Perry Mason. A Cold War Soviet spy. The leaker of the Pentagon Papers. Matthew Rhys has played countless iconic characters on television shows and movies like The Americans, Brothers & Sisters, The Post and Cocaine Bear. But after knocking back a few drinks in 2017, the Welsh actor unwittingly took on his most challenging role ever when he stumbled upon a 1939 Wheeler Playmate on eBay.
Like a meet-cute in a rom-com, Rhys was smitten from the second he laid eyes on the 38-foot dilapidated ship. And it wasn’t just the whiskey talking. One of just four original documented Wheeler Playmates remaining today, Rhys was familiar with Wheeler’s renowned craftsmanship and legendary history. Afterall, his favorite author, Ernest Hemingway, had a Playmate called Pilar and penned The Old Man and the Sea aboard it. Upon noticing the ship’s name was Rarebit, a traditional Welsh dish, Rhys knew his fate was sealed. Sight unseen, Rhys clicked the “Buy” button on the nearly 80-year-old wooden vessel and purchased Rarebit for $30,000.
Embarking on a Passion Project
Even as a first-time boat owner, Rhys knew he’d have to invest time and money to make Rarebit seaworthy again. His nostalgia for boating as a child along the Welsh coast and a shared love of chartering wooden boats with his wife, actress Keri Russell, made Rhys extra committed to restoring Rarebit to her former glory.
He estimated the job would take six months. But it took him four contractors, four years and many multiples of the purchase price to bring his dream to fruition.
Prepping to Refurbish Rarebit
Every new role comes with a learning curve — whether it’s understanding a character’s relationship dynamics or mastering an accent. Being Rarebit’s owner was no exception.
As a Brooklyn resident, Rhys reached out to nearby boatyards to house his renovation project, but he quickly learned most shipyards don’t share his enthusiasm for wooden boats. Having garnered a reputation for being perpetually abandoned, Rarebit wasn’t accepted at any Brooklyn boatyards. Undeterred, Rhys relocated his project slightly further away to a shipyard in New Jersey.
Next was finding a contractor to tackle the enormous renovation. Over the following year, Rhys went through three contractors who all made big promises, but little progress on Rarebit.
Enlisting the Help of a Fellow Wooden Boat Owner
For partner Keri Russell’s 40th birthday, the couple had chartered the Water Table, a historic WWII wooden ship that offered dinner cruises through New York Harbor. This gave Rhys the idea to reach out to the Water Table’s owner and captain, Kelli Farwell, to see if she could lend any assistance.
Rhys’ timing marked a shift in the tides for his project. Water Table had recently been hit by a steel tugboat while it was docked, sinking the vessel and Farwell’s source of income. Without a boat of her own, Farwell was more than willing to lend Rhys a hand with Rarebit. They met at the boatyard, and Farwell immediately took a different tack than all the other contractors: She told the truth about the boat’s condition.
Getting to Work
Rhys appreciated Farwell’s honesty about how challenging the project would be and the time it would require. And then, she picked up a sander and got to work. Not only was Farwell good with her hands, her knowledge of and passion for wooden boats made her the perfect person to lead the restoration.
Farwell and Rhys performed almost all the work themselves, from splining the wood to tiling the bathroom. They obsessed over every detail and sourced authentic materials from Rarebit’s original era, including now-rare Honduran mahogany, a structure of white oak, the original fittings, an ice box from the 1930s and a gramophone.
When they didn’t know how to complete a task they turned to YouTube tutorials, while experts were enlisted for the engine and electrical work. After four years of hard work, Rarebit was ready for her first sea trial in November 2020.
Chartering New Waters
Rhys didn’t just want Rarebit for himself, he longed for others to experience the water from a wooden boat. Now beautifully restored and seaworthy again, Rarebit was moved to ONE°15 Brooklyn Marina where Rhys launched a charter business he named Moveable Feast NY in a nod to Hemingway’s 1964 memoir.
At the helm was none other than Farwell. As a ferry boat captain, and only the fourth woman to ever hold that role in New York Harbor, she was ready to set sail. The Moveable Feast cruises took passengers past scenic attractions including the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the Brooklyn Bridge, while they sipped on beverages and nibbled on charcuterie. Sometimes, passengers were treated to an unexpected sighting: Emmy-winner Matthew Rhys serving them snacks and regaling them with stories of Rarebit’s evolution.
Cruising With the Classics
Coincidently, Wesley Wheeler, the grandson of the founder of The Wheeler Shipyard Corporation, was also hard at work reviving the 38’ Wheeler. His team reverse engineered the yacht using specs from Pilar, but updated the vessel with modern features and 21st century technology. Fittingly, she was christened Legend.
Rhys contacted Wheeler during the renovation of his boat, and after much anticipation he finally got to meet a member of the Wheeler clan. On a beautiful September afternoon in 2021, they set off from ONE°15 Marina in their iconic wooden Wheelers. Born more than 80 years apart, but a labor of love for both owners, Rarebit and Legend cruised around the harbor, ushering in the next chapter of the Wheeler Yacht legacy.