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Proud to be Forbes Best Global Insurance Group. www.generali-healthcare.com cayman compass Your most trusted news source Established 1965 75 CENTS | Funding local journalism | Thursday, 9 January 2020 Treat your pooch to the One Dog Jog Page 7 Government asks AT&T to stop running ad Page 2 Photo: Berkley White, via DoE News Port vote question ‘tweaked’ Page 3 News Weather service to build new facility Page 6 Nassau groupers bouncing back Save our stories: Seafarers’ tales Pages 8 and 9 Page 4The video ad, titled ‘OK Tax Professional’, is set in an office and the main character, named Phil, appears to be a shady tax professional who tells his customer he can get her taxes in an “OK place”. The customer points to photos of Phil on his desk, noting that he takes a lot of trips to “the Caymans”. One photo shows Phil with a yacht in the background with the name Offshore Accounts and another photo shows him surrounded by parrots. The tax professional then goes on to say Phil is legally dead as he fell off a boat and he is now called Dennis Celery. The man opens a folder and says, “You won’t want to see this” and then shreds a document. The customer walks away, saying, “This isn’t going to work out.” The tagline in the ad is “Just OK is not OK.” The advertisement is one of several recent instances in which Cayman has been referenced in a light that paints it as an avenue for money laundering and criminal acts. Popular US TV shows ‘Law and Order SVU’, ‘Jane the Virgin’ and ‘How to Get Away With Murder’ named Cayman when referring to suspects moving or hiding money and engaging in criminal financing. In November, Rivers said her ministry would mount a new campaign this year to clear Cayman’s name, and funds were allocated in the 2020/21 budget to educate and dispel misconceptions about Cayman’s financial services industry. She said there continue to be adverse throwaway references to Cayman in film, and added that her ministry would lead a targeted campaign to engage with entertainment company executives “to correct the record, educate content providers and to set the record straight about Cayman’s commitment to meeting international standards and its ongoing commitment to combat financial crime and tax evasion”. The Compass reached out to AT&T’s communications department for comment. No reply was received by press time. • Matinees Daily (matinee price before 6pm) • Seniors $8.00, Mon-Fri Before 6pm • Additional charges apply per 3D/VIP tickets Cayman Cinema@cbcinema6cbcinema6 SATURDAY NIGHT: For your viewing pleasure, minors under the age of 18 will not be admitted to any film starting after 6pm, unless accompanied by their parent. - THURSDAY - 640-FILM (640-3456) CATS (PG) 3:35 | 9:10 FROZEN 2 1:00 | 6:30 THE GRUDGE (R) 2:00 | 4:30 | 7:15 | 9:40 | 10:05 VIP JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL (PG13) 12:45 VIP | 4:10 | 7:05 | 9:55 LITTLE WOMEN (PG) 12:45 | 4:00 | 9:30 SPIES IN DISGUISE (PG) 1:40 | 4:20 | 7:00 STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER (PG13) 12:30 | 3:40 VIP | 6:50 VIP | 7:30 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY: Cayman Compass Ltd. Compass Centre, Shedden Road, George Town, Cayman Islands SEND US YOUR VIEWS OR NEWS: P.O. Box 1365 Grand Cayman, KY1-1108 Cayman Islands Telephone: (345) 815-0095 Email: newsdesk@compassmedia.ky ADVERTISE WITH US: T: (345) 949-5111 E: sales@compassmedia.ky W: caymancompass.com PUBLISHER KATHLEEN CAPETTA NEWS PRODUCER AND OPERATIONS MANAGER KEVIN MORALES A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will find their own way” Partly cloudy skies with a 30% chance of showers. weather Forecast today Cayman Islands 83°F 72°F HIGH LOW WINDS Northeasterly 20 to 25 knots. SEA STATE Rough with wave heights of 6 to 8 feet with possible swells along the coasts. Calls on US company to cease and desist RESHMA RAGOONATH rragoonath@compassmedia.ky The Cayman Islands government has written to US telecom giant AT&T calling on it to cease and desist from using an advertisement which paints the Cayman Islands in a negative light. It follows Financial Services Minister Tara Rivers’ vow last November to challenge Hollywood over negative connotations concerning Cayman in US films and TV shows. The Cayman Compass reached out to the Financial Services Ministry about the TV ad, which has been making the rounds on local social media platforms. It was also recently released and posted to YouTube.com. In a brief response, the ministry said it was aware of the ad. “The Cayman Islands Government has already written to AT&T’s legal department, asking the company to cease and desist using the ad on all media platforms; and reserving the Government’s right to legal and appropriate regulatory actions. As a result, the Ministry will not be taking further action,” the statement said. Gov’t asks AT&T to stop running ‘tax professional’ ad A screengrab of ‘Phil’ from the AT&T advertisement. “The Cayman Islands Government has already written to AT&T’s legal department, asking the company to cease and desist using the ad on all media platforms; and reserving the