My father discovered the Marblehead abandoned in a local marina near City Island NY in 1977. Plans were underway to destroy her by bulldozer to make space.

The marina owner had previously examined the boat and found it to be mechanically complete but in need of cosmetic upgrades. He sold it to my father “as is” for $500.00 in back storage.

She sports quite a few high-end options clearly installed at the original Marblehead Mfg facility in Biddeford ME such as:
a transom door with 2 brass steps, stainless steel grab rails, an electric head, an electric refrigerator (as well as the basic galvanized lined ice box listed on the brochure),
the twin engines (Graymarine 109s) were freshwater-cooled using solid brass Harris/General Motor heat exchangers mounted on the midship’s bulkhead.

The fuel and water tanks were listed as being copper-lined but on this particular model the tanks are all Monel.
There was also a factory-installed cast iron 2-cylinder Onan 7.5kw freshwater-cooled generator on the boat.

After I was able to locate the original brochures from Nat Hammond in Essex CT, I became very curious as to who the original owner was since all these options were added sparing no expense during the great depression. I know the 30s-40s was the era of commuter boats and yachts and wondered if the boat was purchased as a gift or by a wealthy banker on New York’s Wall St. (One can dream) Sometimes I imagine a Gatsby-esque original owner and am doing some research into this.

Getting back to the upkeep of the boat, our family spent many summers taking trips on the Long Island Sound and Hudson River, but by the early 90s my Father was getting on in years and decided to officially
give me the boat. By chance, I befriended a boatwright one day at the Bronx marina and decided to have him help me restore it.

We completed the first restoration way back in 1992 and I continued to do minor and major upgrades myself to make the interior & exterior complete.

I’m an active longtime member of the Antique and Classic Boat Society (Hudson River Chapter) and the Andersong won numerous awards between 2004-2008 but as years rolled by, I could see new structural problem areas emerging aside from what was restored in the early 90s. I am now in the process of doing the most massive restoration to date using the techniques I learned from the boatwright years ago and making the hull about 3 times stronger than the original construction.

This past summer, my wife and I vacationed in Maine and visited the original Boatyard in Biddeford (Now Rumery’s Boat Yard) as well as other well-known boat builders in Brooklin & Stonington. I left reward notices at each business in hopes of finally finding the original owner or purchase invoice details but it may be a long shot after all these years. As of now, my Marblehead is the only one registered with the ACBS and I have quite a bit invested in it in terms of my time and attention, so I am doing my best to complete the restoration and get her back in the water for her next life.