HMCo #1506s Silver Heels II

"1939. ... Based on the number of new boats built or bought to replace those lost or damaged in the 1938 hurricane, although many of those that were supposed to be total wrecks were sold by the insurance companies and rebuilt by their mechanically inclined new owners, taking one, two, three and in a few cases four years before they were again afloat, this might well be called the 'replacement year.' ...
J. Peter Geddes ordered another Silver Heels [#1506s] from Herreshoff to replace the original Silver Heels [#1204s], another one that was bought, repaired and sold to a New York yachtsman. ..." (Source: Davis, Jeff. Yachting in Narragansett Bay. Providence, 1946, p. 89.)

"... Peter Geddes of Providence has sold his racing sloop 'Silver Heels' [#1506s] to Herman C. Huffer Jr., of Newport. She was the second 'Silver Heels' to be designed and built by the Herreshoff Mfg. Co., as the first one [#1204s] was so badly damaged in the 1938 hurricane that she was turned over to the insurance Co. Mr. Geddes liked the model so much he had the new one built on the same molds.
The 'Pinafore' has been launched and is moored in between the docks at the Herreshoff Mfg. Co. She is being put in commission in readiness for her owner R. F Haffenreffer 3rd. who is touring the country with Mrs. Haffenreffer and their daughters, Virginia and Jean." (Source: Anon ("See Weed"). "Ship Shape 'n Bristol Fashion." Bristol Phoenix, July 22, 1947, p. 1.)

"In the years leading up to the war, there weren't many sailboats built either, mostly 12 1/2s including two built for the Haffenreffers. Design number 1506, another of Sid's Silver Heels, was built in 1939 for J. Peter Geddes II, who christened his new boat Silver Heels II. The price was $2,200, $29,000 today." (Source: Jones, Gregory O. Herreshoff Sailboats. St. Paul, Minn., 2004, p. 138.)

• Silver Heels II (MIT Museum-made index card)
• Silver Heels II (MIT Museum-made index card)
• Note: The vessel index cards comprise two sets of a total of some 3200 cards about vessels built by HMCo, with dimensions and information regarding drawings, later or former vessel names, and owners. They were compiled from HMCo's early days until 1920 and added to in later decades, apparently by Hart Nautical curator William A. Baker and his successors. While HMCo seems to have used only one set of index cards, all sorted by name and, where no name was available, by number, later users at MIT apparently divided them into two sets of cards, one sorted by vessel name, the other by vessel number and greatly expanded the number of cards. Original HMCo cards are usually lined and almost always punched with a hole at bottom center while later cards usually have no hole, are unlined, and often carry substantially less information. All cards are held by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass.

Month: Mar.
Day: 08
Year: 1939
E/P/S: S
No.: 1506
Name: Silver Heels II
Rig: Silver Heels
Amount: 2200
Last Name: Geddes II
First Name: J. Peter

Source: Vermilya, Peter and Maynard Bray. "Transcription of the HMCo. Construction Record." Unpublished database, ca. 2000.

Note: The transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Peter Vermilya and Maynard Bray was performed independently (and earlier) than that by Claas van der Linde. A comparison of the two transcriptions can be particularly useful in those many cases where the handwriting in the Construction Record is difficult to decipher.

"Dimensions, type of rig, and underwater configuration from Lloyd's List of American Yachts 1955." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. November 6, 2010.)

"[Silverheels II was still in the Mystic/Noank area between ca. 1956 to 1959, but then faded from the scene quite quickly.]" (Source: Bray, Maynard. Private Email to Claas van der Linde. February 2, 2015.)

"Over the years Herman C. Huffer owned three Herreshoff yachts named after his mother: The S-boat #1416s Estelle Dunbar III, the Fishers Island 31 #1521s Estelle Dunbar III ex-Memory, and #1506s Estelle B. Dunbar V ex-Silver Heels II." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. February 4, 2015.)

"Weight of Hull 3139 lbs [of which weight of lead 1620 lbs]. Weight of Mast + Rigging 64 lbs." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Notes on Construction Plan 075-065 (HH.5. 05454). Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

Note: Research notes contain information about a vessel that is often random and unedited but has been deemed useful for future research.