By the 1960s, Deerleap
was in Southern California, once again serving as a charter vessel, hosting
the Kennedy family and various movie stars, and frequently being contracted
as a floating set for Hollywood movies.
After
World War II, Deerleap was purchased by Campbell Church Jr., a young, affluent
Seattle mining engineer. Church had started a yacht charter business that catered
to wealthy sportsmen, and his fleet included such famous yachts of the day as
the 86-foot Ted Geary - designed Westward; her sister ship, the Caroline; the
Alician; the Seyelyn II; and the Olympus. With her immense observation saloon
and fantail aft deck, Deerleap was the perfect addition to Church's charter
fleet. During the 1940s and 1950s, she frequently hosted entertainment luminaries
including Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and John Wayne, and financiers such as Andrew
Mellon Jr.
During
the mid-1950s, Deerleap was sold to Bud and Alice Olson. In 1956, she reportedly
ran aground in front of the Empress Hotel in Victoria and, in the winter of
1957, the boat sank to the bottom of the harbor in Port Angeles, Washington.
