The catboat culture in the Cayman Islands is an important link between the past, present and future.
Captain Kem Jackson refers to them as waterborne pick-up trucks. Indeed, catboats were the utility vehicle of the past in the Cayman Islands. These venerable wooden vessels were vital to survival in the early days — before modern transportation and telecommunications arrived to this chain of three tiny, isolated islands. Catboats were used for harvesting sea turtles and fishing, hauling cargo, and as a means of transportation. They were an important link from district to district and a prime vehicle for facilitating trade, putting food on the table and earning a living. “It was used for absolutely everything in Cayman,” says Jackson, a master boat builder who grew up in Grand Cayman’s district of West Bay. “It really was a lifeline.”
Introduced here in the early 1900s, the catboat is an integral part of the history and development of the Cayman Islands. In their heyday, they were a common sight in George Town Harbour and were part of traditional races, such as the Easter Regatta. Catboats were used to unload cargo from passing ships — before modern container ships came into being — and to distribute produce and supplies throughout districts. At their peak, Jackson estimates there were at least 150 of these sailing vessels on the islands. But with the advent of the automobile and outboard motor, their numbers dwindled, leaving many to fade away in backyards across the islands.
New Life for the Catboat
Today, however, catboats are enjoying a revival thanks to the tireless efforts of Jackson and members of the Cayman Catboat Club. Jackson is vice-president of the 100-strong club, while Jerris Miller serves as its president. Miller, a North Side-native, learned to sail the craft from his uncle and passed on his passion for them to his own son. He credits Jackson with saving the catboat culture. “If it wasn’t for Kem, we wouldn’t have any catboats left,” he says. “They were left rotting in yards. They would all have been thrown away if not for him. And Kem was there in the days when they used to build them in their backyards — he is the link between the past and the present.”
At 74, Jackson is one of two remaining master boat builders on island. He has restored numerous catboats — often single-handedly — in his backyard workshop in West Bay, a painstaking process as most are found in dilapidated conditions. He also fashions detailed scale replicas. A few years ago, he created a six-foot model as part of a display that won a silver medal in the Chelsea Flower Show — one of the most prestigious flower shows in the world.
His most recent refurbishment is the 24-foot Whittaker Cat, built in 1962. Originally owned by Linton Whittaker, it was among the largest catboats in the Cayman Islands. During the course of its life, the Whittaker Cat had been altered to accommodate an outboard motor and clad in fibreglass. Jackson restored the boat to its former glory, and it’s now being used for educational programmes and in various races.
Funding for the project, which took six months to complete, came through a major donation from the Dart Foundation, a longtime sponsor of the Cayman Catboat Club. Miller says Dart’s grant of $175,000 is a significant step towards bringing the history and heritage of the catboat alive again. It will help their efforts to educate upcoming generations, as well as visitors, about Cayman’s maritime heritage. “It’s a tremendous boost for the Catboat Club,” he says. “It’s going to help raise our profile, and we intend to grow each year.”
Along with the restoration of the historic Whittaker Cat, funds have been used for improvements and refurbishments to the Catboat Club’s waterfront clubhouse, located downtown next to the Lobster Pot restaurant at Whitehall Bay. The building was heavily damaged in 2004 by Hurricane Ivan, which also destroyed five of its fleet of 13 functioning catboats. Another one was sold and is on display at Guy Harvey’s in downtown. Jackson says the injection of funds from Dart — along with donations of materials from the business community — goes a long way in keeping these historic boats afloat, noting ongoing repairs and maintenance are costly.
Some of the funds have been earmarked for a series of catboat races that culminate in the Camana Bay National Catboat Championship each November. The first Remembrance Day race took place last year, where Miller and his crew, Ken Hydes and John Bodden, captured first place with the Whittaker Cat. Jackson and his son, Joey, a Cayman Airways pilot, won the coveted national championship trophy after racking up the highest number of points throughout the year.
Catboat Central
The two-story historic clubhouse is the hub of catboat activities. Built over a century ago, it‘s home to a workshop, office and meeting room, as well as a catboat museum featuring maritime memorabilia and artefacts. They’ve preserved as much of the old structure as possible, including its wattle-and-daub finish. More than just a repository of archaic objects, the club will be offering sailing lessons and catboat excursions later this summer, giving visitors and residents a first-hand experience of sailing in these boats.
