The Caymanian Catboat: A West Indian Maritime Legacy

Author(s): Roger C. Smith

Source: World Archaeology, Vol. 16, No. 3, Water Craft and Water Transport (Feb., 1985),
pp. 329-336
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
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 The Caymanian catboat:
a West Indian maritime legacy

Roger C. Smith

The origins and evolution of West Indian watercraft are a reflection of the discovery and develop-
ment of the Caribbean region. A blending of aboriginal and European maritime traditions brought
about hybrid boat types that were adapted to local nautical pursuits, whether fishing, fighting,
trading or raiding. From the small pitpan of Nicaragua to the Bermuda sloop, traditional boats
of the West Indies mirrored the cultures that devised and utilized them. Yet their technical
development as cultural tools still is poorly understood, and their demise as living examples
threatens to relegate now extinct Caribbean watercraft to obscurity. And while occasional
studies of pre-Columbian vessels (McKusick 1970) or colonial sailing craft (Doran 1970) appear
in print, the contribution of many small boat types to the unfolding of the region's maritime
heritage has yet to be explored.
Recent archaeological investigations in the Cayman Islands (Smith 1983), a tiny island group
in a remote corner of the western Caribbean Sea, provided the opportunity to examine the last
remnants of a distinctive and highly specialized fishing craft, now a forlorn relic of an unusual
but vital seafaring trade. Devised for the pursuit and capture of sea turtles, the Caymanian cat-
boat evolved with the destiny of a small but hearty island people, who by necessity looked to
the sea as an avenue of survival. The boat's career as a hunting vehicle and fishing implement
accompanied the exploitation of a unique natural resource that today is nearing extinction.
Indeed, the story of the West Indian sea turtle also is the saga of the Cayman Islands, but the
Caymanian catboat was the device that linked the destinies of both.
The first Europeans to arrive in the New World found the sea turtle an unfamiliar and remark-
able creature. Grazing among beds of submarine grass and seasonally migrating to converge on
uninhabited shores, the free-swimming reptiles were large, easy to spot, and abundant. Like the
North American Bison, sea turtles rapidly were recognized as an unexpected and novel source
of fresh meat by people accustomed to a diet based on domesticated animals. But, like the once
ubiquitous herds of buffalo, fleets of West Indian turtles eventually were hunted to the brink of
extinction before their plight was understood.
Even more curious to European explorers was the extraordinary Indian custom of capturing
turtles with the aid of a semi-domesticated suckerfish, the remora (Echeneis remora). Handled
by a length of string tied to its tail, the remora attached its dorsal suction device to the underside

World Archaeology Volume 16 No. 3 Water craft and water transport

? R.K.P. 1985 0043-8243/85/1603-329 $1.50/1

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330 Roger C. Smith

of large marine prey, which could then be hauled into a boat. This practice first was observed
by Columbus during his second voyage in 1494 among the islands along the southern coast of
Cuba (Anghiera 1622: 21).
Early descriptions of natural fauna in the Americas classed sea turtles with fish, although
they often were compared with their more familiar terrestrial counterpart, the land tortoise.
Indeed, the easiest method of capturing sea turtles was to overturn egg-bearing females that
came ashore at night to bury their clutch under the sand. European mariners found that they
also could harpoon the swimming creatures from small boats as they surfaced to breath. One
method involved use of a bright fire to transfix the animals at night prior to lancing them from
a boat.
Sea turtles soon became an important shipboard provision for European mariners throughout
the West Indies. The captured reptiles could be kept alive on their backs indefinitely if given
small amounts of sea water. They quickly came to represent a convenient source of fresh protein
for sailors otherwise accustomed to salted victuals in the days before refrigeration. The importance
of this unique food resource to the colonization of the Caribbean region rarely is recognized by
historians, yet early use of marine turtles as a basic foodstuff has been demonstrated by archaeo-
logical excavations at the 16th-century pearl fishing colony of Nueva Cadiz off the coast of
Venezuela (Willis 1976).
Although the reptiles ranged throughout the Caribbean Sea, one area in particular soon was
recognized as their most frequent feeding and breeding ground. This was the Cayman Islands,
three tiny uninhabited landforms in the open ocean south of Cuba. From the moment of their
discovery by Columbus in 1503, the Caymans were named for their abundance of turtles (Las
Tortugas), the Admiral's son claiming that 'all the sea was so full of them that they looked like
little rocks' (Morison 1963: 363).
The Islands became known as a marine oasis where ships could take on fresh water and sea
turtles, especially during the seasonal gathering of the creatures to breed and lay eggs. Broad
sandy beaches rising from deep water and tranquil shallow lagoons filled with sea grass that had
attracted untold generations of the reptiles now witnessed the arrival of hunters who began to
exploit the marine population. Dutch interlopers en route to harrass the Spaniards, French free-
booters from the Lesser Antilles, and English privateers from neighbouring Jamaica, all stopped
at the Cayman Islands to take turtle.
Eventually the Islands were haphazardly settled by groups of shipwrecked sailors, mnilitary
deserters and itinerant fishermen who existed on the marine frontiers of the Caribbean. Their
chief occupations centered around the capture and slaughter of turtles and the wrecking of
unlucky ships that ran aground on the surrounding reefs. A distinctly nautical race of sea-
hardened islanders developed around these traditional maritime pursuits, and with them evolved
a specialized form of watercraft designed to capture turtles in the open sea.
As the ultimate refinement of turtle fishing methods and Caribbean craft, the traditional
Caymanian catboat descended from a combination of indigenous and imported boat-building
patterns. While European-designed vessels were adapted early for fishing and trade in the West
Indies, the merits of native-built canoes did not go unnoticed. Hollowed out from a single tree
then expanded by gradual use of fire or boiling water, dugout canoes appear in the first explor-
ation narratives of the Americas. The Spaniards quickly adopted the use of native canoas or
piraguas, along with many other aboriginal products which became incorporated into Spanish-
American colonial culture. The English, on the other hand, established colonial control in the

