# The Harbour of Acapulco.



## Cpt Dick Brooks (May 13, 2013)

Debut lay in the busy harbour of Acapulco, anchored in a hundred feet of water in Bahie Santa Lucia, with three shackles of chain. It wasn't possible to let out more chain because of the number of large yachts and tourist boats anchored all around her. In the morning after our arrival there was a continuous bustle all around the ship as vessels of every description moved about under the shadow of the old Citadel part of the town.
I got to know Dennis, a Californian American who was the skipper of a 75 foot Bermudan-rigged yawl that had recently arrived from Miami via the Panama Canal. The Gulf Stream had badly damaged her mainsail and boom in a sudden line-squall in the Gulf de Tehuantepec. There'd been so much weight on the fore-stay that the stem had shifted against the apron. The excessive weight exerted by the mainmast on the keel caused the garboards to leak. They were trying to repair her before continuing on to the Marina Del Ray near Los Angeles. We spent a very enjoyable 4th July with them, celebrating their American Independence Day.
Within a week of our arrival, Nick and a fellow doctor from St. James's Hospital in Leeds arrived to join Debut as crew. He'd completed his internship in the casualty department of the hospital, and now intended taking a six month sabbatical to explore French Polynesia with us. Alex specialised in family planning, and had bought a suitcase-full of IUD's to implant in all our girls, instead of them having to use the Pill. The contraceptive pill is not very effective with any kind of stomach upset such as sea-sickness, excessive consumption of alcohol and food poisoning from eating dodge street food on a run-ashore.
A week later Big-Anna's two girlfriends arrived from Bergen, Norway. Lillann was quite slim, while Carrie was a buxom farmer's daughter. We had our second IUD party when they were fitted with their contraceptive devices on the mess-room table.
We were chatting between ourselves in the mess-room, when Lillann brought up the subject of pirates at sea. Big-Anna told her of the counter-measures we had taken while passing along the Caribbean coast of Columbia, with cases of Molotov cocktails being stored on deck in a ready-ammunition locker, and all the guns on board being loaded ready for action and cases of ammunition ready.
I told them of the Norwegian yacht, Artemis, that I'd towed through the Suez Canal with my last ship, Dauntless Star. How they had been attacked by pirates in the South China Sea, and how the skipper's girlfriend, Lydia, had been blown away by the pirates with an AK-47 assault rifle while trying to protect her new-born baby son with a hand gun. They were absolutely shocked, and refused to believe me, as this was a very famous story in Norway. I went to my cabin and returned with the log-book of Dauntless Star, presenting them with the relevant pages open. The three Norwegian girls shook their heads in wonder, and that they were now... in some way... involved in this notorious incident.
After another week, a yachtie rowed over in his small dingy to say there was a visitor waiting for me at the yacht club bar. When I arrived in my launch, it turned out to be my younger sister, Janet. She'd come to spend her holiday with us on board the ship from her secretarial job in England. I fixed her up with Dennis to keep her company, but he drank too much to be of much use to her in bed. After he fell asleep the second night they spent together without even touching her, I fixed her up with Black Bill. His wife had just flown back to see her mother in the States, taking their young daughter with her... so he could have done with some company himself. They must have enjoyed each other's company, as she stayed with him on his yacht for the rest of her holiday.
During our second month in the harbour my new chief engineer arrived from Holland. Rekus was a friend of Fritz, and like him came from Friesland in the north of the country. He was six foot seven inches tall, and towered above everyone of us on board Debut. He'd been a designer for Philips Electronics, but wanted some time out to travel the world. To celebrate his arrival on the ship, we all went on yet another trip around the harbour on one of the many booze-cruise ships sailing from the Careenage, in the old quarter of the town. For an all-inclusive charge of U.S. $5, you could drink as much as you liked of the strong local spirits. After slowly cruising around the bay, the ship took us out into the passage between the mainland and the offshore island to see the famous cliff-divers of Acapulco in a cleft between the rocks.
