One of the men who sailed the Puffin to Bob Jones College on behalf of Josephine Forrestal thought that she had purchased the vessel from Belcher Oil Company in Florida. This was the first hint of another owner – as the Curtises original list of owners had not included this name.
But the existence of Edwin Belcher Jr, owner of the Belcher Oil Company, as another owner was then further confirmed by Anne Wiley. Edwin was a friend of Anne’s parents, and she remembers sailing on the Puffin in the late 1950s. She had these copies of Pious Puffin stationary, some of which was still on board when the Curtises owned her in the 1970s.
Anne shares the following stories …
We had to go through quite a number of bridges to get out of the Miami River, as I recall the captain let me signal one of the bridges at least once. I also remember there was a ship to shore radio, can’t recall who we talked to but I remember the captain letting me and my sister talk on it. We didn’t spend a lot of time on the Puffin, but the times we did were fun (well there was one pretty rough going where my sister got pretty seasick and one of the other women told a ghost story about a ship at sea and a sea monster…suffice it to say I had trouble falling asleep that night..my bunk had the window and my sister was too sick to trade bunks).
My sister remembered that on our trip there had been a galley fire…mostly smoke …and it was contained quickly. She agreed that we were both pretty young , so the date 1959 seems like when we would have been aboard. We may in fact have only sailed once on her and probably from Miami to the Keys. I have no doubt that the Belchers would have gone to the Bahamas on her, as I know our parents(Mary Anne and Dick), Edwin and Virginia Belcher and Pop Belcher(Edwin’s dad) had gone to the Bahamas (before we were born) and would fly in a small plane from one island to the next.
My 90 yr old Uncle who lives in the FL Keyes recalls, “We were parked many years ago at the downtown Miami River waiting for the bridge to close and a large vessel was passing through. We saw someone waving and lo and behold it was Mary Anne and Dick. They later mentioned to us that it was the Belchers boat the ‘Puffin’.”
Anne saved this brochure of the Puffin. Notice that it is the basis of the for-sale ad of 1965, and also includes a floor-plan!
Click on the images to see them full size.
Further confirmation comes from Gary Belcher …
I was quite surprised to encounter your web sight concerning the Pious Puffin. She was in fact owned by Belcher Oil Company and was purchased through Bertram Yacht sales sometime in the fifties. The puffin was maintained at the companies marine yard on the miami river and included many updates one of which was replacing the mizzen mast which had rusted through on a trip I was on to the Bahamas. The cause of this problem was that the engine exhaust was routed through the mizzen mask which exited out the top. Another problem were continuous leaks caused from the constant circulation of hot water through the towel rakes in the heads. As to the brochure you show, these were already printed prior to our purchasing her.
Edwin Jr’s grandniece, Laurel McLeod Nichols has contributed the following photos …
My father, Don Nichols, Jr, and my mother, Lynn McLeod Esco were on the Puffin in 1961. I was aboard at three months old. My mother, Lynn McLeod Nichols at the time, was the daughter of Margaret Belcher, sister of Edwin Belcher Junior. Gary Belcher is my mother’s first cousin.
Open 1961 Photos