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 The Caymanian catboat: a West Indian maritime legacy 331

West Indies later on, by which time most of the Indian populations and their cultures had
vanished from the Caribbean.
However, as logwood cutters from 17th-century English Jamaica ranged along the Central
American shore, they soon learned to appreciate the ease of construction and maneuverability
of the dugout canoe, especially in river and coastal navigation. The basics of design and produc-
tion quickly were incorporated into a growing Jamaican turtle fishery in the Cayman Islands,
since turtling required small craft to approach the nesting beaches or to set traps among the
coral reefs. By 1670, canoes were in regular use at the remote fishing station of Little Cayman
(Hutchinson 1670), and were among the primary watercraft of the Caymans soon after they
were permanently settled in the 18th century. The shipwrecked crews of ten merchant vessels
that ran aground simultaneously one night in 1794 were rescued by Grand Cayman's canoes
(Lawford 1794). Similarly, a schooner aground on the same reef in 1845 was approached by a
fleet of local canoes, the occupants of which were eager to negotiate rescue and salvage (Waddell
1863: 214).
Whether fishing canoes were built in the Cayman Islands during the early settlement period
is uncertain. Although stands of hardwood grew in specific areas on each of the three tiny
islands, their relatively small size precluded the construction of large canoes like those of Central
America. As ties were established with the Bay Islands of Honduras and the fishing grounds of
Nicaragua's Mosquito Coast in the first part of the 18th century, dugout canoes were imported
to the Cayman Islands (Davidson 1974: 74-9). Traditional Central American canoes were of
two types: the dorey and the pitpan (Squier 1855: 58). The dorey usually was fashioned from a
single trunk of mahogany or cedar and was from 25 to 50 feet in length (Young 1847: 76). A
relatively large craft, the dorey was known for its seaworthiness in deep water if handled by an
experienced,crew. The pitpan was somewhat smaller; built from the same materials, this canoe
was considered faster than the dorey due to its flat bottom. Mosquito Indians, notorious for
harpooning sea turtles, preferred the pitpan as a primary fishing craft.
The Caymanian turtling canoe most probably was an adaptation of the double-ended pitpan.
The craft's weatherliness was increased by the addition of two planks on each side of the hull in
order to gain more freeboard. Internal strength was insured by insertion of thwarts and occasional
framing of the hull. In pursuit of turtle, the canoe was either rowed or sailed, rather than paddled.
Rigging traditionally was comprised of rope made from the thatched palm (Coccothrinax
jamaicensis), which grows in abundance in the Cayman Islands.
The turtlers of Grand Cayman hunted mainly the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), which usually
is the largest of the species; a mature female averages 250 lbs in weight. It is the nonconformist
among sea turtles, being herbivorous rather than carnivorous like the others. Green turtles were
caught by nets placed near their nocturnal roosting haunts. The 'swing net', normally 10 to 13
fathoms in length was anchored to the seabed at one end to allow it to swing with the current.
The 'long net' was anchored at both ends and was much larger, often measuring 8 by 30 fathoms.
Nets were attached to a series of buoys so that they hung parallel with the surface of the water;
sometimes a decoy, fashioned of wood in the shape of a turtle also was attached. As sleeping
turtles slowly rose to the surface to breathe during the night, they would strike the nets, struggle,
and become entangled. At dawn, the turtlers pulled their nets towards the boats, and hauled the
ensnared reptiles aboard. Pulled over the gunwale by its front flippers and positioned on its
back in the bilge, each turtle was spancelled by piercing and tying its flippers together in a
crisscrossed fashion.