Government’s right to legal and appropriate regulatory actions.” Financial Services Ministry statement 2Hawksbills are critically engangered CAROLINA LOPEZ clopez@compassmedia.ky The Department of Environment is urging the public to correctly dispose of fishing line after divers found a dead hawksbill turtle in 80 feet of water off the coast of North West Point, in West Bay. The turtle’s left flipper was wrapped in fishing line, according to the DoE. It was found on 30 Dec. near Lighthouse Point. “Fishing line takes over 600 years to degrade and is a danger to marine life. Cayman has seen many instances where sea turtles entangled in discarded line suffered severe flipper injuries or have even drowned,” the DoE said in a statement. Divetech instructor Serena Evans found the turtle while diving with a colleague. She said when she first started diving, seeing sea turtles was the highlight of her dives. “The look in the turtle’s eye when we found him was haunting. Every diver’s nightmare would be drowning underwater, and every diver knows that all marine life is sentient and the terror the turtle would have experienced whilst drowning was apparent in his eyes,” Evans said. Evans said it looked like the fishing line had been underwater for some time, as there was coral growth on it, but she believed the turtle had died recently. “I was training a colleague that day, and just two hours earlier we had been maybe 25 feet from where we found the corpse. I only wish we had swum a little further on the earlier dive, it may be we would have reached him on time and been able to cut him free,” Evans said. Hawksbill turtles are critically endangered and lay very few nests in Cayman, the DoE stated. Recycling bins for discarded fishing lines can be found at various points throughout the islands, such as at boat launching ramp and some dive shops. “Since the Department of Environment installed its fishing line recycling bins around the islands in late 2015, we’ve collected more than 300 pounds of fishing line. Line from the bins is shipped overseas for recycling with assistance from the Department of Environmental Health and US recycler Berkley Fishing. The collected line is recycled into products such as artificial fish habitats,” the DOE said. CPR: We were not consulted RESHMA RAGOONATH rragoonath@compassmedia.ky Government has amended the question it plans to use for the referendum on its proposed $200 million cruise berthing and cargo project. However, Cruise Port Referendum Cayman representatives, the grassroots group behind the petition that triggered the vote, said the new wording still falls short of addressing concerns that have been raised in the judicial review filed by CPR member Shirley Roulstone. The changes to the wording of the question were made in the regulations that accompany the Referendum Law that was passed in the Legislative Assembly to pave the way for the vote on the project. The decision to amend the question was made by Cabinet and was in line with recommendations made by Roulstone’s attorneys, according to a statement from the Office of the Premier issued Wednesday. “Submissions made by Ms. Roulstone’s legal counsel recommended that the word ‘proceed’ would be acceptable in place of ‘move forward’ and the words ‘enlarged and refurbished’ would be acceptable in place of ‘enhanced’. In its final meeting last year on 17 December, Cabinet took the view that whilst there was nothing wrong with the original wording, it would nonetheless be pragmatic to tweak the wording in order to help save time and costs in the case,” the statement read. “The decision was taken to resolve the concerns raised by Shirley Roulstone on the neutrality of the question,” an Office of the Premier official said. The original question approved by legislators was: “Should the Cayman Islands continue to move forward with building the cruise berthing and enhanced cargo port facility?” The amended version reads: “Should the Cayman Islands continue to proceed with building the cruise berthing and enlarged and refurbished cargo port facility?” The change was gazetted 18 Dec. CPR’s Johann Moxam said the group was not consulted about the change. “Again, it still fails to address the spirit of the petition that people signed, which focused only on the cruise project,” he said Wednesday in response to queries from the Cayman Compass. Although the changes were published in the Government Gazette, there was no formal public statement from the government that any amendment to the question was made. However, Moxam expressed displeasure with way in which the change was made. “The government’s recent actions considering the pending legal matters and approach to the CBF [cruise berthing facility] campaign from the very beginning, has again demonstrated its contempt for the people. They continue to ignore CPR and members of the public that are united and worked to successfully secure the signatures that triggered Cayman’s historic people’s initiated referendum,” he said. Roulstone was granted leave for judicial review of the referendum last month. The court has also delayed the referendum which had been set for 