bvc_june2017

28 29 THE ERROL FLYNN MARINA & BOAT YARD Flynn lived about twenty-five or thirty min- utes’ drive from the Marina,” Downer contin- ues. “And now, his grandson, Luke Flynn, lives at the estate, there.” In fact, Flynn and his wife spent many hap- py times in and around Port Antonio, before his untimely death in 1959 at age 50. Being a movie star of international fame, Flynn appreciated the area’s privacy and simplicity as much as he did fishing the azure waters of the Caribbean and rafting down the Rio Grande River that runs from the Blue Moun- tains of Portland Parish north to the sea. The Errol Flynn Marina & Boat Yard began as The Marina at Port Antonio in 2002, after its owner, the Port Authority of Jamaica, decid- ed there was a need for a mega-yacht facility on the island. The Boat Yard opened in 2004, and the Errol Flynn moniker was first em- ployed in 2006. Today, the Errol Flynn Marina offers 32 fixed- dockage berths (European), 25 Mooring Balls, and excellent facilities in one of the world’s most beautiful and protected harbors. Unlike other yacht clubs in Jamaica, it caters mostly to the transient market; local boat owners and Jamaican-registered vessels are able dock elsewhere. “We cater to the largest mega-yachts in the world,” states Downer. “And we have an ad- joining cruise ship dock which we can use to berth them. So, there’s no limit as it relates to what we can accommodate.” In fact, the Errol Flynn Marina is the only one of its kind in the entire Caribbean, with a face dock that can ac- commodate vessels to 350’ and 17’ draft, and the “giga-yacht” dock that can accommodate a vessel up to 660’ and 26’ draft alongside. The Marina’s full-service boat yard has haul out, repair, and yacht storage facilities. It offers all standard repair and maintenance services, including high pressure cleaning, scraping, barrier coating, gel coating, fiber glass repair and replacement, shaft straightening, and propeller repair.The yard’s 100 metric ton Marine Travelift handles yachts to nearly 100 feet and weighing up to 220,000 pounds. Immediately adjacent to the Travelift slip is a 100-foot, state-of-the-art fueling jetty,which features both high speed