Doris Duke
Ralph Bellamy
John Garfield
Warren William
Louis Hayworth
Hermann Erben
Freddie McEvoy
King Farouk
Orson Welles
Fidel Castro
Howard Hughes
Rex Long-Innes
Barbara Stanwyck
Talullah Bankhead
Generalisimo Francisco Franco
— Tim
Legend has it Errol was “blown off course” by a hurricane in 1946, causing him to dock The Zaca in Jamaica, leading him to discover and soon move to Port Antonio. If this is true, which hurricane was it? Officially, per the charts below, there were seven Atlantic Ocean hurricanes in ’46. By my calculations, it appears No. 7 would have been most likely. Earlier that year, during all the other official hurricanes that could have forced Errol into Jamaica (except possibly “extratropical” No. 6), it appears to me that Zaca was exclusively in the Pacific – San Francisco, Los Angeles, Mexican islands & waters (filming Cruise of The Zaca), Acapulco (filming Lady from Shanghai), et al. Anyone out there know for sure? If any of this is not accurate, please let us all know!
Here’s a Jamaican-written history:
“1946: Actor Errol Flynn’s schooner Zaca docks in Kingston for repairs, Flynn discovers Port Antonio and then sails there, beginning his lifelong love affair with the area and reviving Porty as a secluded destination for the rich and famous.
Christopher Columbus arrived in Jamaica in 1494 and claimed it for Spain. He liked the island so much he returned four times. In 1655 the British took control, turning it into a colony. It was Errol Flynn, however, who really turned the international spotlight toward Port Antonio. The swashbuckling actor was a social swashbuckler in real life, and to this day the people of Porty love to tell tales about Flynn – many of them taller than the Blue Mountains.
No doubt, the hard-living, high-sporting Flynn enjoyed women, drinking, gambling, sailing, fishing and being a prankster. He was dead serious, however, about his love of Port Antonio and its prospects. Flynn’s very presence in Port Antonio in the 1950s helped attract celebrities and international attention.”
— Tim
So said Mrs. Fleen about her peripatetic, force-of-nature husband.
As for Miss Dynamita, Errol reported: “We fought from the opening gong; so we got married.”
Here’s the Always Astonishing and Often True Life Story of Errol Flynn:
www.newspapers.com…
(As Flynnmates around the globe know, the fully true life story is even more astonishing.)
— Tim
Nasa’s take on Errol and Cyclone Errol
“NASA Sees Remnants of A Once-Swashbuckling Cyclone Errol in So. Indian Ocean”
“Unlike the famous Hollywood actor of days gone by the remnants of cyclone Errol are no longer making a lot of noise in the Southern Indian Ocean. In fact, NASA satellite data reveals that wind shear has taken its toll on the center of the storm’s circulation, despite some improved convection.”
“Errol Flynn was an actor in the 1930s and 40s known for his swashbuckling film roles in movies like Captain Blood and Robin Hood. Cyclone Errol was known for its rains and wind in northern Western Australia and then in Indonesia’s West Timor.”
— Tim
Eighty years ago this week, Errol was in Jamaica during the hard-hitting “no (official) name” Hurricane of 1947 that hit Southeast Florida. It’s path through the Caribbean and into Miami was similar to Irma’s so far, though, objectively, Irma may prove even more irksome.
On arrival in Miami – on his way to film Don Juan – newspapers published the following report and photo:
“Errol Flynn and his wife, Nora, are pictured on their arrival here by plane from Jamaica. Their flight course closely paralleled the course of the hurricane. ‘Shocking and sad, ‘ Flynn said of storm-wrecked Miami.” Flynn and wife are shown on the stairs of an airplane.”
— Tim
John L. Sullivan v. Gentleman Jim Corbett
www.thesweetscience.com…
(See the last three paragraphs for the Flynn connection)
And listen to Liam Neeson’s introduction of (Errol) “one of the ultimate matinee idols” playing (Gentleman Jim) “one of the first matinee idols.” (at 1:09:54 through 1:12)
— Tim
I think it would be great to collect and publish names of Zaca crew members since the days of the legendary schooner’s first launch in Sausalito nearly ninety years ago.
It’s been reported that Templeton Crocker’s Zaca had up to eighteen crew members, including on his circumnavigation of the world, and his legendary scientific expeditions. This included his personal valet, a doctor, and a photographer. From photos, it appears the Navy appears to have had that amount or even more crew.
The number of crew on Zaca when Errol sailed her appears to have varied.
Nail polish millionaire, Freddie Tinsley, certainly must have had some crew at times, mostly only a skeletal crew for dockside entertainment. It’s unclear, however, how often he actually sailed The Zaca.
I am not certain if Joseph Rosenberg, Bernard Voisin or Phillip Coussins ever actually sailed Zaca.
Today’s Zaca – majestically restored and cared for by its current owner, Robert Memmo – has been said to day cruise out of Monaco with as few as four in its crew.
For the historical record, can anyone help name members of these various crews?
(Ahoy San Francisco Bay Area Marine Historians, Wallace Berry, WWII Navy Alumni Associations, Port Antonians, Bonny Cother, and Palma de Majorcans!!!)
1929 – 1942 – Templeton Crocker, San Francisco
1942 – 1945 – U.S. Navy – renamed “USS Zaca” “IX-73”, San Francisco
1945 – 1945 – War Shipping Administration
1945 – 1946 – Joseph Rosenberg, San Francisco
1946 – 1959 – Errol Flynn, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Jamaica, Mediterranean
1959 – 1965 – Freddie Tinsley, Palma de Mallorca to Villefranche Su Mer
1965 – 1990 – Bernard Voisin, Villefranche Su Mer
1990 – 1990 – Phillip Coussins, Villafranche Su Mer
1990 – 2017 – Robert Memmo, Monaco
LE “ZACA” DANS LE PORT DE FONTVIEILLE, MONACO.
Some of the crews can be seen in the videos below:
— Tim
“[Carl] Hubbs arrived in La Jolla in 1944, when Scripps was a ghost town because so many people had left to help with the war effort. There wasn’t a lot of money to collect or study fish.
But opportunities arose, and one of them came from an unexpected source: Actor Errol Flynn.
In 1946, Flynn notified Scripps that he planned to sail his schooner from San Diego to Acapulco and that he was willing to take a scientist with him. Hubbs quickly stepped forward and ended up collecting a great number of specimens.”
— Tim
