The family of Capt. Everett Roberts aboard M/V Gold Finger at Great Isaac Light, left to right: Peggy, Crystal, Dale, Scott, West. From Jim Kerr’s article in Abaco Life Magazine – citation below.
MAILBOAT NAME: M/V Gold Finger
PAST NAMES: used to be a US Navy submarine chaser, name / designation not known
DIMENSIONS: 104′ long
CONSTRUCTION: wood
YEAR BUILT: 1940s
BUILDER: not known
EARLY CAREER: US Navy
BAHAMAS CAREER: mailboat from Nassau to Andros in the 1970s, before that was a light house tender under Capt. Everett Roberts of Abaco in the 1960s – Capt. Roberts would take his entire family of 4 children, with his teenage son as mate, to tour from the Cuban frontier (Cay Lobos) to northern Bahamas, servicing a dozen lighthouses with supplies and mail.
CAPTAINS: Capt. Everett Roberts
OWNERS: Imperial Lighthouse Service, then operated as a mailboat briefly before it was lost. The ILS also operated the 147-foot former US Navy LCI named M/V Anna Patricia, however this is not known to have served as a mailboat.
PAST NAMES: used to be a US Navy submarine chaser, name / designation not known
DIMENSIONS: 104′ long
CONSTRUCTION: wood
YEAR BUILT: 1940s
BUILDER: not known
EARLY CAREER: US Navy
BAHAMAS CAREER: mailboat from Nassau to Andros in the 1970s, before that was a light house tender under Capt. Everett Roberts of Abaco in the 1960s – Capt. Roberts would take his entire family of 4 children, with his teenage son as mate, to tour from the Cuban frontier (Cay Lobos) to northern Bahamas, servicing a dozen lighthouses with supplies and mail.
CAPTAINS: Capt. Everett Roberts
OWNERS: Imperial Lighthouse Service, then operated as a mailboat briefly before it was lost. The ILS also operated the 147-foot former US Navy LCI named M/V Anna Patricia, however this is not known to have served as a mailboat.
FATE: According to Jim Kerr (citation below), “The Goldfinger, sold for service as a mail boat, sank in a storm on a run to Andros”.
Source: THE WAY IT WAS, Sustaining nine lighthouse keepers was his difficult job decades ago By Jim Kerr Abaco Life Editor, Summer/Fall Vol 22, No. 2