“They’re wonderful boats,” says Jackson, whose grandfather taught him how to sail the vessel. “You really can’t improve on them — people have tried. They’re unsinkable.” What sets the catboat apart from other small craft is that the mast is always at the front, not in the middle. It has a rounded bottom and a shallow draft. Crafted worldwide, each area has its own particular type of catboat as they were built to suit local conditions, mainly for offshore fishing.
In Cayman’s early days, the harvest of sea turtles — called turtling — to supply passing sailing ships was the first major economic activity on the islands. At the time, schooners would carry a number of dugout canoes for turtling expeditions, but the catboat proved to be a far superior vessel as it was easier to manoeuvre and could carry heavier loads. Its smaller size meant that more boats would fit onto the schooner, increasing everyone’s profits. “It could carry turtles that were 300 or 400 pounds,” says Jackson. “It could carry a lot of cargo; and the more weight the better, because that would stabilise it.”
The first known Cayman catboat was built in 1904 by Daniel Jervis of Cayman Brac, who disliked the long, narrow dugouts as they were relatively unstable and difficult to turn about quickly. He wanted a short, wide, stable boat that was easy to manoeuvre. Jervis took a month to craft a boat that featured a shallow keel, a pointed stern and bow, and a single sail. His design soon caught on as other seamen throughout the islands became skilled at constructing catboats.
The boats were initially made from wood growing on the islands. Plopnut was commonly used for the ribs, a favourite because its branches grew with a lot of curves, while mahogany was used for the planking. Eventually, as the demand for catboats continued to grow, cypress and cedar were imported from Mobile, Alabama, for the planking. The boats were typically painted blue to minimise glare from the sun and to camouflage the vessel while hunting sea turtles. Because they used wood and raw materials found on the islands, each boat was unique — there was no standard size.
Bringing the Past to the Future
Crafting these working boats from local materials was challenging and became a form of artistic expression. Members of the Catboat Club want to pass on that tradition to the younger generation and revive the boat-building industry in Cayman. Fortunately, the transition is already in the works. Two students, Miller’s son, N.J. Miller, and Tom Sargison, are learning boat building and wooden boat restoration in Rhode Island and England, respectively. Both will return to Cayman after completing their two-year courses this year, and will begin building traditional Cayman catboats once again. Their efforts should help replenish the fleet that was lost due to Hurricane Ivan, as well as jump-start a once-thriving boat-building industry in Cayman.
“We really hope to get the manufacturing of catboats up and going. Wooden boats are still very popular around the world. There is definitely a market for them,” says Miller. “We have to get new blood into this. The catboat is part of our history and our culture. We need to keep it alive.”
Jackson and other volunteers at the club have worked tirelessly over the years to do just that by promoting catboats at every turn. He makes sure the catboat is front-and-centre at Cayman’s numerous festivals and cultural events, with volunteers taking people out to experience the boat in its element. Jackson spreads the word about catboats to hundreds of school children through field trips, summer camps and school visits, and says it’s rewarding to see their response. “They are really interested, which is encouraging for us. It’s so nice to see that. It makes all the work worthwhile.” His efforts have not gone unnoticed, as Jackson was honoured as a Member of the Order of the British Empire by her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to preserving the Caymanian culture and environment.
Miller has fond memories of fishing and learning to sail the traditional vessel while growing up. He says the catboat is a symbol of the islands’ early years and a living link to the past. He wants to keep that history afloat for generations to come. “It gives an understanding of just how far we’ve come in a short period of time,” says Miller, referring to Cayman’s rapid transformation from mainly subsistence farming, fishing, turtling and thatch-rope making, to a world-class international finance and tourism destination.
“The catboat represents the old Cayman — and it’s quite a contrast from today’s Cayman. It is an example of being self-sustaining and making do with what you have on hand. It’s an amazing piece of history. It’s important to pass that on.”
Source: caymanairwaysmagazine.com