Thursday, May 20, 2010 – Port Antonio, Jamaica

After 395 nautical miles and 43 hours at sea, we arrived at Port Antonio, Jamaica, at 9:30 am where a beautiful paradise of palm trees, sand beaches, clear blue waters, the Blue Mountains in the background and colorful buildings greeted us. We had hoped to stay at the Errol Flynn Marina; however, the marina was full of large, beautiful sailboats that were taking part in a year-long “Round the World” race. Port Antonio was the port for the sixth leg of the race where the sailors were resting up and enjoying the Jamaican sun before the seventh and final leg to New York. No worries, Mon - we simply dropped the anchor right outside the marina where we had a great view of the harbor.

Errol Flynn used to own the island across the harbor from where we were anchored and had a home there; in fact, his widow still lives in Port Antonio! The town is home to about 10,000 residents and is a very busy little village. The jobs are scarce so it seemed that everyone was out hustling in any way they could to try to make a dollar. As soon as we were anchored, we were approached by some of the local entrepreneurs who motored or paddled over to sell their services or their wares.

We could not leave the boat until we were cleared in by the official from the Department of Health and Agriculture. It wasn’t long before he arrived by boat to check our paperwork, look through a few cupboards and peek inside the refrigerators. When he gave us the OK, we loaded up in our dinghies and headed to the marina office where we cleared Customs. The Immigration people weren’t around, so we were told we had to see them tomorrow.


After Customs, we walked over to one of the restaurants in the marina and enjoyed a wonderful Jamaican “salad” as we sat next to the beach and watched a few of the locals swimming and playing. The “salad” was actually seasoned and grilled chicken garnished with a few curly carrots – not what we expected, but good, all the same.

Following lunch, we went back to the boat and Gale and Maureen changed into their swimsuits and dinghied back to the beach for a little dip before supper. While at the beach, the sky clouded up and we received a small rain shower. Instead of seeking shelter, we stayed in the water and enjoyed the warm rain and respite from the sun.