The 28 metre commuterstyle motor yacht Honey Fitz was a home-from-home for the Kennedys and an important feature of the Camelot years of John F. Kennedy's presidency. The vessel that became the unofficial presidential yacht was built by Defoe in 1931 for financier Sewel Avery, who called her Lenore after his daughter - JFK, after taking the oath of office in January 1961, promptly renamed her Honey Fitz in honour of his maternal grandfather, John Francis Fitzgerald. It was on board this yacht that JFK celebrated his last birthday in 1963.
Honey Fitz was used to take visitors down the Potomac river to Mount Vernon for state dinners, and between May and September hosted the family as they cruised around Cape Cod. Statesmen and business leaders were frequent guests and British prime minister Harold Macmillan, as well as Hollywood stars Marilyn Monroe and Peter Lawford, were also entertained aboard. Honey Fitz was inherited by successive presidents but eventually sold in the late 90's to William Kallop, who's grandfather had been at Princeton with JFK, for $5.9 million.
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