Mr Linton Tibbetts in front of one of his favourite paintings to be featured on exhibit at the Little Cayman Marine Museum

By Bill Schiller
bill@caymannetnews.com

Long before it was recognised as a world leading centre of finance or dream destination for divers, the Cayman Islands was famed for fostering some of the most stellar captains who ever set to sea. The accounts of such men, along with the service they provided and tools with which they laboured have existed little where else beyond the lips of “Ol’ Timers” who are all too happy to tell the tales – but that is about to change. Little Cayman will soon serve as a home to the nation’s first museum exclusively dedicated to the memory of mariners.

Scheduled to open in June 2009, The Little Cayman Marine Museum will house an unprecedented array of photographs, mariner ephemera and antique ship’s gear in an effort to honour the oceangoing icons of old. A local icon of industry, Mr Linton Tibbetts, OBE, is developing the museum, but he expresses some measure of disbelief that something like this hasn’t been created sooner. “The small islands feel very fortunate to have produced so many of these sea captains … I’ve yet to see anything that has to do with that kind of life. There’s nothing like it in the Cayman Islands, says Mr Tibbetts.

The new museum will be housed within a structure familiar to locals as “The Old Baptist Church.” Built in 1933 (a year after the legendary 1932 storm that so severely decimated the Sister Islands of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman) the church sits on a site originally developed in 1886 by English missionaries from Jamaica. In more recent years, with the emergence of a newer Baptist Church, the small wooden edifice indicating the church of old has sat, like so many tourists, lingering under the sun on Little Cayman.

While reflecting on the seamen of old, Mr Tibbetts reveals he too spent several years in the merchant marine. “Back then, it was the ambition of every young man to become a sea captain,” he says, estimating that perhaps more than 80 percent of the Caymanian men pursued such a path for themselves during that time. Mr Tibbetts, on the other hand, ultimately determined to navigate a career course on dry land. Considering that choice, he smiles and says, “I think I did alright.”

A Chairman of Tibbetts International and Tibbetts Holdings, LLC, Mr Tibbetts’ entrepreneurial acclaim is most associated with his direction of Cox Lumber Company. Borrowing $1500 to purchase the company in 1948, Mr Tibbetts built a chain of stores throughout Florida. Cox Lumber Company achieved annual sales just shy of $400 million before he sold the company for an undisclosed amount to Atlanta-based Home Depot Inc in 2005. In his mid 80’s today, Mr Tibbetts has no plans to retire. He still maintains control of Cox Lumber in Grand Cayman. It exists among an impressive collection of land holdings and developments under his possession throughout the Cayman Islands.

When it comes to the Sister Islands, however, there’s no mistaking the fact Mr Tibbetts reserves special fondness. “I love the place. I love the people … it’s only a quarter inch from heaven,” he says.

The inspiration to build the museum came after some pondering as to what to do with the old church building. While Mr Tibbetts had developed so many of the buildings on Little Cayman, the old church was constructed with help from one of his long time friends, the late Captain “Theo” Bodden.

Known not only as a seafarer, but also one of the greatest benefactors in the history of the Cayman Islands, Captain Theo, in his youth, had helped building the church, from laying out its foundation to building the pulpit.

Memories of his friend as well as the other seamen, weighed heavy on Mr Tibbetts mind. “I was beatin’ my brains out, trying to figure what I could do with the church,” he says, and knocking it down just wasn’t an option. “I wondered what I could do to let others realize the life these people lived, how they had to live,” said Mr Tibbetts.

The idea to create a museum took on a life of its own. Mr Tibbetts was given numerous photos by the family of Captain Theo, as well as others, and the plethora of materials are currently being inventoried and prepared for exhibition. The museum will exist right next door to another small museum that highlights aspects of Caymanian heritage. A walkway between the two museums is among the elements under construction.

Meanwhile, Mr Tibbetts is hoping to build support for the mariner initiative. “I don’t care about any money, but if people have items and materials, something they can donate to the museum,” these can be dropped-off in care of Mr Tibbetts at Cox Lumber in Grand Cayman.