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sedately across from Green Island as the sun<br />
was setting. Everyone went ashore by dinghy<br />
and walked up the steep, candle-lit path into<br />
the manicured charm of the hilltop resort.<br />
Originally Brown’s sugar mill, part of the huge<br />
Montpellier Plantation, Harmony’s stone<br />
tower and main storage buildings were<br />
elegantly restored 23 years ago. Only the<br />
grand buffet presented by Harmony Hall can<br />
compete with the beauty of the surroundings.<br />
First-timers had been warned to pace<br />
themselves. So many intriguing tastes<br />
combined with the vast quantity of food<br />
presented a gastronomic challenge. We<br />
sampled marinated conch and mahi-mahi<br />
salads; mixed vegetables and fish tempura<br />
on seaweed; home made mozzarella tomato<br />
and basil salad; polenta medallions with four<br />
cheese sauce; and a dozen other treats<br />
before moving on to entreés of home-made<br />
lasagne; a variety of quiches and meat<br />
pasties. We staggered up to the dessert table<br />
and tried to choose among lemon and<br />
chocolate profiteroles, tiramisu, white<br />
‘ This bunch of cruising<br />
sailors, who love to<br />
joke about how tacking<br />
more than once a week<br />
is bad behavior, were<br />
all showing the early<br />
symptoms of race fever ’<br />
36 www.oystermarine.com<br />
chocolate cheese cake, lemon tarte, zuppa<br />
inglese, and killer chocolate cake. The smart<br />
diners opted for a plate of samples.<br />
The first race was on Monday, a 33-mile run<br />
north to Barbuda, Antigua’s companion island.<br />
Big winds and seas on the nose had cancelled<br />
last year’s trip to Barbuda, but this year the<br />
wind was astern. I joined owner Iain Mellows,<br />
who now lives in Jolly Harbour, Antigua, his<br />
brother Mike Starr and Mike’s wife Betty, on<br />
Severence, the oldest and smallest <strong>Oyster</strong> in<br />
the fleet (39). Iain and Mike’s father, Frank<br />
Mellows, bought Severence when he was 70<br />
years old, and sailed her thousands of miles<br />
around the Caribbean for ten years. Now<br />
Iain is in command, and he put<br />
Severence across the starting line<br />
within 10 seconds of the gun, well<br />
ahead of the rest of Class II (under<br />
55'). After a hull-speed broad reach<br />
for an hour, the wind suddenly<br />
dropped to nothing. Soon we were<br />
making under a knot of speed.<br />
Then it began to rain. Sitting in our<br />
rain jackets with the mains’l snapping as the<br />
boat rolled in the sloppy seas, Betty Starr<br />
began to laugh. "This," she said goodnaturedly,<br />
"isn’t quite what the brochure<br />
offered." Not long afterwards, Iain started the<br />
engine in the interest of getting to Barbuda<br />
before dark. All the boats would be too late for<br />
the promised visit to Barbuda’s renowned<br />
frigate bird sanctuary, something to look<br />
forward to another year.<br />
The fleet were<br />
entertained by a<br />
spectacular<br />
firedancer at<br />
Ffryes Beach