I ran up all the machinery with Rekus, to show him how everything worked and explain their idiosyncrasies. After going through the starting procedure of the main engine, I handed over the engine-room to his care. He set about checking everything through to his own satisfaction, and carried out any minor repairs that he found necessary.
Dennis's yacht, Gulf Stream, was found to have nail-sickness when she was examined by a marine surveyor. The three wealthy American owners, who'd bought the classic Camper and Nicholson designed yacht as an investment, realised they'd caught a cold by not having her structurally surveyed in Miami prior to purchasing her. They wanted to use her for a scam to recoup their losses... carrying marijuana from Colombia to the Channel Islands off Santa Barbara... so asked me to strip her out for them ready for the voyage. We removed over five tons of expensive equipment from her, including half a dozen really large Dacron storm-sails and a couple of nice galvanized anchors.
In the latter part of our stay, we were approached by a shipping agent to escort a Japanese expedition ship to Guayaquil, in Ecuador. They had sailed a reed-boat across the Pacific Ocean from Tokyo on the westerly winds and east-setting currents running north of the Hawaiian Islands, and wanted to prove the Japanese had sailed to South America with such craft in years gone by. They wanted an escort ship large enough to take them in tow for the last part of their journey because of the approaching hurricane season. Even though they could only pay a small fee plus expenses for this service, my crew agreed to go for it to be part of their expedition. But the Mexican government wanted their share of the glory, putting it about that we were pirates and drug-smugglers, and not to be trusted. So the contract was eventually cancelled, and no one made any money out of the deal.
In the last part of our stay in the harbour, a local fisherman approached me via a drinking buddy of mine to buy the Caterpillar diesel engine that I'd removed from the Barbados 21 fishing-boat in Bequia, in the Caribbean. The 360 hp engine was the same as he had in his own three fishing-boats, and he wanted it for spare parts for them. One dark night, so he would avoid having to pay import duty, we exchanged the four ton engine and its stern-gear for U.S. $10,000 in cash. 
Just before we left Acapulco to cross the Pacific Ocean, some locals boarded Debut at night while the crew slept about the deck and stole two double aqualung sets. Our two remaining ships cats weren't much of a deterrent to boarders, so the crew asked about getting another animal that would do the job. I didn't want a dog on board, as they bark all the time, being cooped-up on a ship, and a Mexican wild-cat would have been just a little too vicious. One of the crew heard at the yacht club of a baby coatimundi going cheap, so I went along to take a look. The poor little thing had been bought as a pet for the children of a local family when it was only six weeks old. It had been half-starved and badly beaten for biting the selfish, spoilt brats, and was just a ball of fluff covered in teeth and claws. We took him back to the ship, and he soon settled in as the ship's mascot.
The final days arrived, and loading stores became the daily routine for all of us. Cases and cases of dry stores had to be bought and ferried out to the ship, before being stowed away in the pantries. I bought a hundred cases of Mexican vodka, which was just as good as any British brand, but only two dollars a litre. For those who smoked, hundreds of cartons of cigarettes were purchased, to stop any trouble on board after the crew had smoked their own. More friction is caused in a ship's crew by the cigarettes running out than anything else.
On the last day in port, all the divers on board Debut took turns diving under the ship to clean the marine crustaceans from her bottom. Particular care was taken over the propeller and water intakes for the engines and service pumps. A dirty propeller gives more drag than the rest of the ship's hull combined.
We were finally ready to leave, and a last party was held in the mess-room to say goodbye to our friends. With a fuzzy head the next morning, I went ashore in my best white tropical uniform to the Customs House for our outward clearance. The launch was raised up with the davit-crane and secured on the boat-deck. All loose gear was put down in the hold, and the hatches were secured for the long voyage ahead. We were as ready for sea as any ship could be. Ahead of us lay the largest ocean in the world... bigger than all the rest of the oceans, seas and lakes put together... bigger than by far than the combined landmass of the entire globe. All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.


