Cuba

[Evan Lewis]

Hope it was your Drawers they tried to open .

Remember an account by former Shipmates , of when Locked up for a few days in Cuba were really concerned . until finaly being released by the payment produced , by their El. Capitano,. Who when Queried ,as to the delay in their release ,were told ." I didn't know you were in there."

Subsequently there were more incidents ,during the voyage. Believe the ship ,named, was the Good Hope. As one Port Talbot A.b, said to me. "they Had two sister Ships , .The BOB Hope and the No Hope'

The Port Talbot Pool man ,Trevor . met my informant in Station Road Port Talbot one mornuing
. Stopped him, and Quote ." John , read the Report last night .From the Good Hope. 'Better than any novel."!

[leratty]

Did not see Cuba before Castro though would like to have, however after, certainly in the early-mid 60's it was pretty good almost as good as Sth America. Went there twice or three times on the Hazelmoor I think she was Ropner's (?) a good feeder anyway I recall. Then on a PSNC ship a couple of times, ironically called Cienfegueos. The latter had an absolute madman as Capt. who was removed in Panama first trip. The bars were terrific, the girls similarly & those cigars were just great. I recall drinking 'liquor'rum on the beach as well as just std rum too in wonderful little thatched roof bars with terrific Cuban music played by live bands, eating freshly caught fish cooked on the BBQ, swimming in the sea with the girls, hmm. Am controlling those tears Ivan (: Havana was really good though few other western ships mostly Eastern Bloc. We were on the Hazelmoor photographed numerous times by the Yanks from G'tanamo Bay, often at less than mast hight so we would frequently give them spreaders as they flew past as they would do maybe three or four passes. Haiti was equally as good you could get anything for US$5 though Papa Doc was around & you had to behave when imbibing other wise his Tonton Macoutes would get you heading back to the ship. It certainly had a spooky feel about it & so poor but the people then as silly as it sounds always had smiles on their faces.
Captain Kong maybe if you had said "Viva Che" you might have elicited a smile & maybe a drink? Possibly he knew you had frequented naughty movie's in his fine city....

[John Arton]

Never got to Cuba or sailed through the Magellan Straits which were my two regrets of never having seen during my time at sea.
Best places I ever visited in the Carribean were Domincan Republic (fantastic bars, food and girls in Santo Domingo) and Ponce which was near Guayanilla Bay in Puerto Rica. All the men from Ponce worked in the refinery there and lived in camps on site,so it seemed the whole town was run by women apart from the old guys. It apparentley had one of the most famous brothels in the Carribean and when the madam died it made the papers in the USA. Saw the outside of this brothel and at first thought it was some civic building it was that big and fancy looking but the guy we had met in the Ponce yacht club who was showing us around told me its history. Another strange thing about the place was that the only wooden building in the town was the fire station!. They had two old USA style fire engines there that they had keep in pristine condition, fabulous to see.
rgds
JA

[Captain Kong]

Never got to Cuba or sailed through the Magellan Straits which were my two regrets of never having seen during my time at sea.
JA
.. Hi John , quite a few Cruise ships do that run, to Cuba and also round Cape Horn up the Beagle Channel and then the Magellan Straits. SHE has been around the Horn three times and thinks she is a sailor now.
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Hi Le.
I think maybe Fidel had seen me on the Shanghai Theatre film shows, I think he was a little jealous and that is why he refused us a drink.
I have never been back to Cuba since 1954 Iremember the Dos Hermanos Bar, [ Two Brothers ].
58 years is a long time, My Son has been on vacation there and said it was good and cheap.
Arthur Scargill goes every year, so it must be good.
Cheers
Brian.

[j.sabourn]

Hi Le if you were on the Hazelmoor from june 61 to nov 61 or March 63 to Aug 63, I was 2nd Mate there then. Believe we went to Cuba one of these times and probably S.D. as well. Think it was also the 63 time there when the 2 refugees were smuggled out of Cuba and got off in Panama. I was offered 500 dollars ashore to open one of the lifeboat covers but thinking it might of been the secret police trying me out wouldnt go along with it. Believe the crowd did as when the ship got to Japan they got a postcard from Florida from the 2 dissidents. Believe it was one of these trips we lost an apprentice over the side off Cairns. Have recently been in touch with someone who clarified this incident. Cheers all the best. John Sabourn P.S. Hazelmoor was one of Runcimans or Moor Line as it was also Known.

[leratty]

John only guy I can recalls name on my trips (2) on Hazelmoor was Perryman-mant? Known of course as Perry. He came out of the army to go to sea & now lives in Aus, he took the last Queen to San Diago? He was the cook. Ionically he joined the Mendoza Star when I did, must say a bloody good cook he was too. Were you aboard when the Purser topped himself? She had to be the slowest ship I served on drafty old bridge too & had more concrete stuffed around her some said she could not race an empty Bovriil barge up the Thames (: I recall the firemen had an awful job with the heat. Richard

[j.sabourn]

Le are you sure you have the right ship/company. I left Runcimans in 1964, they then ceased as Moor line shortly after as they went with Anchor Line of Glasgow. The ships kept their names however but believe they worked under Runciman Shipping. If it was the 1963 trip you are referring to the Hazelmoor went to Boqueron a little port just outside the wire of the U.S. base at guantanamo bay. I never got further than the quayside here as there was a bar on the quay. The Hazelmoor was quite a good ship in those days and was quite modern for that period and about 10 years old. The purser would never have been called as such in those days, so assume you are referring to the Ch. Steward. Cant remember him dying as would no doubt have got the job of stitching him up, unless of course I drank the bottle of rum beforehand and cant remember. The Master would have been J.P.Hogg so if you have your old discharge book it will be in there. Articles were closed in Liverpool. Voyage was Cuba/Japan/Queensland/Liverpool. Still think you are mixing up ships names, as you refer to Ropners in one of your posts. Cheers and all the best. John Sabourn.

[Charlie Hannah]

I was on the Hazelmoor in Late 66 or early 67, a good job.,and top crowed she was one of Runcimans then.

[leratty]

John unfortunately my discharge book is in storage with so much else but memory still pretty good & this page as with others sparks it due to members reminding you. Now the chief steward, I thought he was purser, topped himself as he had been fiddling the stores a/c's apparently? I know that never occurred (: He hung himself of all things off his cabin door hook by his tie. He did this as I recall about 36 hours from London. Story went he was sent a telegram from H/O requesting a meeting as soon as we docked. This has been confirmed by Perry the cook on the next trip who was told about it. Most of the crew stayed for the next voyage as we doing the same run.

[j.sabourn]

Thats right Charlie, I think Le is getting the ships mixed up. I was recently talking to someone not on this site about a master who threw a wobbler in panama and was taken off. This however was not one of Runcimans it was either Ropners or Headlams of Whitby. I think he refers to this in one of his posts. The memory is a funny thing, but as I was 11 years with Runcimans they always had a lasting impression with me, not always to the good, as they did not give anything away. I did in later years go back for one trip with them, but things did not work out, as I was considered an interloper by certain people on board, you cant go back in time and pick up the threads where you left them, so parted company with no bad feelings. However it is possible Le is talking about a time towards the end of the 60"s, but as you say the Hazelmoor as a ship was nothing wrong with her. Cheers John Sabourn