W2SM is currently active from Cayman Islands as ZF2LC.
He is working on HF Bands mainly CW.
Recent DX Spots ZF2LC
QSL via home call, LOTW.
Ads for direct QSL:
James L Cary, 15 Overhill Rd, Ocean, NJ, 07712, USA.
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands in the Caribbean Sea have the status of an offshore zone. More than 100,000 companies are registered here, including insurance companies, mutual funds and banks. In 1997, the first stock exchange opened on this 264 square kilometer territory. The annual GDP of the islands tends towards 2 billion American dollars, and in per capita terms, the figure is approximately 44,000 dollars. However, the locals are mostly busy catering to tourists and breeding turtles. The population is just over 60,000 people. Tourism here accounts for about 70% of GDP and 75% of all foreign exchange earnings. Almost all daily consumption goods as well as food have to be imported offshore.
A haven for debtors and pirates
In 1503, Christopher Columbus's expedition was heading for the shores of the New World, but the navigator's ship was unexpectedly turned toward two islets. In his dispatches, Columbus characterized these patches of land as “low-lying” and “small,” and noted the presence of a huge number of turtles on them. In Spanish, the word “turtles” sounds like “las tortugas” - exactly the temporary name the islands were given. Today they are marked on the map as Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. The third, Grand Cayman, remained unnoticed at the time. There are also many reefs and small islands in local waters that remain uninhabited to this day. Jamaica is 269 kilometers to the southeast and Cuba is 240 kilometers to the north.
Just twenty years after Columbus, other Europeans saw a cluster of iguanas on these shores. In fact, they are lizards, but travelers from afar mistook them for crocodiles. Since 1523 the islands were renamed Lagartos, which translates as “alligators” or “large lizards”, and seven years later became Cayman Islands. People did not live on them at that time.
In 1586, the outstanding British explorer Francis Drake arrived here. With his easy hand, the Cayman Islands became an intermediate point for ships traveling through the Caribbean Sea. Primary infrastructure appeared here, and ship crews began to replenish their provisions here. They hunted turtles so actively that the population of these reptiles was almost completely exterminated. Looking ahead, it should be said that now the islands have a unique by world standards farm where turtles are grown and released into the sea.
In 1661 the first settlements were established on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. Nine years later, Britain assumed formal control of the territory. True, the governor was settled not here, but in neighboring Jamaica to govern all three islands at once. Alas, after only 11 years, the entire British population of the Cayman Islands had to leave their villages and move closer to the governor.
The thing is, the coast was being ravaged by Spanish corsairs. Corsairs are not the same as pirates. As strange as it may sound today, corsairs were supported by their government. As privateers, they obtained official authorization from the supreme authority to take over another nation's merchant ships by armed force. They would then return home with the loot and give some of it to the treasury.
Because of the turbulent situation, pirates who were not on good terms with their government, debtors who were hiding from creditors, and shipwrecked sailors began to flock to these shores. They were attracted primarily to an island called Grand Cayman.
Due to the excessively high concentration of adventurers in the region, full settlement of the islands was repeatedly thwarted. It was not until the 1730s that the first permanent settlement was established on Grand Cayman, and on the other two islands only a century later.
In 1794, a massive shipwreck took place near Grand Cayman. The reef broke through the bottom of as many as ten ships that were on their way to Britain from Jamaica. Almost all the passengers and crew managed to escape. Legend has it that among the survivors was a member of the British monarchy. Ruling King George III was so pleased with the rescue of a relative that his generous decree exempted the inhabitants of the Cayman Islands and from taxes and military service. There is no documentary confirmation of this beautiful story.
Slaves and sharkskin
The first census of the Cayman Islands took place in 1802. It included 933 people, more than half of whom were slaves.
Today, about half of the islands' permanent population traces its origins to Jamaica, but has long been considered local. Immigration to the islands is just over 1% of the total population. Foreigners move here mostly from the same Jamaica, but also from Honduras, Cuba and the Philippines. About 3% of the population speaks Filipino, another 4% prefer Spanish, and 90% speak English. About 20% of the population is white, another 20% are of African race and 40% are mulatto.
The locals grow fruits and vegetables for their own consumption. The fertile volcanic soil consistently produces several harvests a year. There is also dairy farming and shark hunting in the sea. Shark skin has consistently remained one of the Cayman Islands' main exports, along with turtle shells and meat, as well as gold and boats. In addition, due to its geographical location, the Islands are heavily involved in metal re-exports. The Netherlands accounts for over 80% of export trade turnover.
Progress and development
Since 1670, the Cayman Islands, leaving a partial right to self-government, became part of the administrative subordination of Jamaica, and in 1863 acquired the status of its dependent territory. Slavery was abolished in 1835.
Jamaica was recognized as independent in 1962. The people of the Cayman Islands declared that they wished to submit directly to the British Crown. In response to the will of the people, an administrator arrived from Foggy Albion, whose rights were similar to those of a governor. However, the Jamaican currency remained in use here for another ten years, and only since 1972 began to issue their own dollars.
Today, the Cayman Islands have the status of an overseas territory of Great Britain, and they are formally ruled by Elizabeth II. They do not belong directly to the United Kingdom, but are considered one of its 14 sovereign territories. Tourists from Russia must obtain a visa at the British Consulate before traveling here. The administrative center of the islands is Georgetown.
In 1953 the first state clinic was opened in Georgetown. Almost simultaneously the first airstrip began to function on the islands. This was followed by the opening of a branch of Barclays, Britain's largest joint-stock commercial bank. In 1959, the islands underwent constitutional reform, giving women the right to vote.
Prestigious resort hit by typhoons
More than 2 million vacationers arrive here each year, primarily from North America. The beaches on the islands are luxurious and the sea offers excellent conditions for diving and snorkeling. Around the reefs there is a huge number of turtles, fish, crustaceans and mollusks. The Cayman Trench, which runs between the islands of the same name and Jamaica, reaches 7686 meters in depth and is the deepest part of the Caribbean Sea.
But the terrestrial flora and fauna are not too colorful. There are no rivers here, the territories remote from the sea are partially occupied by swamps.
On average, every 30 months the Cayman Islands are hit by a powerful Atlantic hurricane. As a rule, they are tormented by the same misfortunes that fall a little earlier or a little later on Florida. However, here the wind force is much more colossal and leaves behind huge destruction.
The temperature varies minimally throughout the year. In June the thermometer shows about +32 °C in the sun, in February - approximately +24 °C. The time difference with Moscow is 8 hours. Foreigners fall in love with the Cayman Islands for the atmosphere of peace and a blissful break from civilization.