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332 Roger C. Smith

The turtlers of Cayman Brac traditionally hunted the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys im-
bricata). Prized for its 'tortoise shell' since Roman times, this species was a lucrative trade
item, but of limited dietary value compared with the better tasting flesh of greens. Fishing
methods employed to catch hawksbills were somewhat different from those used for green
turtles. Rather than setting out nets, Cayman Brackers actually stalked their prey across the
seabed, dropping a circular net over the turtle at the appropriate moment. This practice required
specialized maneuvers and equipment, which led to the development of the classic Caymanian
catboat.
Canoes acquired in Central America and adapted for turtling were considered too long and
unwieldy by the hunters of Cayman Brac. A craft of typicai dimensions - 22 feet in length,
6 feet in breadth, and equipped with four oars and a mast 18 feet tall that supported a mainsail
and jib - ordinarily was suitable for netting green turtles. Drawing only 18 inches of water
when fully loaded, a canoe could carry a large catch from the shallow reefs. However, the precise
turning maneuvers required in pursuing the flight of unpredictable hawksbills with handheld
nets proved difficult for the long canoes.
In 1904, a turtling captain from Cayman Brac, Daniel Jervis, decided to build a shorter and
wider boat that would be easier to handle than the canoe. The resulting vessel, which he named
Tara, was to be the prototype of the traditional Caymanian catboat, and the ultimate adaptation
of small craft designed especially for hunting sea turtles. Only 14 feet in length and 3 feet 8
inches in breadth, the new boat was constructed by attaching four temporary frames to a keel,
planking the entire hull, then inserting permanent framing and thwarts. Equipped with sails and
oars, the design was so successful that it soon was adopted by the islanders of Grand Cayman.
By this time, Caymanian seafarers had become widely known for their skill as turtlers and
sailors. As the population of sea turtles dwindled in the Cayman Islands, locally-built schooners
carried the men and their catboats farther afield in the Caribbean. From the Mosquito Cays to
the lonely shoals of Quita Suefno, Roncador, Serrafia and Serranilla, the intrepid turtlers returned
home with their live catches, which were placed in natural holding pens among the Cayman
Islands until time for slaughter and market.
The new catboat design figured prominently in the hunt for hawksbill turtles, each boat
carrying two men and a single net. The 'puller' manned the oars, propelling the craft toward a
turtle spotted on the surface of the water. He was directed by the 'trapper,' who sat in the bow
and followed the turtle's progress if it dived and swam away. A glass-bottomed bucket, or 'water
glass,' was used by the trapper to look beneath the water and help guide the puller to maneuver
the boat directly over the reptile. A conically shaped 'trap net,' fashioned from six-inch mesh,
was lowered quietly into the water. Weighted at the base by a large iron ring 5 to 7 feet in
diameter, the net was open at the bottom and attached to a line at the top, which was let down
over the turtle at the appropriate instant. Once encompassed by the trap net, the turtle would
attempt to rise, would become entangled, and then quickly would be pulled to the surface and
heaved into the boat. A coordinated pair of turtle hunters, experienced in handling the small
swift boats, could collect a large number of turtles with quiet and efficient ease.
The double-ended catboat's features soon became standardized in the Cayman Islands. Typical
dimensions were 16 feet in length and 4 feet in breadth, although some boats were slightly larger.
The first step in catboat construction was to carve a half-model to the intended shape of the
boat, but scaled 1:10 or 1:12. No plans or drawings were considered necessary, as the builder
invariably knew from experience exactly the desired shape and features his boat should have.

