There is a plaque in the steering station in memory of James V. Forrestal, U.S. Secretary of the Navy and first U.S. Secretary of Defense. He died in 1949, and it is assumed that this plaque was added when his widow, Josephine, donated the Puffin to Bob Jones College in his name.
The search for all previous owners turned up this copy of a For Sale ad dated February 1965, which was later found to be from a brochure created by the Belchers.
Not too long after the purchase, Mrs. Forrestal donated the Puffin to Bob Jones College, and once again the Puffin was left in a bit of limbo, as this account from Paul indicates:
He and Captain Armstrong sailed her to Bob Jones College on behalf of Mrs. Forrestal. They stayed on to do a major rebuild of the main generator, a massive 3 phase generator large enough to run the air conditioner. Paul indicated, “I have the original helm (steering wheel) from the Puffin which was removed for security reasons when Mrs. Forrestal refused to pay the Merrill-Stevens Dinner Key yard bill. Can’t remember the exact date on this. I guess spring or early summer of 1966. We had just returned from the Bahamas and had blown the main Jenny after just clearing Gun Key Light.”