19 Dec. 2019. The wording of the question was one of several concerns Roulstone raised in her legal action over the port vote. Her legal action also questioned the timing of the referendum since it excluded 220 newly registered voters, the fact that there were no campaign finance rules or restrictions set, and allowances were made for the sale of alcohol on Referendum Day. This week, Chief Justice Anthony Smellie granted Roulstone a protective costs order shielding her from having to pay government’s costs if her legal challenge fails in court. The trial has been scheduled for 22-24 Jan. Shirley Roulstone, right, with her lawyer Kate McClymont, pictured last month outside court when a judge placed a stay on the people-initiated referendum to allow time for a judicial review application. Port referendum question ‘tweaked’ 22-24 Jan Dates set for judicial review ANDREL HARRIS aharris@compassmedia.ky A man accused of breaking into a West Bay home to steal toiletries appeared in court Monday on a single charge of burglary. Philip Albert Hoybia Cana, 27, of the Philippines, is alleged to have broken into a North West Point home at around 2:30am on 14 Aug. According to court documents, the homeowner closed all the windows and doors at around 8:20pm the night before and went to bed. He was awoken by the sound of footsteps in his gravel yard. Those footsteps were then followed by the sound of a person stacking chairs. Not long after that, the man heard someone trying to turn the doorknob of the locked door. The person outside then attempted to gain entry through a bathroom window. That window was closed but not latched, and the intruder opened the window and climbed through. The burglar then entered the bedroom where he was grabbed by the complainant. “Don’t kill me, don’t kill me; I’m Filipino, I’m Filipino,” said the intruder, according to court documents. He was detained by the homeowner and was subsequently identified as Hoybia Cana. According to the court documents, the defendant told police he had broken into the house with the intention of stealing toiletries, and that he did not think anyone was home. Hoybia Cana faces a single charge of burglary, which was elevated to the Grand Court after it was classified as a Category A offence. No plea has been entered and he was released on bail. Burglar begs for his life Department of Environment sustainable development officer Nathan Dack, who is 6 feet,2 inches tall, stands next to four boxes and a bag filled with discarded fishing line collected from recycling bins during a six-month period last year. Dead turtle found caught in fishing line Critically endangered Though hawksbills are widely distributed, the International Union of Conservation of Nature lists them as critically endangered, with an estimated population of fewer than 25,000 nesting females across their range in the tropics. New referendum question: “Should the Cayman Islands continue to proceed with building the cruise berthing and enlarged and refurbished cargo port facility?” 3Conservation efforts deemed a success RESHMA RAGOONATH rragoonath@compassmedia.ky Researchers tracking the critically endangered Nassau grouper have lauded conservation efforts to resuscitate the population in the Cayman Islands. A new study from researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, published this week, indicated that the annual aggregation of Nassau groupers in Little Cayman is now the largest remaining identified aggregation of the fish in the world. This is a major change from two decades ago, when the Little Cayman Nassau grouper population was considered to have collapsed. The researchers attributed the successful recovery of the local Nassau grouper populations to an approach involving government agencies, academic researchers and non-profit organisations. They said they were astonished at how quickly the population had recovered over the last decade. “The aggregation on Little Cayman [increased] from around 1,200 fish in 2009 to more than 7,000 in 2018. This growth was due, at least in part, to a rapid increase in the addition of new, younger fish to the aggregation,” the researchers said in a media statement on their findings. While the numbers are a positive testament to local efforts, the Department of Environment remained cautious. “While the numbers are very encouraging and we don’t want to downplay that, it is still very important to have Nassau grouper fishing restrictions in place for the survival of the species. Remember, the closed fishing season runs from 1 December to 30 April. It will take a lot more patient conservation work to bring this species back from the brink. They remain critically endangered.” What the researchers found The study, titled ‘Recovery of critically endangered Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) in the Cayman Islands following targeted conservation actions’, was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers used a two- pronged approach that included tagging and video census data for monitoring and counting the Nassau grouper populations. The report noted that, by 2001, the Nassau grouper population in the Cayman Islands appeared to have “completely collapsed”. Over the past 15 years, since the monitoring programme began, the numbers in Little Cayman had recovered significantly. “Census data from Cayman Brac, while more sparse, show a similar pattern. These findings demonstrate that spatial and seasonal closures aimed at rebuilding aggregation-based fisheries can foster conservation success. Reef fishes that form fish-spawning aggregations (FSAs), including many species of grouper, are at high risk of being over-fished when fisheries target their FSAs,” the study said. “This really demonstrates the power of this collaborative approach to conservation,” said the report’s co-author Christy Pattengill-Semmens, Reef Environmental Education Foundation director of science. “We were able to monitor the population and provide information to support management as the data came in, allowing the Cayman government to respond rapidly with policy changes. These efforts have been successful because of the strength of the partnerships among the government, academic research groups, and non-profits,” she added. Those policy changes included fishing restrictions. “Because of the implementation of these deliberate, science-based conservation strategies, Little Cayman is now home to the largest remaining identified Nassau grouper aggregation anywhere in the world,” the study stated. The researchers, in their study, said they were unable to collect the tagging and video census data necessary to include Grand Cayman in their analysis. However, the management actions taken by the Cayman government encompass all three islands. “Although exceptionally coarse, observational evidence from 2012 and 2018 suggests that the FSA has remained highly depressed (500 or less fish) over the same time frame that Little Cayman and Cayman Brac showed marked growth,” the report stated. The DoE and Reef Environmental Education Foundation also conduct an annual ‘Grouper Moon’ research project, which involves monitoring the annual Nassau grouper spawning, during which large numbers of the fish aggregate at specific sites during a full moon. Researchers said, due to over- fishing during spawning, the species suffered region-wide stock collapse. “By the 1980s, large aggregations had all but disappeared from the Caribbean region. Of the remaining aggregations, few contained more than 1,000 individuals, and the species is currently listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature,” the researchers’ media statement said. 123456 7 89 1011 12131415 16 17181920 2122 23 123456 7 89 1011 12131415 16 17181920 2122 23 ACROSS 1 Discourtesy (3,7) 8 Momentary flash (5) 9 Decisive (7) 10 Grow steadily less (7) 11 Very tired (3,2) 12 To attack from ambush (6) 14 Importance (6) 17 Quay (5) 19 Narrow-minded (7) 21 Free time (7) 22 Angered (5) 23 Bent on mischief (2,2,2,4) DOWN 2 Nimbleness (7) 3 Toned down (5) 4 White malleable metal (6) 5 Seek to equal (7) 6 A fall (5) 7 Malevolent (3-7) 8 Be favourably received (2,4,4) 13 Open to blame (2,5) 15 Italian astronomer, died 1642 (7) 16 Bird of dove family (6) 18 Farewell (5) 20 Gesture of indifference (5) The Compass Crossword Puzzle The Compass universal kakuro Puzzle 16270 The numbers in the black cells are clues. Numbers above the slash are across clues. Number below the slash are down clues. The goal is to enter digits 1 - 9 in the white cells to add up to the number clues. You cannot enter any digit more than once when adding up to clue. YeSteRDAY'S SOLUtIONS Puzzle 16269 ACROSS: 1 Indigo, 4 Damper, 9 Sumatra, 10 Onset, 11 Links, 12 Inflame, 13 Cut-and-dried, 18 Ungodly, 20 Plato, 22 Exact, 23 Upstage, 24 Speedy, 25 Leaden. DOWN: 1 Insult, 2 Demon, 3 Go to sea, 5 Aloof, 6 Passage, 7 Rather, 8 Day in, day out, 14 Upgrade, 15 Riposte, 16 Duress, 17 Govern, 19 Dated, 21 Award. Little Cayman aggregations of spawning Nassau groupers were considered to have 'completely collapsed' in 2001. Nassau grouper population bounces back cartoon Shipwreck - By Caymanman The Cayman Islands prohibits fishing for Nassau grouper between 1 Dec. and 30 April 30. Anyone who takes, purchases, receives, offers for sale, exchanges or donates Nassau grouper during that time commits an offence under the National Conservation Law. It is also illegal to possess or permit another person to take Nassau grouper from Cayman waters during the closed season. cayman compass 4 news N news THURSDAY, 9 JANUARY 2020cayman compass 5 THURSDAY, 9 JANUARY 2020 12 DAYS OF GIVING CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS! Private Cayman Luxury Charters sail for 10 guests DAY 8 WED DEC 18TH Dinner for 12 with Chef Maureen Cubbon at Bon Vivant $1200 USD Kimpton Seafire Resort & Spa Gift Certificate DAY 6 MON DEC 16TH $1200 USD Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman Gift Certificate DAY 12 MON DEC 23RD iPhone 11 Pro, Wireless Charger & AirPods Pro DAY 1 TUE DEC 10TH 3 Tickets to The Beach Bash Presented by Progressive Distributors LTD. DAY 2 WED DEC 11TH $1,000 Foster's Card DAY 3 THU DEC 12TH DAY 4 FRI DEC 13TH $800 Camana Bay Gift Card $800 Refuel Gift Certificate DAY 5 SAT DEC 14TH DAY 7 TUE DEC 17TH DAY 9 THU DEC 19TH $1,000 Foster's Card DAY 10 FRI DEC 20TH 3 Tickets to Barefoot BBQ at Royal Palms DAY 11 SAT DEC 21ST iPhone 11 Pro, Wireless Charger & AirPods Pro GRAND PRIZE WINNERS! GROCERIES FOR A YEAR | @FOSTERSCAYMAN | FOSTERS.KY/12-DAYS PREFERRED TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS PREFERRED TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS IPHONE 11 PRO & 3 TICKETS TO THE CAYMAN COOKOUT BON VIVANT CHEF COMPETITION INSTAGRAM GIVEAWAY WINNER!ANDREL HARRIS aharris@compassmedia.ky The Cayman Islands National Weather Service has received planning permission and a budget to construct a multi-million-dollar weather facility on Agnes Way, off Crewe Road, in George Town. National Weather Service Director General John Tibbetts said it has taken half a decade to narrow down a location, as well as get funding and approval, for the construction of the building. “We first started thinking about building a new facility in 2015,” said Tibbetts. “Fortunately, we were able to get Ms. Dubadah Boldeau from the Department of Public Works to draw up the plans, and then, Mr. Jonathan Jackson from the ministry helped to provide us with the extra help to see the project through.” Tibbetts and his team of meteorologists and forecasters currently operate out of the Customs and Border Control private arrival and departure facility, adjacent to the Island Air hanger at the airport. Tibbetts said “cramped work spaces” and “poor visibility”, along with several other constraints of the current location, are hindering his staff’s ability to meet international standards. During the November 2019 Finance Committee sitting of the Legislative Assembly, government approved a budget of $3.5 million, which will be provided to the weather service between 2020 and 2022 to set up the new facility. Then, in December, the Central Planning Authority approved the application to build the project. The only objectors to the proposal were an 82-year-old woman and her 81-year-old husband, for matters of a personal nature, according to agenda documents. The facility will be built on 4.7 acres of Crown land, which currently houses the Lyndhurst apartment complex, the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service’s Traffic and Roads Policing Unit, and aggregate material for the National Roads Authority. The apartment complex and the Traffic and Roads Policing Unit building will be demolished and replaced with an open grass field which will contain weather instruments. The new three- storey weather building will be located on the site where the aggregate is currently in place, which will be moved. The funding for the project comes exclusively from the government, as the National Weather Service does not generate any revenue. Tibbetts said there is a strong business case to support the islands’ need for a more modern facility. “Sixty percent of what we do is for the Cayman Islands Airports Authority,” said Tibbetts. “We provide crucial information about touch-down and take-off points of the runway. International standards dictate that we need to see at least 70% of the runway, but where we are located, we only have a window that has little to no visibility of the touch-down and take-off points.” Tibbetts said the new facility will provide his forecasters with 270-degree views of the runway, as well as a 360-degree open rooftop view, which is to allow his staff to meet international requirements. A tendering process to construct the building is expected to open in the coming months. Groundbreaking is expected to occur in August or September this year, and the facility is likely to be built within one year. ANDREL HARRIS aharris@compassmedia.ky Efforts to relocate tenants of the Lyndhurst Apartments on Agnes Way in George Town continue as government prepares to build a new weather facility on the site. The dilapidated apartment complex, which is owned by government, is thought to currently house five occupants in three separate dwellings. In December, fire officers breached the door of one unit during the execution of a court-sanctioned eviction order. The operation, which was headed by the Department of Children and Family Services, aimed at removing a tenant, who neighbours said was an elderly woman. When officers accessed the apartment, the woman was not at home. Sheets of plyboard now cover the doors. When Cayman Compass staff visited the site on Tuesday, one occupant, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was told he would be relocated to Bodden Town, but added that he was not told when. In December, Premier Alden McLaughlin called for greater cooperation between landlords and the Needs Assessment Unit as well as the DCFS. The apartments are set to be demolished to make room for an open grass field that will house weather instruments. The field will be part of a $3.5 million weather facility, which is anticipated to be built by 2022. The Compass reached out to government seeking a comment on the matter, but no reply was received by press time. Weather service gets approval for million-dollar facility 4.7 acres The amount of land on which the new facility will be built Apartments to be levelled to make way for weather station The Lyndhurst Apartments will be razed to make way for the new weather facility. 6Virginia 'Auntie V' Foster entertains her audience on West Bay Public Beach for Gimistory 2019. Georgette Rankine from East End has been crowned champion of the Gimistory Fish Fry Competition. The contest was part of the 2019 Gimistory International Storytelling Festival, presented by the Cayman National Cultural Foundation, which took place from 29 Nov.- 7 Dec., 2019, at beaches and parks on all three islands. Each venue featured a local representative who showcased traditional preparation of fish and fritters. Vendors familiar with serving high volumes of customers efficiently and with proven experience in preparing and serving traditional Caymanian fried fish and fritters were invited to submit applications to be a part of the Gimistory event. Participants were judged on the overall taste and texture of their dish, as well as their use of the caboose. “The fish fry plays an important role in contributing to the full cultural experience that is Gimistory,” said CNCF managing director Marcia Muttoo. “Attendees had their ears tickled by the musings of the first-class storytellers and their bellies filled with a delicious, local culinary delight. It was a celebration of everything that is traditionally Caymanian and a perfect way to usher in the Christmas holiday season.” For her top-notch fish- and fritter-frying efforts, Rankine received an engraved plate, as well as a complimentary booth at the 2020 Red Sky at Night Multicultural Arts Festival, which takes place on 29 Feb. Cayman National Cultural Foundation The Cayman National Cultural Foundation is a non-profit organisation, managed by arts professionals and governed by a board of directors, which comprises individuals from the public and private sectors. It is funded, for the most part, by an annual government grant through the Ministry of Culture. Additional funding comes from corporate sponsorships, event ticket sales and rentals of the Harquail Theatre and Studio Theatre. The foundation also accepts charitable donations, which help to support its diverse programming. Its mission is: “To stimulate, facilitate and preserve cultural and artistic expression generally, particularly the preservation and exploration of Caymanian performing, visual and literacy arts.” The management structure is headed by artistic director, Henry Muttoo and managing director, Marcia Muttoo. For more information about the Cultural Foundation’s programmes and events, call 949-5477 or email cncf@artscayman.org. Pull on your shoes, grab a pooch and head to the second annual One Dog Jog on Sunday, co-ordinated by One Dog at a Time. Starting at 7am at Safehaven, this 5K fun run, or walk, is a great start to the day and will ensure your pooches get the exercise they need, follow by a well-earned rest. Last year’s event raised much- needed funds for the charity’s dog rescues and veterinary care, and this time it is hoping to further increase the total. Caroline Johnston, vice president of One Dog, said, “Every year we see more of our four-legged friends needing help. Abandoned, impounded, surrendered and abused pups and dogs all come our way. Each dog needs to be checked and generally all require vaccinations and to be spayed or neutered, as a bare minimum. “We are very lucky and thankful that all the veterinary services we use assist us with our new dogs, often at the drop of the hat, and ensure they are correctly medicated according to their specific needs. We are also so grateful to the community for opening their homes to foster these babies and help us in our quest for fabulous forever homes both here and in the States. We couldn’t do what we do without our supporters.” Lindsay McGill, who attended the event last year, said, “Events like these are great, not only as fundraisers, but [to] allow owners to share hints and tips … and their dogs [get] to meet others too! We completed a 10K run by running around twice, just to tire our dogs out.” All dogs and their families are welcome to attend this year’s event. Registration can be prior to the jog on Cayman Active or at the Nu to U One Dog Thrift Shop at JJT Warehouses, Industrial Way. Participants can also register from 6:30am on the day. Entry to the event costs $25 for each person over 5 years old. All runners and walkers will receive a raffle ticket for the chance to win some amazing prizes at the end of the race. Water stations will be set up at intervals, so pups can quench their thirst, and human water bottles can be refilled. To support Plastic Free Cayman, organisers are asking participants to bring their own water bottles as cups will not be provided. Dogs should be leashed for the run and, if your dog needs a little extra space, tie a yellow ribbon onto their leash. If you don’t own a dog, why not borrow one from One Dog at a Time or the Cayman Islands Humane Society and give them a welcome outing? One Dog at a Time The charity aims to help unwanted dogs and puppies get the care they need before going to their forever homes. It also aims to prevent dogs and puppies from being euthanised at the Department of Agriculture pound by finding them forever homes. Finally, its goal is to help dog owners with vet bills if it means that they can keep their family member rather than having to surrender them. For more details, contact onedogatatime13 on Facebook. Meredith Whitney and Jason Moir didn't let a little rain faze them last year. Treat your pooch to the One Dog Jog Winner of Gimistory Fish Fry Competition announced The fish and fritters frying at the Gimistory locations are a highlight of the annual festival. Georgette Rankine is the happy winner of the Fish Fry Competition held through Gimistory last year. 7cayman compass I issues THURSDAY, 9 JANUARY 2020 8 Stories from old Cayman, Miskito Cay and National Bulk Carriers KAYLA YOUNG kyoung@compassmedia.ky Samuel Eden Powery, 81, of West Bay was among the first generation of Caymanians recruited by National Bulk Carriers, joining the global shipping operation at age 17 as a messman, a job that required serving and cleaning up after meals. The work allowed him to save enough money to purchase the home where he still lives in West Bay with his wife Redell. They married the day before Valentine’s Day in 1958 and went on to have eight children. But before boarding his first ship, the oil tanker Petro Kure, in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, Powery had already received a maritime education of sorts in Cayman. As a boy, he learned from his father how to ultilise the tools provided by the sea, turning washed-up coral into lime plaster for building houses. And as an adolescent, he joined the schooners that sailed the Caribbean in search of turtle. As part of our series, ‘Founded Upon the Seas’, we have asked seafarers, like Powery, to share their stories with us. Below are three accounts, told in Powery’s own words, about his youth. In the first segment, Powery describes the wattle-and-daub construction technique that old Caymanians employed to build their homes. Later, he takes us to a sandbar near Nicaragua’s Miskito Cay, where he toughed out a powerful storm. Finally, we end on an out-of-control cargo ship and a crying captain on the Bay of Biscay. Firing up the kiln One of the first things that I remember doing as work was helping my father gather some stones from the seashores. That was to build lime kilns. Lime kilns is what the old-time people used to use to make their walls. [There were] two or three, or four maybe, men that used to dig those lime kilns. These lime kilns were built from the stones from the sea, what you could find washed up, that the hurricane brought up. I was just about 7. Sometimes I would help [my father] with carrying the wood to make the lime kiln. I used to cut the grape wood or the birch tree and I used to put that on my shoulder and carry it for him to put it on the lime kiln. I felt good about it. I felt like I was some use to him. I used to go down there and help my father gather [the stones], then pile them up where he was going to build his lime kiln to get the lime to make these walls. They used to take that lime and mix it in water and stir. And sometimes they called that a daub wall. The daub wall, they used to make it from wattle. They used the bamboo and they split some grape tree, spread it down. And they used to take that and [plaster] it and then they used to take the shovel or whatever they had them days and plaster the wattle, plaster the bamboo boards, and then, you know, you got the daub wall. Surviving Miskito Cay I ran the Miskito Cay before I was with National Bulk [Carriers]. Some people might not even come to realise that [going to] Miskito Cay was going to sea. That was one of the first places that we started out going to sea. We used to go out on the schooners. Some of those guys was with the National Bulk. They didn’t know anything about Miskito Cay. They didn’t know sailing or the schooners or the vessels. They just went, you know, didn’t give it a second thought. A lot of us [sailed to] Miskito Cay and that was a dangerous place. I wasn’t quite 14 [when I started]. I was still a young boy. The immigration [official], she didn’t want to sign me off because I was still a schoolboy. The captain was there with me to see me signed off. He went with me to immigration and he begged her to let me go. I guess [at sea] it would seem to be a little bit scary sometimes, but for me, I never got scared, never got seasick. It seems my stomach must be pretty strong. We were going to get turtle. They’d have them tie a fin and you could bring them back to Cayman and they used to ship them to the States or to Key West. [There was] a gentleman who went by the name of Mr. Osgood Christian. That was my first trip out. He had me as a cook. I might have been more of a mess boy, but I had to cook for them. We were not really going to the key. We were on [sand]bars, where you see the shallow water up around the bar. We used to make huts. And we used to have cooking and sleeping in that area. It wasn’t big, but it used to be three or four of us – three men in the boat and one cook for the four of us. One experience that I had that was a scary experience was having a nor’wester come down, and it was only me in the hut. The other ones had went to the key to get wood and water. They used to go down there somewhere around 11 o’clock, or maybe later. They would stay all night and come up in the morning. Then, one morning, they couldn’t make it up because the nor’wester was too heavy. They couldn’t make it back to where I was in the hut, so they stayed down there. They were gone over one week. #SaveOurStories Samuel Powery: ‘We always pray for the people at sea’ The Petro Kure, the world's largest oil tanker when it was finished in 1952, was Powery's first ship with National Bulk Carriers. Wattle and daub A traditional Caymanian building technique where walls were enforced with wattle, a woven lattice of wooden strips, and covered in daub, which in Cayman consisted of lime from coral fired in a kiln, sand and water.cayman compass I issues THURSDAY, 9 JANUARY 2020 9 e at sea’ The nor’wester blowed and blowed. It was a bit scary. I was so afraid in the nighttime that I had no company. I took one guy’s bed and put it on top of me. And we were running out of wood to cook with. So what I did was, to get the wood, I had to cut a piece of wharf that we had. There were some points sticking out that looked useless. I just sawed them off and made a fire. So that’s how I survived. It was quite scary. The guys out at the key, I was thinking that they were safer than me, you know. They were on the land, but I was out in the bleak ocean. They didn’t know anything about me, what would happen to me, and I didn’t know what happened to them. You couldn’t take no chances or come to where I was and I couldn’t take no chances. ‘The poor captain cried’ One time that was scary was when we got caught in a storm up in the Bay of Biscay on one of those Liberty [cargo ships]. It was built for the war and National Bulk used to buy them. They used to carry freight from the United States or India or wherever it is. And we got caught on the Bay of Biscay. What happened was, the ship was [supposed] to take water ballast [to stabilise the vessel] from the dock and I think the captain used to get a bit excited once the ship finished discharging what she had. He wanted to get her from the dock too quick, and he went and never stopped, and got the ballast that he should take. When we go in the ocean, all we could do was [shift] the water in the ballast and that wasn’t enough. So, he’d done wrong. He went out and left the water that he should have took on the ship. We went out there and I happened to be to the wheel. The storm caught us on the starboard bow [the right side of the ship], and I was on to do the 24-hour watch. It started blowing and blowing the ship around, and I started giving the wheel to try to bring her back. And one old gentleman said that the wheel would lock. He said that the wheel was too tight. That’s all I could do, just keep turning it and turning it and she wouldn’t come back up to string her around. Nobody could get to the wheel and bring the ship back around. She was taken advantage of because she was up too high, she didn’t have that ballast to keep her down. Half her starboard was in the ocean. And the wind takes advantage and swings her. The poor captain, he cried, you know, it was so serious. The sea would take her and roll her. The wind with the ship would go up like that [to the side] and when she’d come down, she’d go like that [to the side]again. people at home here were praying for us and there could be someone else in another part of the world praying for people at sea. So, we always remember to pray for them. Even now, if we saw a ship passing up and down here, we just don’t know what might happen to them. We pray for Do you know a seafaring story that the Cayman Compass should share? Contact Kayla Young at kyoung@compassmedia.ky. er oo ent and nd got the hould takehould take in the ocean was [shift] the ast and that So, he’d done out and left the ould have took there and I to the wheel ht us on the the right side of was on to do the wing and p around, and I he wheel to try k. And one old that the wheel said that the ight uld do, just and turning it ’t come back up ound d get to the g the ship he was taken cause she was didn’t have eep her down ard was in the e wind takes swings her. The e cried, you serious d take her and nd ould to hen n at n I believe the people at home here were praying for us and there could be someone else in another part of the world praying for people at sea. So, we always remember to pray for them. Even now, if we saw a ship passing up and down here, we just don’t know what might happen to them. We pray for them. Do you know a seafaring story that the Cayman Compass should share? Contact Kayla Young at kyoung@compassmedia.ky. Samuel Eden Powery first ventured to sea at age 13, aboard a turtling schooner destined for Miskito Cay. One of the few pictures of Powery as a young man, this photo was taken before his last trip with National Bulk Carriers when he was around age 25. Listen to these stories in Powery's own voice on www.caymancompass.comNext >