the Atlantic Ocean. It is closely related to, and usually considered conspecific with, the Indo-Pacific blue marlin, then simply called blue marlin. Some authorities consider both species distinct.
Finca Vigía is a house in San Francisco de Paula Ward in Havana, Cuba which was once the residence of Ernest Hemingway. Like Hemingway's Key West home, it is now a museum. The building was constructed in 1886.
Baron Bror Fredrik von Blixen-Finecke was a Swedish nobleman, writer, professional hunter and guide on African big-game hunts. He was married to Karen Blixen from 1914 to 1925.
Norberto Fuentes is a writer and journalist.
Merritt Boat & Engine Works, sometimes abbreviated as Merritt's, is a yacht builder and boat yard headquartered in Pompano Beach, Florida. Together with Rybovich, Merritt is respected as one of the most historically significant Florida custom sport fishing boat builders.
Marlin fishing or billfishing is offshore saltwater game fishing targeting several species of fast-swimming pelagic predatory fish with elongated rostrum collectively known as billfish, which include those from the families Istiophoridae and Xiphiidae (swordfish). It is considered by some fishermen to be a pinnacle of big-game fishing, due to the size, speed and power of the billfish and their relative elusiveness.
Islands in the Stream (1970) is the first of the posthumously published novels of Ernest Hemingway. The book was originally intended to revive Hemingway's reputation after the negative reviews of Across the River and Into the Trees. He began writing it in 1950 and advanced greatly through 1951. The work, rough but seemingly finished, was found by Mary Hemingway among 332 works Hemingway left behind at his death. Islands in the Stream was meant to encompass three stories to illustrate different stages in the life of its main character, Thomas Hudson. The three different parts of the novel were originally to be titled "The Sea When Young", "The Sea When Absent" and "The Sea in Being". These titles were changed, however, into what are now its three acts: "Bimini", "Cuba", and "At Sea".
Land-based game fishing is a form of big-game sport fishing in which anglers attempt to catch oceanic game fish from shore rather than from ocean-going boats. The locations for such activities are generally rock platforms, though wharfs, jetties and beaches are also common. Some species such as sharks can be targeted in shallow littoral water, however most other species prefer deeper pelagic water, and this limits the areas where these types can be fished from the shore. Tackle used is usually comparable to that used on boats, but some differences are necessary, such as changes in rod length. Different tackle is used according to location and species targeted.
The Hotel Ambos Mundos is a hotel in Havana, Cuba. Built with a square form with five floors, it has an eclectic set of characteristics of 20th-century style architecture. It was built in 1924 on a site that previously had been occupied by an old family house on the corner of Calle Obispo and Mercaderes in Old Havana. It is a frequent tourist destination because it was home to the popular writer Ernest Hemingway for seven years in the 1930s.
Tales of Tahitian Waters is a 1931 book by Zane Grey. The book collects several fishing stories and was first published by Harper Brothers and was later republished in 1990 by Derrydale Press. In the book Grey describes catching a marlin weighing 1,040 pounds and the catch was credited as being the first 1,000 pound fish ever caught.
The Pemba Channel is the strait separating the eastern coast of mainland Africa on the coast of central and northern Tanga Region from Pemba Island to the south of the Indian Ocean. The channel is entirely in Tanzanian territorial waters
Selwyn Kip Farrington, Jr. was an American writer and sport fisherman. As a journalist he did much to popularize big game fishing from the 1930s onward, and set a number of records himself. In addition to fishing, he was a noted rail enthusiast. Farrington wrote and published twenty-four books covering such diverse topics as fishing, railroading, and amateur hockey.
The Ernest Hemingway International Billfishing Tournament is an annual fishing tournament held in Cuba. The tournament was established by American author Ernest Hemingway in 1950. Regularly held in May or June, it has been described as the "highlight of Cuba's fishing year" and regularly attracts anglers from as many as 30 countries.
Van Campen Heilner (1899-1970) was an American sportsman, and author of works on hunting and fishing. Heilner was born wealthy, his family's wealth, from coal mining, financed his hunting and fishing expeditions around the world.
Henry "Mike" Strater (1896–1987) was an American painter and illustrator. He was a friend of Ernest Hemingway and other figures of the Lost Generation. He was best known for his portraiture, figurative, and landscape drawings and paintings. Strater founded the Ogunquit Museum of American Art in Ogunquit, Maine in either 1952 or 1953.