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 The Caymanian catboat: a West Indian maritime legacy 333

Framing shapes were taken directly from the model, 'which occasionally was cut into station
sections to facilitate obtaining the desired curves.
Compass timbers for the keel, stem, sternpost and frames carefully were selected from local
hardwood forests. Tropical mahogany (Swietenia), cedar (Cedrela odorata), pompero (HIypelate
trifoliata), jasmine (Pumieria), and 'White Wood' (Tabebuia leucoxylon) were used, the first
two being the most common. Occasionally a hardwood sapling was bent over away from the
prevailing wind and tied to the ground in order to be 'trained' to the desired curvature. This
custom demonstrated the foresight of Caymanian boatwrights because, due to the slow growth
of hardwoods, the timber would not be large enough for use until the next generation.
Floors and half-frames, usually numbering from 11 to 15, were either sawn or steamed to fit
the internal shape of the hull. They were fastened to the keel, stem, and sternpost with tree-
nails. Seven, or sometimes 8, strakes of white American pine were carvel-fastened to each side
of the boat. Copper nails from Jamaica, and later, brass screws were used to secure the planking.
Strakes were 1 inch thick, except for the uppermost, or shear strake, which was heavier in
order to bear the commotion of struggling turtles as they were hauled over it. Often a caprail
and sometimes a rubrail were added for this reason.
A longitudinal stringer was inserted internally along each side of the hull, not necessarily for
strength but to support four thwarts. The forward-most thwart was a heavy member, often
made up of three or more planks fitted edge-to-edge that supported the mast, which was passed
through it and into a keyhole-shaped socket of the mast step atop the stem scarf. This forward
thwart also served as a breasthook.
As in the classic catboat rig, the mast was stepped far forward at the bow of the vessel;
however, the Caymanian catboat carried no standing rigging such as stays and shrouds because
the mast assembly routinely was unshipped and laid in the boat when the turtling grounds were
reached. The mast was rigged either with a sprit or Marconi mainsail, and had a distinctive aft
rake to distribute the weight of the sail towards the center of the shallow craft. Occasionally,
the catboats used small jibs, which were useful when sailing to windward.
The absence of a centerboard or deep keel, as well as standing rigging, indicates that sailing
was considered an auxiliary means of propulsion. Indeed, the rudder was designed to be operated
by yoke lines rather than a tiller, so that it could be unshipped and stowed quickly. Thus, with
sailing rig and rudder removed, the double-ended catboat became a highly maneuverable plat-
form under oars from which to chase and net turtles.
Caymanian catboats were each equipped with two oars, 8 to 10 feet in length, and sometimes
a spare. Called 'sculls' by the turtlers, the oars were composite-built: the loom of Spanish elm
and the blade of white pine. A long paddle, often over 7 feet in length, also was carried, and
could be used as a steering oar when the rudder was unshipped. The boats were not equipped
with oarlocks; instead, a small piece of wood, called a 'pallet,' was fastened to the caprail. Two
holes bored through the pallet were threaded with thatch palm straps, which held the oars to
the gunwale. This arrangement worked as well as oarlocks, for the boat could quickly be backed,
changing directions as the turtle chase required.
Another practical adaptation of the Caymanian catboat was that each invariably was painted
a distinctively bright blue colour. This shade, called 'catboat-blue,' also was applied to those
articles of boat's gear that normally were used in the water, such as the oarblades, paddle, a
long pole for maneuvering in shallow water, and the water glass. The blue paint was a functional
part of turtling lore because it acted as an effective marine camouflage, blending with the
surrounding water and allowing fishermen to approach their prey undetected.

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334 Roger C Smith

Sadly, the Caymanian catboat now is extinct as a type. The twilight of its existence occurred
when the marine resource it was specially designed to capture dwindled, and restrictive legis?
lation made turtling unprofitable. The sons of Caymanian turtlers took up service in the merchant
marine, adapting age-old instincts to the modern world and bringing paper money home. Today,
the once insular isolation of the Cayman Islands has become integrated with the world at large.
Maritime skills have fallen aside as tourism and offshore banking provide a lucrative, but cultur-
ally lacklustre, way of life. Gone are the turtle schooners, catboats, and nets. With them died a
distinctive breed of sea-going open boat sailors.
The secrets of the Caymanian catboat, and the way of life that it served, can therefore only
be revealed through ethnographic inquiry and archaeological investigation. Fortunately, a singular
surviving member of the catboat fleet was discovered recently in a crumbling shed behind a
deserted house on Cayman Brac (Plate 1). Named Ajax, the boat is a veteran of sunbleached

