An entertaining and educational DVD chronicling 100 years of Cayman’s maritime heritage as documented by the Cayman Islands Shipping Registry (CISR), is now available to the general public. "Changing of the Watch: Cayman Islands Shipping Registry 1903 - 2003" is a professionally produced, 17-minute presentation which goes back in time to the CISR’s nascent beginnings with its first Registry entry, the El Paso, which was built in Roatan, one of the Bay Isles of Honduras, and moves forward to the present day, while also presenting opportunities for Cayman’s youth to become involved in the global maritime industry.
Narrated by Sandra Tomlinson, producer/director of the documentary, the fascinating story of Cayman’s seafaring history is told by those men who helped shape it, men like Capt. Harris McCoy Jr., Capt. Radley Scott and Capt. Arlen Scott. But women’s involvement in the industry is also spotlighted, through the ownership of vessels by the Merren and Rivers sisters, for example.
The Cayman Islands Shipping Registry is a division of the Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands (MACI) and the DVD is available for purchase, at a cost of CI$25, from its MACI Head Office, 3rd Floor, Kirk House, 22 Albert Panton Street, George Town, as well as the gift shop at the National Museum, the Cayman National Cultural Foundation offices at the Harquail Theatre, 2nd floor of the Studio Building (behind the main theatre), and the National Trust of the Cayman Islands.
In Cayman Brac, which has a considerable constituency of seafarers, copies are available at the Brac Museum at Stake Bay.
In Little Cayman "Changing of the Watch" is available from Pirate’s Point Resort, where it is being sold on behalf of the National Trust.
Sponsored by the Portfolio of Finance as a promotional and educational tool, nearly a hundred copies of the DVD, "Changing of the Watch" are to be donated by MACI to every school and public library on all three Cayman Islands. Additionally, copies are also to be given to the Seafarer’s Assoc. and the Veteran’s and Seamen’s Society of Cayman Brac, as well as The Pines Retirement Home and the Kirkconnell Retirement Home on Cayman Brac. Youth groups, including the Cadet Corps will also receive complimentary copies.
"Cayman has such a rich and colourful maritime history," notes MACI CEO Joel Walton, himself from a seafaring family on Cayman Brac, "that it is a real pleasure to be able to share that heritage with the wider community." The DVD is also used by MACI in promotional events overseas, such as boat shows, etc., where the advantages to the shipping industry of Cayman Islands Registry is promoted internationally.
For further information contact: Corporate Communications