An Object Lesson by

A.M. Foley

Sailing Chesapeake Bay in a luxurious yacht would fulfill dreams for many, but “be careful what you wish for.” One who realized many such fantasies was film star Errol Flynn, a skilled sailor who ran aground after gaining wealth and fame. His beloved yacht Zaca survived a horde of creditors, but just barely. Flynn did not.

In 1945, the Navy released a 118foot schooner from wartime shore patrol. Flynn purchased PE4170, née Zaca, and restored her to pre- war luxury, freeing her teak from battleship-gray paint, covering his bed with an ermine spread. A journalist he once took along wrote, “He could sail that boat!...We’d anchor and the two of us would go up to a little bar and drink tequila—he bare-chested with a knife stuck in his belt.”

Fans of Turner Classic Movies have an inkling of why Errol Flynn, handsome and athletic, created a Hollywood furor after working his way there from Down Under. In