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## Dartskipper (Jan 16, 2015)

I was in Acapulco for three weeks in April 1975. My command was also a 75ft Bermudan Yawl, Orcella, but not in such poor condition as Gulf Stream. We survived the squalls of the Gulf of Tehuantapec with several rapid sail changes in a couple of hours on the 8.00 to midnight watch. When it rained, it was like being in a warm shower. Nobody was wearing more than bathers or shorts.

We left Acapulco after enjoying the varied delights of DJ's restaurant, Rebecca's den of carnal delights, and the local market.

We sailed North as we were delivering Orcella to Seattle from Breskens, where she had been built by Frans Maas. On the leg from Ensenada to Port Townsend, Orcella earned her nick name of "The Yellow Submarine". We were beating in 35knots of wind at 11 knots, and broad reaching at up to 13 knots. Our best days run under plain sail was 245 nautical miles, mostly very wet ones.

After I had left Orcella, the owner took her across the Pacific to Hawaii in 1976. It was a voyage he knew well, having done it several times in his previous yacht Maruffa.

Regards,

Roy.


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## Cpt Dick Brooks (May 13, 2013)

*For Dartskipper.*

Good to hear from you, mate. Like you, I really enjoyed Acapulco, and got plenty of water-skiing in the local tour boats who kept hanging around my ship to look at all the naked girls in my deck crew. They took me and my crew water skiing free-gratis. We were anchored right up in the northern corner of the harbour, just off the yacht club. Despite Debut being a rusty old salvage ship, the club members made us welcome, so I used it as my local bar.
The Gulf Stream was really in a bad way. Although she was once a really beautiful yacht, she hadn't been looked after and had seen better days. Two of the largest Dacron storm sails off her I used to sail Debut when I ran low on fuel. With just me and my young Polynesian wife on board, we sailed her 4,600 miles in the South Pacific and Coral Sea to Australia... and she was 189 feet overall, of 1,000 tons displacement.
One day I'd love to return to Acapulco. I'll have to put it on my bucket list, then I might do it. All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.


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## Dartskipper (Jan 16, 2015)

*Hi Dick,*

We moored at the Yacht Club, Mediterranean fashion. (The owner took control on our arrival and made a bit of a Horlicks of the operation, more on that later.)
We met a few characters while we were there. One member of the club owned another Frans Maas designed cruiser/racer, a Standfast 40 ft sloop. He took us all for a sail, and we helped him trim and tune the rig for his next race. Moored on one side of us was a steel ketch rigged motor sailer that belonged to a German industrialist who owned properties in other places apart from Acapulco. His skipper was a Spaniard from a small coastal village on the North eastern Mediterranean coast. He hadn't seen his family for over three years, and did most of the sailing single handed, taking the yacht wherever the owner wanted it next. He wangled some free tickets for us to watch a performance of traditional folk dancing and music in an open air theatre. On the other side of us was an American motor yacht, Sis W, which was owned by the Grocery Chain, Sanborne and Walgreen, in California. The skipper was a Norwegian, Horgen Hansen, who had lived quite a colourful life, with the bullet wounds in his stomach to prove it! Horgen and I hit it off straight away, and enjoyed several beers together. 
When the owner returned from Seattle for the next and final leg of the voyage, he took some of the crew uptown to stock up on provisions, and I took Orcella to the fuel dock with my two best crew, Mark, who had been with us since Puerto Banus, and Jack, who joined in Fort Lauderdale.
Returning to the Yacht Club, we dropped the hook and motored astern to moor stern on, in one simple movement. The owner, John, was on the quay with a pile of fresh supplies, and Horgen was hanging over the rail of Sis W with the customary bottle in his hand. 
"Bl**dy good manoeuvre Roy!" he called out, "much better than when that idiot did it when you arrived!"
"Thanks Horgen," I muttered under my breath. "Thanks a lot."
The owner laughed about it, and to give him his due, he admitted I could handle his boat better than he could. After that, he did the sailing, and I did the rest. He wanted me to stay full time when we arrived in Seattle, but things didn't work out and so I moved on to something else. I was only 23 at the time, and it still seems like yesterday!

Regards,

Roy.