Plate 1 The Caymanian catboat Ajax (photo: K. C. Smith)

shoals and countless struggling turtles, but its well-preserved condition, as well as that of its
associated equipment, allowed the entire vessel and gear to be recorded to prevent this craft's
uncelebrated demise. The half-model from which the Ajax was constructed decades ago was
kindly loaned for examination by the vessel's builder, Captain Lee Jervis, one of the few surviving
islanders to have grown up at sea in pursuit of turtles. Offset measurements of both boat and
model were taken in order to establish the catboat's hull shape and characteristics, and produce
for the first time a set of reconstructed lines (Fig. 1).
Somewhat similar in form and construction to the New England whaleboat and the Newfound-
land dory, the Caymanian catboat is their small Caribbean cousin. Each of the three fishing
boat types were lightly designed to be carried on larger craft and lowered into the sea when the
fishing grounds
Thiswere reached.
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to the task required of it without frills or nonfunctional features.
 The Caymanian catboat: a WestIndian maritime legacy 335

NOTE LINES MEASURED TO OUTSIDE OF PLANKING

ACTUAL HEIGHT OF KEEL AND SHOE UNKNOWN

0 1 2 3 4i 5 6 7
CAYMANIAN CATBOAT
AJAX [ 1 1 `' I. I. -- - 1- ,7I
BUILT BY LEE JERVIS
CAYMAN BRAC, B.W.I.

DRAWN BY: R.C. SMITH JUNE 1981

T. OERTLING

Figure 1 Lines of the catboat Ajax

Although turtling grounds of the West Indies declined, as did whaling grounds elsewhere,
they represented no less a significant contribution to maritime culture than did the influence
of whaling on North American development. And, just as the fishing of cod was central to
Atlantic trade and colonization, the capture and utilization of sea turtles was at the core of
Caribbean island survival.

References

Anghiera, Pietro M. 1622. The Historie of the West Indies, containing the Acts & Adventures of
the Spaniards . . . (trans. by M. Lok, Gent). London.

Davidson, W. V. 1974. Historical Geography of the Bay Islands, Honduras. Anglo-Hispanic

Conflict in the Western Caribbean. Birmingham, Alabana: Southern University Press.

Doran, E. 1970. The Tortola Boat: Characteristics, Origin, Demise. Supplement to The Mariner's
Mirror. 56:1

Hutchinson, S. 1670. Deposition of Samuel Hutchinson, 16 June 1670. Great Britain: Public
Records Office. CO 1/25.

Lawford, J. 1794. The Court Martial of Captain John Lawford, 1 April 1794. Great Britain:
Public Records Office, ADM 1/5331.

McKusick, M. B. 1970. Aboriginal Canoes in the West Indies. Yale University Publications in
Anthropology No. 63. New Haven: Yale University Department of Anthropology.

Morison, S. E. 1963. Journals and other Documents on the Life and Voyages of Christopher
Columbus. New York: The Heritage Press.

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336 Roger C Smith

Smith, R. C. 1983. The Archaeology of the Cayman Islands. Archaeology. 36:5, 16-24.
Squier, E. G. 1855. Waikna or, Adventures on the Mosquito Shore. London (reprinted by Uni-
versity of Florida, Gainesville, 1965).
Waddell, H. M. 1863. Twenty Nine Years in the West Indies and Central Africa. A Review of
Missionary Work and Adventures 1829-1858. London (reprinted 1970. London: Frank Cass).

Willis, R. F. 1976. The Archaeology of 16th Century Nueva Cadiz. (unpublished Master's thesis,
University of Florida, Gainesville).
Young, T. 1847. Narrative of a Residence on the Mosquito Shore . . . London (reprinted 1971.
New York: Kraus).

Abstract

Smith, Roger C.

The Caymanian catboat: a Wes.t Indian maritime legacy

The sea turtle occupied an important niche in the development of the West Indies. In the days
before refrigeration, European mariners found that this novel and unfamiliar marine creature
could easily be captured on remote shores and kept alive on board ship as a source of fresh
meat. Three lonely Caribbean landforms surrounded by deep water, the Cayman Islands became
known as the largest sea turtle fishery in the region, serving as a seafaring way station for provisions
during colonial times. Eventually inhabited by loose bands of maritime peoples, the Cayman
Islands witnessed the evolution of a unique boat type designed especially for hunting maritime
reptiles. Now extinct, the last of the Caymanian Catboats recently was discovered and recorded
during an archaeological survey of the Islands. The craft's special functions and significance are
explained in an attempt to prevent its uncelebrated demise.

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