History
Recollectionsof Fatal Disasters At Sea
Will Jackson
Many were the ships thatsailed away from the Cayman Islands and never returned. From thevery earliest record of sailing days, we are told there were morewidows made by the ocean than by every other cause of death combined.Caymanian men have always sought their livelihood from the sea;well, what else was there in these unknown rocks, known only tothe wild birds and other creatures.
So by lack of educationand the know how to do any other work, the males among those earlysettlers took to the sea for their own individual best good, aswell as to support the young homeland with the much needed stuffto survive. The larger the population grew the greater the needswelled for ships and seamen. For lost ship and crew could neverserve to deter a dozen other crews from sailing. Many of themlost their lives fighting battles against hurricanes out thereand disappeared, while some lived to fight another storm.
We have heard of vesselsdisappearing from the ocean's surface even in good weathers. Iam reminded of a lovely motor vessel of 60 or more years pastby the name of 'Nunoca' she was built in Cayman Brac andserved the three islands carrying freight and passengers to andfrom Tampa, Florida. Then one unfortunate voyage sailing fromGrand Cayman to Tampa, having taken her complement of passengersin Grand Cayman; on a beautiful Saturday evening took her departurefor Tampa, she was a motor vessel, mind you, not a schooner, butshe was never seen or heard of since that evening. She left nosign of men, ship or debris until this day.
The disappearance of theNunoca remains an Islands mystery, leaving many hearts to mourntheir loss. Likewise, in the same decade a brand new schooner,built and owned in East End vanished from the scene somewhereon the coast of Columbia, South America in clear and smooth weather.No one survived to tell the story. In 1939 a schooner built inCayman Brac and named 'Alsons' disappeared somewhere between theisland of Providence and Cayman Brac, enroute from Panama carryingpassengers and cargo, they headed home for Christmas but failedto reach their destination. One may be reminded of the 'Alsons'by looking at the Replica of her at Foster's Airport store asshe lay there under full sails, a calm harbour.
So the stories go, yearafter year repeating themselves, in the days gone by when stormswere prevalent in the area; the island suffered some great andmournful losses, one right after another. A very sad tale is thatof the schooner 'Majestic', a vessel of the fleet of Dr. Roy McTaggart.That was a tragedy that should never have been, but perhaps wasdestined to be. The story has been written time and again, butcan always bear telling again for future generations to know.
Back there, from early settlementand right down into the 20th Century, the main support for Caymanianfamilies was by turtle fishing and the trading of turtles to foreigncountries.
Along with fishing for turtles,the nurse shark business became very popular, the nurse sharkwas sought after in a big way for its hide, which was used inthe leather and clothing industries in the USA. Special littlegroups of men called rangers were placed on various cays out thereon the Mosquito Banks by the island schooners, where for severalweeks at a time they remained catching the nursesharks and curingtheir skins for shipment to the United States.
However, no rangers wantedto be on a cay in the month of September they went out forthe first half of the year always returning home by August that is how the sad story of the 'Majestic' began. In the year,1941 when nursing was really a big deal, early in the year; severalboat crews were taken out by the schooner 'Rembro' and placedon cays in the employ of Dr. Roy McTaggart. Nevertheless, justlike we say, the Cayman Islands were forgotten by time, even sothose forty or more men out there on those isolated cays, withno mode of communication beyond where their cat boats could sail,seemed to have been dropped from the minds of those who were responsiblefor their survival.
August passed and Septemberentered and only when some of the families complained, were effortsput forward to pick up the men on the cays and the schooner 'Majestic'was dispatched to take them home. The men were all taken onboardfrom various cays until they got to the last of the rangers anda storm was brewing, so they anchored and waited for the weatherto clear, but instead it grew worse, so bad was it that nineteenmen decided to try to reach the cay to be on solid ground; thussaving their lives. There were twenty-one men left onboard thevessel and were drowned when the vessel sunk. That was the endof the 'Majestic'.
Then in the year 1944 cameanother tragedy, when the schooner 'Hustler' disappeared enroutefrom Panama to Grand Cayman. She had been employed in the scalefishing trade, supplying fresh fish to the U.S. Navy in Colon;now she was on her way home for the Christmas season, taking manyemployees of the Panama Canal. The 'Hustler' was a strongly builtschooner and a fast sailer, her captain was a master mariner,one of the notable Boddens of George Town. Those Caymanians, whichwere many working in the Canal in those days, some of them wantingto spend the Christmas at home, thought it a good idea to geton board the 'Hustler' with her famous captain in charge, to makethe trip home, but alas, all was not well for them.
The 'Hustler' sailed awayfrom Cristobal, heavily laden with passengers and their luggageand other freights for Grand Cayman. Here are the words of Mr.Lester McLean, who heard the last words from the schooner andlast saw her. The following was related to this writer by Lester:
"I was the mate onboard a fishing yawl by the name of 'Radium', she was owned byMr. Austin Conolly in East End and like the 'Hustler', did scalefishing for the Navy in Panama. We stayed out there for long periodsof time. We left Colon on a Saturday evening in company with the'Hustler' the way we often did, fishing close to each other, butthis time was different, the 'Hustler' was headed home and wewere only going fishing again. All of us on the 'Radium' was sendinghome little Christmas supplies by the 'Hustler' for our families.We had been out there from January and were longing to go hometoo, but the captain said he would do another three months fishingand we could go home with plenty of money in our pockets. Anyway,sailing out of Colon Saturday evening by Sunday morning, a strongwind was blowing from the north and the clouds looked just abovethe masthead. We sided up close enough to the 'Hustler' mid-dayto use the bullhorn to talk with the captain, who decided we wouldgo back to the south till the weather cleared. So, we both didand sailed on that southerly course with reduced sails until aboutsun set that evening. The wind was out of the northwest and blewonly lightly by then, so before dark both the vessels tacked aroundand sailed back northeasterly. That was the last we saw of the'Hustler'. By late Monday morning we were battling a full-scalehurricane, by night we chopped down the 'Radium's' main mast andput out sea anchors in an effort to keep the vessel afloat. Tuesdaymorning the 'Radium' was driven over a reef by the hurricane wavesand thus we were all saved. The 'Hustler' didn't make it."
In the year 1932, in thegreat November storm, Cayman Brac suffered a great loss when theschooner 'Carmena' was lost with about 26 souls on board. Theschooner 'Fernwood' carrying down seven dear souls; the yawl 'Melpomene'also had seven souls on board. One of the lobster fleet enroutefrom the USA to Jamaica was forced to take refuge in George Town,where she sunk down after the crew had deserted her to save theirown lives ashore. No one was lost in that wreck, but the 'S.S.Balboa' went down with a full cargo on board.
Thus was the lot of Caymaniansit seemed from early days until the steam and motor ships tookover the ocean. Even so, the islands have suffered losses, thoughnot on a major scale over the past fifty or so years. The islandsseamen have done their job and done it well in support of theircountry's best good. They must be remembered as the ones who selfstarted the islands on the progressive, developing road.
Will Jackson
Seafarer and noted
Caymanian Historian