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The Yacht Nedeva

The name Nedeva was the combination of the name "Ned," a nickname for E.T. Stotesbury, and "Eva," the name used by Stotesbury's second wife Lucretia Roberts Cromwell Stotesbury. There were a total of six yachts named Nedeva. The only one that still exists today is the fifth Nedeva, launched in November of 1930 for Stotesbury by the New York Yacht, Launch and Engine Company under registration number 230345.

The yacht was christened by Miss Margaret Connell, Stotesbury's private nurse. Mr. and Mrs. Stotesbury were both present at the christening, and they gave a tea on board the yacht immediately afterwards. Other guests present were Mrs. Christopher Dumphy, Mrs. Grace H. Hutchins (who was in charge of the interior decoration of the yacht), Jimmy Cromwell (Eva's son from her first marriage), and J.F. Masterson, a vice president of the shipbuilding company.

The Fifth Yacht Nedeva in Palm Beach, Florida

Photo source: Springfield Township Historical Society

E.T. Stotesbury originally had not intended to purchase a new yacht until the Spring of 1931, but he decided to move up his request in order to help employment among shipbuilders during the Depression of 1930. The seventy-seven-foot wooden yacht was powered by two six-cylinder gasoline motors manufactured by the 20th Century Manufacturing Company and had twin screw propellers that gave it a maximum speed of fifteen knots. The yacht boasted a large sun deck, four staterooms and two baths with accommodations for six persons. A special set of Lenox china was commissioned from Wm. H. Plummer & Co. in New York for the new yacht, sporting the flags of the Corinthian Yacht Club of Philadelphia (where Stotesbury was a member) and the Stotesbury yacht colors with the initials "E.T.S." on them.

The Special Issue of Lenox China Made for the Nedeva

Photo Source: Edward C. Zwicker

A silver-plated ladle made for the Nedeva by Reed & Barton. Note the burgees on the handle.

The May, 1931 issue of Country Life Magazine featured an article on the yacht Nedeva. Accompanied by photographs of the yacht exterior and interior, the article revealed the following: THE NEDEVA A comfortable cruiser The Nedeva was designed and built for Mr. Stotesbury by the New York Yacht, Launch & Engine Company; Grace Hyman Hutchings and Rebecca Thomson Dunphy were the decorators.
Edward T. Stotesbury, Esq., the eminent banker of Philadelphia, cruised in southern waters last winter in his new cabin cruiser Nedeva. The name is a combination of the first names of its owners. Mr. Stotesbury flies the burgee of the Corinthian Yacht Club of Philadelphia on his yacht.
	Henna, cream and blue striped silk curtains contrast pleasantly with the ivory colored walls in Mr. Stotesbury's stateroom. The bedspread is henna, and blue damask covers stool and armchair.
The deck furniture on the Nedeva was created exclusively for Mr. Stotesbury; many of the materials used were imported and some were specially designed. The coarse, rough-textured linens used on the deck repeat, in stronger tones, the colors of the yacht's interior. The perfect harmony throughout and the luxury of equipment individuate the Nedeva; it is as comfortable as a well-ordered house.
	In the saloon, a room with much charm, the walls are of mahogany, harmonizing with the curtains of ecru silk striped in warm rust color with soft green and gold accents. The chairs and little accessories repeat these notes of green, rust and gold.
The eggshell walls in Mrs. Stotesbury's stateroom are glazed with a warm peach glow. Imported modernistic plain silk curtains combine the blue-green of the sea with ivory and tones of peach. Bench and chair take their color from the blue-green of the curtains; the lamps, of alabaster and crystal, have peach colored shades.

The yacht Nedeva was used to transport the Stotesburys between their houses in Bar Harbor, Maine; Philadelphia and Palm Beach, Florida. The intracoastal waterway was often used as a route. In 1934, Stotesbury decided to sell the Nedeva and purchase a larger (100') diesel yacht launched in 1929 by the same manufacturer. This next yacht became the sixth and final Nedeva.

A "Best-Dressed" E.T. Stotesbury and friends aboard the sixth yacht Nedeva, 1937. Stotesbury's nurse Miss Connell is on the far right.

Photo source: Private Collection.

The fifth Nedeva had several subsequent names and owners; by 1947 she became the Shorleave, based in Seattle, Washington. She served as a private yacht doing low-key charters in Alaska for many years, and during the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound in 1989, she was used as a floating hotel for the executives from the clean-up crews.

The Shorleave (formerly the Nedeva) recently in Seattle, Washington.

Photo Sources: Dock Street Yachts, Inc. and Mahina Yachts, Inc.

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