The Te Amo began her life as the 78.5-foot, 97-ton auxiliary diesel ketch named Terpsichore, built by J.W. Upham in Brixham, England in 1925 for commercial fishing. She operated under this name for several years until December 1930, when she was overhauled and renamed Manequim. In 1946, the yacht found a new owner in novelist A.E.W. Mason, who converted her to a yacht and named her Mariel Stephens. This vessel eventually made her way to Vancouver, British Columbia, residing there until Carlton Rogers purchased her and moved her to California. During the 1960s, the yacht underwent significant repairs and refurbishment.

In the 1970s, the sailboat journeyed to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where she sailed as the charter yacht Te Amo. On May 16, 1985, the yacht concluded her lengthy journey by being intentionally sunk in approximately 200 feet of water off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, creating an artificial reef for divers to explore.