MAILBOAT NAME: M/V Betty K V
PAST NAMES: Toste Jarl, Andre Paul, Atlantis Mariner I, Laila, Laila 1, Ocean Blue
DIMENSIONS: 815 gross tons, 790 tons capacity (deadweight)
CONSTRUCTION: by Vaagen Verft Engineering, Kyrkesaeterora, Norway, yard # 33, Official # 7024158
YEAR BUILT: 1970, delivered November 30, 1969
EARLY CAREER: Florida to Nassau and possibly Abaco
FORMER NAMES | until 2010 Sep | LAILA 1 |
until 2007 Feb | LAILA | |
until 2006 Apr | ATLANTIS MARINER 1 | |
until 2006 | ATLANTIS MARINER I | |
until 1999 Sep | ANDRE PAUL | |
until 1995 Nov | BETTY K V | |
until 1980 | TOSTE JARL |
Of “the two little boats,” the 116-ton Ena K, built in 1927, could carry a dozen passengers and that January carried 15-year old Sidney Poitier to Miami to live with his older brother. A round trip in the Ena K cost $17.50, compared to $24.50 in the New Northland before the war. In the spring of 1942 the Ena K celebrated her 1,000th crossing to Miami. The other was the 164-ton Betty K, built in 1938. The “motor boats,” as the Duchess called them, offered sailings every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday in each direction between Nassau and Miami. Before the war, they had sailed from Miami at Noon and from Nassau at 2 pm but now they moved back and forth as cargo offered.
The vessels were named after the two daughters of Trevor Kelly, owner of the Kelly Lumber Company, who had started the service in 1920. The Miami agents were Saunders & Mader, who had also represented the Queen of Nassau and a number of other small ships in this service, and Nassau agents were Albury & Company. More than eighty years later, Betty K Agencies Ltd of Nassau would introduce the sixth and seventh ships of that name, the 1,457-ton Betty K VI in 2004 and 2,028-ton Betty K VII in 2006.”