PORT ANTONIO -- Errol Flynn's love affair with Port Antonio began in the 1940s while he was on a sailing trip destined for the Galapagos.

Back then, a storm blew his boat the "Zaca" off course to Jamaica and soon he discovered the island's northeast treasure. Port Antonio became Flynn's home for many years, and as he wrote in his memoir, "After thirty-seven years of wandering, I had found my Grecian isle."

Now, the Marina at Port Antonio has been renamed the Errol Flynn Marina in tribute to the town's most famous resident. "It's amazing that even today Flynn's presence remains an undercurrent in Port Antonio," said William Tatham, Vice President of Cruise and Marina Operations. "The renaming of the Marina is merely an affirmation of what residents and visitors have known for a long time, that his mystique is still very much a part of the fabric of this part of Jamaica."

After his initial visit to the island, Flynn would return to Port Antonio and his 2000-acre Errol Flynn Estates on hiatus between films. While here he would go rafting on the Rio Grande, on shopping trips to the Port Antonio marketplace, picnicking at the nearby Navy Island, and swimming at Boston Beach. For a time he was the proprietor of the Titchfield Hotel, then Port Antonio's grandest hotel. Flynn's mother and father would also join him in Jamaica.

"This endearing tribute to Errol is perfect in so many ways; he loved the sea, and he adored Port Antonio, so this is a wonderful union of his passions," said Flynn's widow Patrice Wymore Flynn, who continues to live at the estate.
The Errol Flynn Marina is a 32-slip yacht complex that accommodates vessels up to 350 LOA with a maximum depth of 17 feet. It also boasts single and three-phase power and shore storage and is an official port of entry with 24-hour customs and immigration. Boat repairs and maintenance are available at the full-service boat yard, which features a 100-ton boatlift, the only one of its kind in the Western Caribbean.

Port Antonio provides the ideal point from which to explore a variety of ports-of-call around Jamaica. It's the closest point in the Caribbean to Cuba, with Santiago just 90 miles to the north, and it is the northern crossroads for vessels sailing through the Bahamas, down the Windward Passage and en route to Las Jardines de la Reina, the Yucatan, Cayman Islands and the Gulf of Mexico.


FASH

Home for Summer

Turn Your Home into a Relaxing Summer Retreat

CHICAGO -- If you can't get away for summer or your vacation just wasn't long enough, don't fret.

With some simple interior design tips, you can transform your home into a tranquil summer getaway that's stylishly in season.

Michele Evanger, a professional interior designer, offers a variety of ideas for creating a vacation retreat this summer without leaving home.

"There is something you can do to almost every room in your home to make it lighter and brighter for summer entertainment and relaxation," said Evanger, whose firm operates an upscale, franchised national network of "Design Stores" that combine traditional interior design services and home furnishings with a retail showroom.

Her suggestions:
-- Change your artwork to depict a summer season theme. Use bright florals or a seaside theme that includes sailboats and beaches with water scenes.

-- Use two armchairs made out of wicker to replace solid wood or upholstered chairs in living areas. Use airy, bright seat cushions to work with other upholstery colors.

-- Replace wool area rugs with lighter colored rugs with simple patterns in coir, sea grass or jute fabrics.

-- Put a double chaise lounge with a canopy in your backyard. Quality outdoor furnishings are fun, durable and gorgeous and can be custom-made in a variety of colors with your choice of outdoor fabric.

-- Have some fun and liven up your dining room with sea grass placemats and non-matching brightly colored dishes accented with a vivid floral arrangement or a glass vase with water and fruit.

-- If you have a canopy bed, cover it with 'mosquito netting' and put a pitcher of water with a pair of tumblers on a tray on the nightstand.

-- Splash white accent pillows and white accessories throughout the house. Whites and neutrals are the rage right now, so by placing whites through your home, you'll feel the relaxation of a summer spa day.

-- Most homes do not have enough greenery and a spectacular way to make a dramatic change in your home is to add foliage whether real or artificial.

-- Place seashells, branches, star fish and other beach collectibles on the mantle above the fireplace along with photos from summers past. Put logs in the garage for the summer and replace them with beautiful pieces of driftwood.

-- Also, try filling vases with different shades of sand and stones and placing them on tables, shelves and mantle.