Kennedy 'floating White House,' carefully restored, is up for sale

President Kennedy and John Kerry (far left) sailed aboard the 62-foot yawl the Manitou in Narraganset Bay, Aug. 26, 1962. The yacht was commissioned in 1947 by James Lowe of Chicago. (John F. Kennedy Library/Robert Knutter Library)

The yacht John F. Kennedy sailed during his presidency, a seagoing symbol of Camelot, is up for sale at the United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis.

The Manitou, a 62-foot yacht commissioned in 1947 by James Lowe of Chicago, was donated to the Coast Guard in 1955. According to the Kennedy Library's website, Kennedy selected the yacht in 1962 to be his "floating White House" and frequently captained it during trips to Hyannis Port.

"It had Bobby Kennedy on it. It had Teddy Kennedy on it. It may have even had Marilyn Monroe on it," said Bill Kilbourne, whose daughter bought and restored the yacht.

The boat was returned to the Coast Guard after Kennedy's assassination. In 1968, the Manitou was sold as surplus to the Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship in Maryland for $35,000.

Lowe's granddaughter, Laurie Kilbourne, who lives in Calgary, Alberta, bought the boat, which had fallen into disrepair, back from the school in 1999 for $35,000. She is selling the boat for $1.3 million.

Kilbourne said the Manitou's historic significance was a regular topic of family conversation, so she enlisted the help of a nautical historian to track down the boat. "We lost her location. I thought she was in the Smithsonian," she said.

She said she approached the board of the Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship, who sold her the run-down boat because of her strong family ties to it.

"It was barely able to float," said Bill Kilbourne, also of Calgary. "It was heavily rotted, in desperate need of either being sunk or saved, and Laurie was the savior."

The boat was painstakingly rebuilt at a shipyard on the Chesapeake Bay and much of the Manitou's original wood and hardware remain in use, the Kilbournes said.

The Manitou is one of the biggest draws this weekend at the boat show, said Bonnie Seidelmann, a spokeswoman for the show.

Kilbourne said she is optimistic she will be able to sell the boat. "Her speed and her beauty and, obviously, JFK using her adds to the intrigue," Kilbourne said.