The Pilar

The Pilar was a boat that Ernest Hemingway acquired in April 1934 from Wheeler Shipbuilding in Brooklyn, New York, for $7,495. Hemingway regularly fished off the boat in the waters of Key West, Florida, Marquesas Keys, and the Gulf Stream off the Cuban coast. He made three trips with the boat to the Bimini islands wherein his fishing, drinking, and fighting exploits drew much attention and remain part of the history of the islands.

The Pilar in "Cayos in the Stream"
To escape marital discord, Ernest Hemingway used his beloved boat, the Pilar, on a hunt for Nazi submarine in the Carribean, off the coast of Cuba or as he put it, "to do his bit in the war".

Off Cayo Bernardo, he came across an actual U-boat and destroyed it by shoving dynamite down its hatch. He was awarded a medal by the President of the United States for this act of courage.