What was the name of Hemingway's fishing boat?

What was the name of Hemingway’s fishing boat? The answer is “Pilar.”

Hemingway acquired the 38-foot fishing boat in April 1934 from the Wheeler Shipbuilding Company in Brooklyn. It cost $7,495 and was modified for serious offshore fishing, including a livewell, twin-engine arrangement, and equipment for hauling large fish aboard. He sailed it from Miami to Key West after taking delivery.

Pilar became central to Hemingway’s life in Florida and Cuba. He fished from it around Key West, the Marquesas Keys, the Gulf Stream, and the Bimini Islands. The boat also supported his interest in marine research, including cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution.

The name had several associations. “Pilar” was Pauline Pfeiffer’s nickname, and Pilar is also the name of a partisan leader in Hemingway’s 1940 novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. The boat helped inspire The Old Man and the Sea and Islands in the Stream. It is preserved as a museum boat at Finca Vigía in Cuba.