About 25 Caymanian seafarers gathered with family members, friends and community leaders at the Cayman Islands Seafarers Association in Red Bay on Sunday, 12 July for the Cayman Islands fifth annual Sea Sunday celebration.
The event honoured the men whose lives at sea helped build the modern Cayman Islands, while also recognising the continuing importance of seafarers around the world.
Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman, the luncheon formed part of the worldwide observance of Sea Sunday, celebrated annually on the second Sunday in July. Churches across the globe use the day to pray for seafarers and their families, give thanks for their service and support organisations such as Stella Maris, The Mission to Seafarers and the Sailors’ Society, which provide welfare and pastoral care to mariners facing isolation, conflict and long periods away from home.
This year’s international theme, “Harbours of Hope: The Church Alongside Seafarers,” reflected the challenges facing the world’s 1.9 million seafarers, whose work carries more than 90% of global trade despite increasing security risks and lengthy separations from loved ones.
Cayman’s maritime heritage
Closer to home, Sunday’s gathering focused on Cayman’s own rich maritime heritage.
Former premier, McKeeva Bush, patron of the Cayman Islands Seafarers Association, paid tribute not only to the seamen but also to the women who remained at home.
“We should remember the Cayman women who were keeping the homes together, raising children, working in government, working in the schools as teachers, and in the shops while they were praying for the safe return of the seamen and holding the communities together,” he said.
Reflecting on the national motto, “He hath founded it upon the seas,” Bush said those words held a special meaning for Cayman.
“Our people lived by the sea, travelled by the sea and by God’s grace built a future, but progress did not come easy, it came through sacrifice,” he said. “It is a story of boys becoming men before their time.”
He recalled how many young Caymanians left the Islands with little more than a small bag and their mothers’ prayers before embarking on long voyages around the world, where they earned reputations as disciplined, honest and highly skilled merchant mariners.
“The country must not forget the people that built it,” Bush said. “They must honour them and support them and teach their story to the generations that follow.”
Noting the declining number of traditional seafarers, Bush questioned what the future holds for the association and suggested expanding membership to include younger Caymanians working in today’s watersports and maritime industries. He also renewed calls for the creation of a Seafarers museum to preserve Cayman’s maritime history.
Premier André Ebanks, who attended both the Sea Sunday Mass at St. Ignatius Catholic Church and the luncheon, said government would explore ways to help make such a museum a reality.
Governor Jane Owen described seafaring as the defining force throughout much of Cayman’s history.
“For 350 years of Cayman history, seafaring has been the guiding force,” she said, praising the “wonderful expertise” of Cayman’s merchant mariners.
While recognising the Islands’ proud past, the governor also encouraged young people to pursue careers across the modern maritime sector, including merchant shipping, cargo transport and tourism.
“Light the beacon and be a lighthouse for everything that has to do with seafaring in Cayman because there is a history and legacy, we should all be incredibly proud of,” she said.
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