The stated objectives of the Cayman Catboat Club are: "To locate and preserve existing catboats; and to teach the youth of the country about Cayman culture related to catboats; and to pass on the skills of building and sailing catboats to the next generation."

All kinds of catboats in different states of repair are brought to club members, and lovingly restored by club members, usually at their own expense.

Members enjoy spending time working on the catboats, either maintaining them or repairing them, and sailing them as well.

Kem Jackson grew up with the boats, and knows all about them, both sailing and making them, and is one of the founding members of the club.

He started sailing catboats when he was 11 or 12.

"I have been racing catboats many years," he said.

"These catboats were used for everything, fishing, turtling, bringing freight from off the ships. They used to be the 'pick up truck' of the Cayman Islands. They worked it much longer in Cayman Brac, because they used to take everything from ship to shore," he added.

Mr Jackson never gets tired of showing people the catboats. If they are fortunate enough, he also takes them out for a sail in them.

"I took a family out from Georgia out to Stingray City; it took about one hour. They liked it very much," he said.

Three years ago Mr Jackson met with King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden when he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement for Maritime Heritage Preservation.

"I took him for a sail in my catboat, he really enjoyed it," Mr Jackson said.

"He is a very nice man, a very humble man; you wouldn't believe he is a king. Before we went out, I told him: 'You are going to get very wet,' and he said (shrugging his shoulders), 'So?'

"He asked me, 'what are people doing sailing these plastic boats?'"

The King's comment illustrates part of the attraction of catboats; they seem to be part of the natural environment, so that by sailing them, one has the feeling of getting close to nature.

Another member of the Catboat Club, Austin Ebanks, agreed that catboat sailing was getting 'back to the elements,' in contrast to the world of computer-piloted air-conditioned yachts, that hardly let you feel as if you were sailing at all.

" They make no noise, so that you hear the water splashing on the hull, and the breeze," he said.

"We all work on the boats and sail them, but we particularly need more people who know how to sail them," Mr Ebanks said.

One of the Catboat Club members who is presently perfecting the art of sailing catboats is club member Roy Bush:

"I've always seen catboats, my great grandmother used to have them. My grandfather, Erskine Ebanks, known as Captain Erskine, was a turtle-catcher. He used catboats in his turtling expeditions and told me about them, so that when I had the opportunity to sail in a catboat, I took it."

Another member of the Catboat Club, Leonard Hew said: "I just love the boats. The first time I went fishing here was 48 years ago in a catboat.

My wife, Valma, used to sail them."

At the moment, the Cayman Catboat Club has been interested in acquiring security of tenure on the Whitehall Building, by the Lobster Pot Restaurant in George Town.

"We are anxiously awaiting a Letter of Intent from the Government, so that we can restore the Whitehall Building," Mr Hew explained.

The building is vital to the club, partly because it's in the right location: "It is easily accessible to schools, and for school visits," Mr Hew said.

The building also represents a link with the maritime heritage of the Cayman Islands. "That is where they used to careen all the schooners (clean, and scrape the barnacles from the schooner's hulls). It's a very historical area," he said.

"We need security of tenure so we can raise the necessary funds to restore it.

"We intend to have a small museum showing the history of the catboat and what they were used for over the years. We would also like to hold lectures there, and use it to  publicise regular times of catboat sailing," he added.

Explaining the importance of the catboat in relation to understanding the history of the Cayman Islands, Mr Hew said: "Love of sailing is part of the culture of Cayman that should be preserved. It is something physical.

"You can learn why the boat is shaped a certain way, for example, why the mast is in the bow, so that one person can sail it and it can carry more cargo."

Catboats, and the people who sail them, therefore represents a still-living, vibrant piece of Cayman history and culture; something that is still relevant and enjoyable today, rather than a museum piece to be put 'inside a glass case.'

With this in mind, The Catboat Club is planning a catboat race during Pirates' Week this year, and would like to establish an annual race, named the David Foster Memorial Race.

"David Foster loved the catboats, and was one of the big supporters of the Catboat Club,' Mr Jackson said. "The catboat, 'Brac Cat' belongs to him."

christopher@caymannetnews.com