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## Cpt Dick Brooks (May 13, 2013)

*For Dartskipper.*

Good to read your thread, Roy. I spent my younger years under sail, myself. My first experience was on a 25 foot raft that me and two of my mates made when I was 16 and at college. We had very little money in those days, and I set out alone to sail it across the North Sea from Harwich to Holland. We had rigged her with a main square-sail and top-sail on the fore-mast with foresail and staysail, then a gaff-rigged mizzen with a jib-headed top-sail.
I never made it, of course, as the lifeboat came out off Felixstowe and conned me to thinking there were strong winds coming overnight. They offered to tow me under the lee of the Harwich breakwater to anchor, and I could then leave the next day. They towed me into Harwich Dock, where the wharves were crowded with cameras and reporters. You can still see part of the Pathe News film shown all over the country in the early sixties if you go to their website and download 'This raft stays home' for November, 1963. The film was taken by the old WWII seaplane ramp at Languard Point in Felixstowe, and was made during the same week that President Kennedy was assassinated.
My first ship was Blue Bell that I bought with two friends in 1964. You can read about her story in the Fishing-boat forum. She was a 42 foot gaff-rigged Whitstable ouster smack built in 1910. I sailed her all over the North Sea, and used her on many police operations. She will be included in my next book, From Beat to Open Deck.
My second ship was Biche, a 72 foot gaff yawl, also covered in the Fishing boat forum. I used her for charter in the English Channel and the North Sea. All of her charters are in my seventh book, Whisky and Water, which can be accessed on the Books forum. After the Arab/Israeli war in 1973, I decided to sell her and buy my third ship.
She was the Dauntless Star, also covered in the Fishing boat forum. She was 110 feet overall, and was on gas-rig standby out of Lowestoft when I bought her in 1975. I rigged her out as a dive-support vessel, and took her on a year voyage out to the Persian Gulf, where I sold her to an Arab shipping company, Ahli Marine, with a two year contract as her captain. She is the main subject in my book, Whisky and Water.
After the completion of my contract, I returned to the UK and bought the Ross Resolution, again also in the Fishing boat forum. She was 189 feet overall of 1,000 tons displacement. I was shipwrecked in the Coral Sea and spent three years castaway on Emily Reef off the Queensland coast. She is covered in my first six books, which can be accessed in the Books forum under The Black Ship's Odyssey and The Black Ship Trilogy. All are published on Kindle, and I hope you enjoy the read. Cpt. Dick Brooks.


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## Blue in Bim (Mar 16, 2010)

A friend of mine was looking up Jens Juhl and stumbled across your posts. I thought you were still on the reef off Aus. Nice to know you haven't pegged it yet.

All the best, Blue


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## Cpt Dick Brooks (May 13, 2013)

*For Blue.*

Hi, Blue, great to hear from you. Are you Blue, Ian Cox, my first chief engineer on Debut when I bought her in Hull, then sailed her across the Atlantic to the Caribbean? If so, how the bloody-well are you, mate? Let me know, then we can really get down to it. If so, how is Jacky?
I'm still alive and kicking, although I'm restricting my ocean voyaging to my writing while sipping on a glass of whisky... well watered, of course... one part whisky and two parts water. You have to give your liver a chance, and I still manage to gurgle my way through half a litre a day. I've virtually given up drinking beer since those bastard in the House of Commons stopped the sale of my favourite beer, Scholl Super, the only beer palatable to me after me last voyage of 12 years to the South Seas and Australia.
Debut still lies in peace on Emily Reef, 25 miles south-east of Cooktown in FNQ. She is still upright and in one piece, although all of the upper superstructure has gone, bar the fore-peak. I saw her on TV last month on a program exploring The Great Barrier Reef off Cooktown with David Attenborough. They flew over Debut with their helicopter, and she filled me with pride, seeing her still sitting there in one piece, after all those poncy yachts in the marinas in Cairns and Port Douglas were smashed to scrap-metal and piled up like scrapped cars in a breaker's yard following one of the worst cyclones to hit the Queensland coast in more than a hundred years.
Get in touch properly if you are Blue. My phone number is 01473-421742, and my email is [email protected] , and give me a call and say G-day even if you're not. All the best, Cpt Dick Brooks.


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## Blue in Bim (Mar 16, 2010)

Sent you an email.

Blue


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