12 of you will be treated to a priceless 2 hour cruise on the iconic Aphrodite while enjoying wine, beer, and hors d' oeuvres.
Once the pride of the Gold Coast commuter boats that whisked financiers from their Long Island homes to their Wall Street offices in the 1930s, Aphrodite, one of the most easily recognized boats on the water, is now the pride of Watch Hill, having been totally restored back to her former glory.
Even in its original incarnation, Aphrodite was never just another pretty commuter boat. It was commissioned by John Hay "Jock" Whitney in 1937 from the Purdy Boat Company in Port Washington, on the north shore of Long Island. Purdy-built Aphrodite to go fast, with twin 1,500-hp Packard airplane engines. It also was arguably the prettiest commuter boat on the water, with its signature torpedo stern, long, low, black profile, and gleaming mahogany.
During the Second World War, Whitney gave the boat to the Navy, which used it to carry dignitaries (including President Roosevelt) up and down the East Coast. After the war, when Whitney was the publisher of The New York Herald Tribune, he sent Aphrodite every morning from his then summer home on Fishers Island to New London to pick up the morning papers. He also entertained on the boat, with a guest list running from Fred Astaire and Spencer Tracy to Shirley Temple. In the '60s Whitney donated Aphrodite to charity, and it eventually went through several owners and various states of disrepair.
In 2003, Chuck Royce, of Royce Mutual Funds, found Aphrodite languishing in Florida and brought it up to the Brooklin Boatyard in Maine for a total, two-year restoration. The boat now is moored in Watch Hill, near the Ocean House, which Royce also restored.
Dates must be mutually agreeable, preference to be used June 2022 or September 2022. Subject to availability.
