CERVECERIA HATUEY interesting story

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sfe01@hotmail.com

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Greetings, in '80 I was stationed at Gauntanamo Bay N.S. During my time there my friends and co-workers had the habit of leaving work at 1500 hrs and heading to an enlisted beach named Windemere, where we would snorkle,dive,drink,etc. We would sleep on top of or inside the cabanas and then in the early A.M. head back to the barracks to S<S<S-a military term.At this beach it could only be accessed from one road that paralled the coast and then turned North for about .25 miles. The interesting aspect of this geological feature was that for diving a person would want to go to the water below the cliff the road was laid on;and for snorkling also ,though I never bothered. The sea bed from the beach out to the point at which the road turned North was nothing but a desert of smooth white sand I would estimate was never deeper than 60'-70', until you passed the .25 mile point and then it was pitch black. It scared the hell out of me once when I was floating on my back with an out going tide and turned back over to see 'the abyss'. Before a body reached that point though the water was crystal clear and the wide expanse of white sand was, to me, interesting in that anything 'new' was instantly visible. O.K. enough of that. A hurricane came through at some time during my tour and Gitmo was just missed by it. We had heavy seas, wind and rain for two days but that was all, and of course the beaches were closed. I went snorkling the day the beaches were re-opened. I estimate I was in around 30' of water when I spotted an obvious brown bottle. I cannot dive deeper than 15-20 feet due to chronic ear infections as a kid, but I wanted to get that bottle. It was deeper than my pain threshold but I got it anyway. I knew it couldn't be a 'Bud' bottle since it was too far from shore to be worth someone to carry it out that far and boats were off limits at the beaches and this is right after the storm. I came up with a cerveceria hatuey bottle. The sea bed was obviously not a flat white expanse any longer but still white and the water was clear. So, the bottle had to have been exposed from the storm action. This is what it has on it, as it is in fine shape with no obvious wearing and the lettering is very pronounced. At the bottom of the back of the neck it reads 'Bacardi';below that -on the side near the bottle's bottom is this:GX 6582. On the bottom I read 8-then a symbol of a circle with an almost oblong shape superimposed upon the circle with an'I' inside the circle/oblong followed by a 52.Below that is the # 30. The front has the brand's logo of a native with one swept back feather on its head and Santiago De Cuba underneath that. Now I apologize for my digital diarreah, but I've been waiting a looong time to find out about this bottle and you folks are my last hope, unless I can somehow make it to Cuba which is highly unlikely. I am an old analog dog without a digital camera and even if I could afford a camera I probably could not figure a way to post a photo. I'm only interested in finding out as much as I can about this artifact as my meager descriptions can provide you with. Does the # 52 mean the year the bottle was made or when the beer in it was distributed? What do the other #'s signify? As I said, I've been waiting a long time to find out about this 'buried' treasure and any and all consideration will be geatly and gratefully appreciated. Best regards S. English. PS, I hope this wasn't boring.
 

blobbottlebob

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Greetings SFE and Welcome to ABN.
I loved your story and I wasn't the least bit bored by it. I too have pulled bottles from the water (but primarily by scuba diving). Sounds like what you were doing was a great way to exercise and I'm guessing you saw some beautiful undersea creatures (such as butterflies, tangs, and triggers).

My guess as to your bottle is that it was made by Owens and that 1952 is indeed the date of glass manufacture. Interesting, that in an historical perspective, this bottle was made in the United States by a close neighbor and ally. It wasn't until later that Bautista was ousted, Castro calimed power and the bitterness began.

I'm a little jelous that you could just snorkel in the ocean a short distance from work, but I suppose the job had many tough elements as well. I also agree with you that the strom likely unearthed (or at least uncovered) the bottle on the sea-floor. Neat story. Great bottle to always remember your time down there.

I hope others can tell you more about it. Best regards and thank you for your service to our country, Bob
 

surfaceone

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Hello Mr. English,

Welcome to the Blue Pages and thanks for the Windemere Beach story. My Grandmother's favorite beach in the world was Varadero.

Supposedly, Hatuey was just reintroduced to South Florida.

hatuey.png


Here's the most recent previous discussion on Hatuey: https://www.antique-bottles.net/forum/m-373409/tm.htm

Some wiki-Hatuey.

bacardiH.jpg
From.
 

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