Former President George H.W. Bush’s much beloved fast fishing boat, a 38-foot Fountain named Fidelity V, was just sold at an auction in Houston for $435,000.
An anonymous buyer phoned in his winning bid at the auction conducted by the George and Barbara Bush Foundation. The auction, called the 2024 Presidential Salute, raised money for the Bush library and for the school of government at Texas A&M. President Bush died in 2018.
Built in 2011, the Fountain 38CC carried the presidential insignia on the hull midships. It had Fountain’s twin-step hull, a beam of 10’ 6”, and was powered by three 300-hp Mercury Verado outboards, giving it a top speed of more than 75 mph.
Bush liked to go fast, and he loved to fish in the Florida Keys and in the waters off his family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. He often had fun trying to outrun the Secret Service agents on boats that were supposed to be keeping him safe. His own boats were all named Fidelity.
Ever the gentleman, Bush sent us a very nice hand-written note in the mid-’80s after we published a story in Motor Boating & Sailing about his then Fidelity, probably number one or two, and his exploits in Maine. He was Ronald Reagan’s vice president then.
Bush was the youngest pilot in the Navy in the Second World War, flying 58 combat missions in a three-man torpedo bomber. On Sept. 2, 1944, his plane was shot down on a bombing mission on the small island of Chi Chi Jima. Bush bailed out and was rescued a few hours later by a submarine. The other two men did not survive.
Later in life, Bush took up parachuting, saying he wanted to do it without somebody shooting at him. He made is last jump on his 90th birthday.
See the video below:
