Massachussetts mariner Edward is a model boatbuilder back in George Town

James E Bodden

James’ hand-made model of the schooner
Gertrude L Thebaud

Wednesday, May 18, 2005 

Boatbuilder James E Bodden may not have achieved the feat of sailing the Seven Seas, but his efforts at constructing model schooners from local birch tree wood and cotton are equally magnificent.

The retired mariner now lives in George Town, close to the airport with his wife Pat, and spends some of his leisure time constructing magnificent wooden replicas of sailing vessels, notably the famous racing schooner Gertrude L Thebaud, which is housed in the Seamans Association building on the road out to Savannah just outside George Town.

It’s a superb four foot plus long model complete with masts, rigging and intricate detail that must have taken many painstaking hours of work to complete.

The Gertrude isn’t the only vessel James has contructed. He has another similar boat, the Lydia E Wilson, in one of the bedrooms at his home. This particular boat suffered slight storm damage when Hurricane Ivan hit the Island last September, but it is still a splendid replica and will soon be restored to all its glory, standing around three feet six inches high and almost five feet in length.

The boats can even float with the right keel and buoyancy aids on them.

James has picked up a lot of his knowledge of the New England vessels from books. His tome entitled Essex Shipbuilding by Courtney Ellis Peckham, relays some fascinating information about the shipyards, people and vessels involved in and around the tiny village of Essex in New England that became a major supplier of boats for the North Atlantic fishing fleets.

But James also worked on super tankers, carriers and tug boats out of Massachussetts for 12 years before returning to Grand Cayman.

He has built around 40-50 of his models during his lifetime, some of which he has sold for around eight dollars a time.

James, who is 72 years young, is also very proud of the fact that his grandfather was Haymon Bodden, one of the most famous shipbuilder’s of all time.

And James has carried on the tradition of boatbuilding that runs through the Bodden family in his own scaled down way.

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