In 1945, Errol Flynn purchased his ‘dream ship’ Zaca from speculator Joe Rosenberg. Flynn completely refurbished her, painted her white and, in 1946, in the company of a pick-up crew, his scientist father, marine biologist Carl Hubbs, and an assortment of actors, relatives, and a documentary film crew, sailed to Acapulco on a ‘scientific expedition’ that turned into a fiasco. After everyone jumped ship in Acapulco, Flynn trained a Mexican crew and rented Zaca to Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth for the filming of The Lady from Shanghai.
In 1947, Zaca reappeared in Port Antonio, Jamaica, which Flynn would call home. Sailing to the Mediterranean in 1950 with a Jamaican crew, Zaca would eventually wind up at the Club Nautico in Palma de Mallorca where he and third wife Patrice Wymore would live on board.