riena del mar

[Neville Roberts]

I did a couple of trips on the reina, and a couple on the salinas , of this company, could have made a fortune if I had used my head, the chief steward and 2 nd used too load up on yardleys soap and perfumes from UK and sell them too the customs agents and thier wifes, down the sa coast, we used too sell records of elvis and others for good $$$. chile & Peru, and equador . and colombia. does, wer de days lads.

[john middleton]

they came aboard at Arica, and stripped the shop like a plague of locusts, then disembarked at antofagasta, or Valpo,had some good times with them though (Reina del mar /pacifico)

[Jim Brady]

i did two trips on the Salinas Asst.Steward,one on the Cotopaxi Pantryman.Yes the Chief Stwd did
clean up but I think the Skipper and Purser must've got their backhanders.The Catering Superintendent
must've been on his cut for putting that much gear aboard for 12 passengers.The night riders certainly
were'nt welcome for the amount of gear they bought,I suppose they could buy it at the right price.
Remember Cristobel,loading stores in brown paper covered boxes,the Engineers and Deck Officers
were'nt amused they k new it was Spey Royal whisky(I think that was the name of it) and they would be
getting that for issue rather than the good Scotch loaded in Liverpool.The good Scotch was sold down
the coast.
Some lads that sailed regularly in PSNC would spend a fiver or maybe a tenner in Boots or
Woolies on anything with Yardley on before they sailed,they did'nt need a sub oonce they hit the coast.
I must say My trips down that coast were some of the best trips I did to sea.
R668251

[SimDJ1]

My great uncle sailed from UK, Liverpool, back to Peru, November 1937.
I went to the PSNC website.It was beautiful vessel.
The book I mentioned is by Luis Alberto Sanchez, a beloved writer from Peru, who watched the ships from the Hotel Bertolotto, where he stayed.It is a slim volume.

[Ron Hamilton]

It must be telepathy or something but today I was regailing my wife about everything Neville,Jim & John have said about the Stewards perks ,corrupt official locusts fighting over anything available ,about the only item that was'nt mentioned by you guys was ENOS sal de fruitas (apparently a cure for everything , must have been the poor diet down there) & playing cards ! I was bosun on the Kenuta & I took items down there for friends I made ,,but not for profit & they reimbursed me the actual cost (cashmier suit legths & ladies underwear ) I used that money for my spending money on the coast . Mrs Braddock ,the Liverpool MP apparently brought this racket up in the House & the loss in revenue to U.K. from all these items from bonded Stores being flogged off by corrupt Stewards, &no doubt others involved , but I think she was referring mainly to the East Coast traffic (Royal Mail etc. ) , I also sailed as bosun'smate with Lar Murphy on the Reina . Ron

[wilky]

Hi Neville, hi guys. I did a trip on the ss potosi in 70 . It was the most memorable trip I ever did . There are a lot of stories to tell from that one which I will get round to!. Yes Neville it was still the same then with anything scented , you could have a good night out and didn`t pay much.

[Gulliver]

Whoo-hoo,Wilky! Spittin' on me hands and rubbing them with glee mate! Can't wait to hear....these days the only 'scented' thing in my life is the loo air freshener.....paid 35 p! .

Gull.

[Ron Hamilton]

Control yourself Gull, there are some things a gentleman does not disclose ,especially if the long haired one may hear of it , I've told my missus that all my friendships down there were platonic, I think she believes me ! Ron

[Gulliver]

Ron,controlling myself has never worked so far,so why break the habit of a lifetime.
Also,do you remember when we used to be the long-haired ones?.....

Actually,if platonic means being 'handed on a plate',then that was true,too. ....although perhaps it was just self-service after all..........

Cheers!
Gull.

[Ivan Cloherty]

Nice to hear all the stories, it brings back so many memories 1954 -1958

As a cadet serving on the Salinas, Sarmiento, Salamanca, Samanco, Salaverry, I think we also increased the sales of Yardleys product, on £7 a month you had to think of something, especially when you also had to leave £3 a month to your mum back home.

We used to stock up with Lifebuoy soap back in the Uk and also save our issue soap, as that smelt good too and was a useful currency for all types of services in places we were indentured not to enter unless on a crew round up, some of those crew round ups took a long time.

We cadets worked all hours so that the company would not have to pay the deck crew overtime, health and safety and probably "yuman rites" would have had a fit. But we endured, enjoyed iit, and it did us no harm and memories of those oh so friendly beautiful girls in the Skandi Bar in Valpo, were worth all the hard work and we came out with memories that no other coastal line could touch. I sailed the world, but the WC of S America memories are the ones that linger on

All the best to all

Ivan R611450