Today’s fishing had already been “invented” by Ernest Hemingway, almost 100 years ago. The story of the writer-fisherman and his revolutionary boat, Pilar.
What is a boat? A place where we are comfortable, at peace, at ease. For some it is more. Let’s assume a love, as Rino Gaetano put it, or something similar. This is the case of writer Hemingway, who in his lifetime had only one: Pilar, one of the “Playmates” series from the Wheeler Yachts shipyard that he wanted built with many customizations. She was commissioned in 1933 and delivered a year later because the writer requested a large number of changes from the initial design. And many more followed, to the point that the writer, born in 1899, in fact revolutionized the way of sailing and fishing.
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Pilar
“It was designed by my grandfather,” Wes Wheeler, who now runs the brand, tells us, ” Wesley L. Wheeler, and built as part of a production line of boats called ‘Playmates.’ It was a production boat, but modified by Hemingway who made it unique. The boat was built at the Wheeler Yacht Company shipyard in Brooklyn, New York, at the foot of Cropsey Avenue. She is built of white oak, Honduran mahogany and teak. At the writer’s request the transom was cut 12 inches (about 30 cm ed.) to make it easier for large fish to land, a 40HP Lycoming trolling motor was added on the starboard side, a large icebox was created under the cockpit, and he also had the hull painted black. Finally, he had the foredeck lined, eliminated the cockpit and converted the V-shaped berth into a four-person berth.
The modern fishing boat is born
Later, after delivery, he added a roof platform that he converted into a flybridge and added bamboo outriggers. He added a large roller on top of the transom to replace the davit and help haul large marlin aboard. Also an invention of his is the “fighting chair” which he made by converting a dentist’s chair and installing it in the center of the cockpit.”
The first flybridge boat in history?
Another genius is the flybridge. Here again we are on the edge of reality, where myth and history somewhat blur. There are, however, those who claim that the Pilar did in fact have one of the very first flybridges in history on a fishing yacht. Hemingway’s invention? Who can say. Certainly the Pilar’s was born that way.
On a fishing trip in Bimini, Bahamas, the writer, sitting in the cockpit, could not see much about the fish around him. So he sent his sons, Jack and Patrick, to the roof of the boat. From there, it was easy for them to support the crew in spotting marlin, and the gimmick proved so effective that, after some work, Hemingway came to have an elevated command post on the roof of the wheelhouse so that he would always have the whole sea in his sights and be able to catch a glimpse of the marlin while he was in command. It is clear from the pictures how it was a spartan solution, all practical and zero aesthetic: in fact a handrail was put on the roof, the steering wheel made from a Ford Model T was added, and through a system of pulleys and cables the throttle was also brought to the upper deck.
The combat chair
Another treat is the “fightingchair,” what the Americans call the “fighting chair,” which again finds one of its earliest users in the U.S. Nobel. Its function is this. To have a solid base on which you can point your feet even while seated to maximize your resistance when you run into big fish. The invention is attributed to Julio Sanchez who, as chance would have it, was among Hemingway’s regular fishing companions in Cuba. Sea-footed and an engineer by profession, he was “enlightened” after an accident at a barbershop when he got stuck in the chair during a cut and struggled not a little to get out. As the barber yanked his arms Sanchez kept his feet firmly on the support under his shoes, and instead of freeing Sanchez, the barber fell into the room. At this point Sanchez realized that having a stable base to fight an outside force would be advantageous. Using his engineering skills, Sanchez built the first fighting chair modeled after the barber’s chair. It swiveled, had a footrest, and was bolted to the deck.
He also created the first fishing harness, to maximize pulling efficiency and support. Pilar, after all, was a special boat. When she was not engaged in what is known in the U.S. as “big game,” she also had more special forms of use. Do you know “The Old Man and the Sea”? Hard to answer no. Legend has it that Hemingway wrote it right aboard the Pilar. Then, during World War II, she was used to hunt German U=boats without major results and also worked for the Cuban navy. She participated in almost every fishing tournament in Cuba. Upon Hemingway’s death the boat was bequeathed to his captain Gregorio Fuentes and can still be visited today on the tennis court of the Finca Vigia estate, which was Hemingway’s residence, in Cuba.
Hemingway, a born fisherman
The U.S. writer was not only able to bring improvements to his boat to make it more effective as a fishing machine, but he was also able to advance the “angler” techniques with which fish were pursued. A modern fisherman, in short, who combined skill in choosing bait for the type of fish he was facing with considerable physical stature. Standing 6 feet 9 inches tall and weighing about 100 pounds, he was a pioneer in developing the pumping technique, through which, by raising and lowering the rod tip and reeling in the reel, he used his back and legs to apply pressure and wear down the fish. This technique, combined with the fighting chair, led to unhoped-for results.
Hemingway himself said, “The secret is that the fisherman never rests. Every time he rests, the fish rests. This gives the fish a chance to come back strong. … It is not necessary to kill a horse to make it yield. It is necessary to persuade him. … To do that, you have to be in good condition.” In 1935, Hemingway made history for catching in Bimini with rod and reel the first giant tuna not maimed by sharks given the speed with which he could pull them aboard. The next day he caught an even larger tuna that weighed 381 pounds (about 172 kg). These catches made headlines around the world and started a revolution in sport fishing that copied Hemingway’s techniques.
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