In Saved by The Chiefs, I told the story about Captain Sample scheming with me to bring beer with us for our cruise to the Mid-East. It is the prequel to this story. https://quotesbydavid.com/saved-by-the-chiefs/
There was a change of command mid-cruise which I think happened in Rota, Spain. (It was not due to any failures by Captain Sample.) The new Captain, who I will refer to as Captain RED, was a Naval Academy graduate who was a sourpuss from the word go. When he learned about the beer, his first inclination was to dump it in the sea. I think it was the Master Chief who convinced Captain RED that would be pretty demoralizing to the crew since they had bought the beer with their own money – sort of. Clearly, we were not going to be holding any beach beer parties in Muslim countries. Except when we did.
When we got to Jidda, Saudi Arabia, an attractive young woman from the US Consulate staff paid us a a courtesy call. She met with some of the officers and chiefs in the Wardroom and instructed us on what the men could and could not do in Jidda. (There were many more could nots than coulds.) She said there was no alcohol to be had in Jidda. I piped in and said that actually that was not true – that we happened to have 500 cases of Budweiser onboard. (If Captain RED’s eyes could kill, I would not be here today.) “Really?” I nodded yes. The young diplomat beamed and made a command decision to invite a dozen of us to a party at the Consulate. “Would we mind supplying the beer?” “We’d be delighted. Just tell us where to deliver it.” She gave me an alarmed look. “You absolutely can not travel through Jidda with alcohol. We will send an official embassy car to the ship to retrieve it.” About two hours later, two armed US Marines arrived in a black Mercedes with several large US diplomatic pouches. We filled the pouches with 10 cases of beer and the Marines whisked the booze back to their headquarters.
The following evening, the Captain and XO, along with an equal number of officers and chiefs were picked up and escorted to the Consulate where I was told they had a great party. Captain RED said he was very displeased with me for telling a State Department official that we had contraband onboard our ship. Fellow officers told me the Captain had a great time, got drunk on “my” Budweisers, and danced with several of the young women at the Consulate. (That was one of a dozen or so grievous actions by Captain RED that convinced me to get out of the Navy and go into business for myself. I remain grateful to him for that.)
We visited Muslim ports in Dubai, Bahrain and Bandar Abbas, Iran. The Captain made it clear that not one can of beer was to leave the ship in those ports. (Supply Officer, LT Steve, took possession of the beer and kept it under lock and key.)
We sailed out of the Persian Gulf, through the Gulf of Oman and turned south down the East Coast of Africa. My favorite port call of the cruise was Mombasa, Kenya where I spent three days and nights on a camera safari in Tsavo National Park. (That is a story all its own.) We did have a couple beer beach parties in Mombasa for the crew that went without incident.
Our most exotic port call was the Seychelle Islands. They are a tiny archipelago in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The main island, Mahe, was very sylvan and undeveloped. Lot of palm tree forests. Of places I had visited, it reminded me of Jamaica (they speak French in the Seychelles), but much more welcoming – my vision of Gaugin’s Tahiti, though the women wore tops – except when they didn’t.
Some of my fellow officers and I went to a bar in Victoria where an excellent band was playing what sounded very much like Cajun music. I looked around and spied some girls that looked like they might be tourists – blond hair and blue eyes but tawnier and more muscular than a typical American girl on vacation. We struck up a conversation with them and learned they were French and part of a crew on the 4 masted schooner in the harbor. They were halfway through an around the world cruise. One of the things they did to support themselves was take people out on day cruises. I put on my Welfare and Rec Officer hat and told them we might be interested in them taking some of our crew on a day trip on the sailboat. Among other things, it would be a great opportunity to consume more of the beer.
I contacted the XO and asked him to speak to the captain of the schooner to ascertain they were legit – which he did. (Thank heavens I had the sense to do that.) About 60 guys signed up for a day cruise with tawny blond granola girls on their huge sailboat. I think they paid $20/ahead for the adventure. LT Steve provided sandwiches, etc. and allowed us to load about a dozen cases of cold beer in ice chests. The schooner pulled out about 10 am with a Senior Chief in charge. The destination was a lagoon on the other side of the Island. They were to be back at the dock by 17:00. The schooner was packed with orderly sailors when they departed.
I had the afternoon watch as OOD on the Ingram (began at 16:00). I was keeping a close eye for the schooner’s return. When there was no sign of them at 17:00, I used the ship’s radio to try to contact the schooner’s captain. At about 17:30, I reached him, and he told me everything was fine, and the crew was having “un temps merveilleux” and they would be back by 18:30. Also, no charge for the extra hour. All seemed well enough. At about 18:15, the schooner came in sight. With my binoculars, I noted at least a dozen people were hanging from the yardarms and rigging. As the boat got closer, I observed two sailors leap over the side and then get pulled into an overloaded dingy trailing behind the schooner. When it got closer, singing and other joyful noises could be heard. It became clear that nearly all our sailors were wasted – but a surprisingly few were barfing over the side. Turns out, they only drank about half the beer I sent. The mass inebriation was the result of marijuana, not alcohol. The sailors who had brought cash with them, loaned it out to others until essentially every dime they brought with them went from the pockets of the Ingram crew to schooner crew’s pockets. I learned that part of the entertainment included two granola girls climbing up to the crow’s nest and taking their tops off which apparently spurred on additional marijuana acquisition and consumption.
Thank goodness I had engaged the XO in vetting the schooner captain. Otherwise, I would have been totally on the hook for the debacle and may well have gone to Captain’s mask.
When we were twelve miles out to sea, Captain RED met LT Steve on the fantail, and they unceremoniously dumped the balance of the beer overboard. That beer had been the bane of my life for nearly six months. I was glad to see it go.