[continued] yachtsman Bogart was. One night after a race in which Santana coasted past another yacht, Bogart was asked, "What makes the boat go like that?" Bogie said "Scotch" and then just walked away. Clearly Bogart put that drink holder to good use both on and off the race course. When Bogart wasn’t sailing, he still had Santana on his mind. When he formed his own production company in 1947, he called it Santana Productions. Bogie starred with Bacall and Edward G. Robinson in the movie Key Largo, and his boat in the film had Santana on the stern. He also had a complete model of Santana on display in his home inside a glass case. Above that case sat his two Academy Awards. If asked what was more important--the Oscars or the boat--no doubt he would have replied "The Boat." When Bogart died, they eulogized the actor, the husband and the father, but it was the model of Santana, his love, that stood along side the pulpit. Bogart certainly had a love affair with Santana. While some think of her as being special just because she was "Bogie’s Boat", in fact quite the opposite was the truth. Bogart had been a life-long sailor and he knew a good boat when he saw one. It was Santana’s indescribable virtues that attracted him. It just happened that he was also extraordinarily well-known, and this only furthered her notoriety. < previous | Willis Short - next >