Alex Waterhouse-Hayward

¡Marinero, Suerte Para Mí!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Matilde de Escudero, Vicenta Puig de Galvez, Lorenzo Escudero, Barcelona 1888

Hilary Anne Waterhouse-Hayward, 1979
future mother of Rebecca & Lauren, sailors, too

Just a few days I was attempting to file more of the pictures that are in boxes and on the floor of my basement room where I keep my many and large metal filing cabinets that nicely filed in alphabetical order or by themes such as authors, family, travel, garden and yes, nudes. I found an envelope that said Hilary in sailor suit. I took a peek and found 9 exposures in 35mm Kodak Safety Film (probably Tri-X) of Hilary in a sailor suit on a ship and there is a Vancouver skyline. I believe that Hilary must have been 8 years-old and thanks to the fact that I photographed her by the life preservers I know the vessel was the Canadian Pacific Princess of Vancouver which used to be a ferry service that went from Vancouver to Victoria, port to port.

My grandmother's brother, José (Pepe) Reyes, centre right as admiral.

I looked at the pictures and chose the one you see here. It set me thinking and I went to one of our big and very thick family albums. On the very first page there is an 1888 family (from my maternal grandmother’s side) taken in Barcelona. There are two children in sailor suits. The rest of the pictures simply confirm that while the maritime profession was never a family profession it did seem to be fashionable up until just recently when I photographed Lauren (9) in her sister’s sailor dress which I purchased in Sanborn’s in Can Cun some 8 years ago.

My grandmother Dolores Reyes de Irureta Goyena standing, left
centre, standing, my grandfather Don Tirso de Irureta Goyena.
In sailor suits, his half brothers Antonio and Ramón de Irureta Goyena
The baby is my mother Filomena, Manila 1912

I must sadly report that the only real sailor of the family was your present blogger. And he was a very poor one who could never handle boat yawing and all that other stuff without visually inspecting the morning’s breakfast after the fact.

Antonio & Ramón de Irureta Goyena

After two years of service in the Argentine Navy, I reached the classification (with no rank) of Marinero Furriel which simply said I was efficient at commanding a desk. There was only one aspect of being a sailor that was rewarding. In my time as a sailor, in the mid 60s there seemed to be an old Argentine superstition that if you saw a sailor on the street and you happened to touch him and say,” ¡Marinero, suerte para mí!” you would indeed be blessed with good luck. I can report here that the only people who ever touched me to wish themselves luck were all young women and that most of them were nice looking, too!

Dolores Reyes de Irureta Goyena
my mother Filomena and baby Antonio (Tony), Manila, 1914

My uncle, Román Lopez Forment

Centre, my grandmother Dolores, my aunt Dolly (Dolores) is the baby in arms
the tall man in left my Tío Pepe (José Reyes, my grandmohter's brother)
Boy in sailor suit my uncle Tony and the young girl, my mother Filomena
The Bronx, 1920