Living in Grand Cayman

Just last week, we had elections here.  No, I am not going to debate candidates or political views.

I thought I would speak about how proud I am of this little nation with its democratic process.  All too often, we hear of countries (big and small) and how the elections are rigged, unfair, etc.  Well I have to say that the Cayman Islands seem to have this process figured out.  There was even an independent group of observers who came to the island from the UK and who gave Cayman 9/10 as an overall rating for the elections.  In the news media, the opposition and the defeated ; not one mention of funny business.  Impressive.

Here is something I found interesting.  On the day of the elections, there is to be no advertising by parties and candidates.  That also means no elections signs.  So to comply, the candidates need to either take their signs down or cover them up the night before the election.  Here are are few samples.

Even the small signs needed to be covered up!

Even candidate Web sites were taken down for election day.

The neat thing is that 2-3 days after the elections all the road side signs were gone.   I know in Canada, election signs linger around forever after the big day and quickly become an eyesore.

Here is the headquarters of the party that just won the election.    This is when you realize you are in a really small place.

Some other interesting things I noted.

– Alcohol sales were banned for the whole day.  I guess they don’t want anyone impaired to vote or having their views distorted 🙂

– We got a public holiday! YAY.   Even those who cannot vote (expats) got the day off.  No complaints here.

On a final note, I will mention that my former boss, Roy McTaggart (he retired a few months ago) was elected as a member of parliament. I find it awesome that business people with integrity and who have a proven track record in the business world want to run for office and make a difference.  Go Roy!

As in many western countries, the cost of power (electricity) always comes up as an issue for many people.   Cayman is not exception where the cost is very expensive, since we have no waterfalls or large wind farms.

That however should change soon with the coming “online” of our newly minted plant.  Those of you who have visited Cayman in say the last 12-18 months probably noticed a lot of activity on the southern edge of the island, around east end.

Well, its almost done … Cayman will now have its own nuclear power plant.  Cost efficient electricity for everyone and for generations to come (assuming no nuclear disaster of course)  Sweet!!!

Here it is ; I took this picture this Easter week-end.   Lots of people checking it out along the south’s rugged coast.  Too bad we lost the “blow holes” though.  The dogs don’t seem to mind it.

Here is a better view from an aerial shot that was also published in one of our local papers.  As you can see, the coastal road we used to have has simply been moved a bit inshore ; no big deal.   We will have tons of lovely shoreline.

Apparently, due to the inflow (to the ocean) of all that hot water used to cool the reactors, there are numerous new types of fish swimming around.  The CI government is also considering starting up a “hot springs” project sort of like they have in Norway in order to leverage all of that hot & steamy water.  Good idea for tourists.

If all goes well, we will soon be using this state of the art facility … by next April fools day!

Earlier this week, there was a special visitor in the Cayman Islands.   In fact, we had the privilege to have Cal Ripken Jr. come and visit us in the context of a new book he wrote.

If you are not a baseball fan, you probably have no clue who he is! Well, he is a baseball icon (now retired) and hall of fame inductee especially because of one particular record he set.  He played over 2,600 consecutive games, over more than 17 seasons!  17!!!   So he is a model of perseverance and determination ; something is admire in a person.   This being Cayman, I knew that we could probably get to see him up close.

Se here he is (guy on right) giving his talk.  He also took some questions from the people who showed up, probably around 200 people by my estimate.  I of course snagged a front row seat for the event.

After his talk, he signed copies of his new book and took pictures with his fans. It was a really nice event. So here I am with him.  Definitely nice that they had setup a whole “backdrop” instead of leaning over similar to what happens a most book signings.

So a lovely evening at Camana Bay and Books & Books ; pretty awesome that they were able to get someone so high profile to visit this little island.

Here is also an article about the event in the local newspaper.

http://www.compasscayman.com/caycompass/2013/03/13/Regular-guy,-sports-hero/

I have seen this helicopter flying around for the longest time and figured it would be fun to go for a ride sometime.  Well, today was the day.  Any what a day it was … skies perfectly clear and plenty of sunshine.

Here was our ride for this trip.   I had never taken a helicopter, so did not really know what to expect.

First off, across the Seven Mile beach “land” and over the North Sound and to Stingray City.  Plenty of cruise ships in port today, so lots of people having fun with the stingrays.

Next, off to the North wall … essentially where the North sound meets the reef and then the oceanic drop-off.  On the right is the North Sound (where is Stingray City) Then you have the barrier reef. On the left it gets progressively deeper.  Where you have the stripes is +-60-70 feet deep and then the dark blue is >6000ft deep.  The diving along the drop (called “wall diving” since you are diving along, well, a wall or a cliff into the abyss) is spectacular.

View from the chopper.  I was directly behind the pilot, who is a chap from France called Jerôme.  Quite a character! 🙂

Great view and colors around fisherman’s rock

Now back along Seven Mile beach ; always spectacular.

Great shot of the USS Kittiwake.  This ship was sold by the US government to a group in Cayman. It was sunk in 2011 and is now a popular diving and snorkeling site.   The Kittiwake was a “Submarine rescue vessel” and was in service from 1946 to 1994.  The boat is just over 250ft long.

Great view from above the Disney cruise ship.

And finally a video of the takeoff.  This will give you a good idea of how fun it was.

If you are in Cayman, I highly recommend this tour.  The helipad is right in George Town and its a blast!

This week-end we are experiencing some cold(ish) weather and some very rough seas.   No diving on the west/north sides this week-end for sure.  There is also a small boat warning in effect due to the choppy seas. They call these winter systems “Nor’westers” since they come from (you guessed it … ) the north-west.  They are remnants of winter systems in the US and mainly affect (wait for it …) the north western parts of the Island ; in essence Seven Mile Beach and George Town.

So this Sunday morning I went for a drive to see what all the fuss is about ; very choppy indeed!

Here is Seven Mile beach.   Lots of large waves and not a soul in the water.

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For your next vacation here, I hope you did not plan to stay at the former Courtyard Marriott!  The place is now simply a shell and they plan to completely tear it down and build a new luxury hotel. This place has some sentimental value for us ; we stayed here during our first visit ever to Cayman in 2005.  I even remember the room location ; window all the way to the left, second from top.  This hotel had been closed since Hurricane Gustav in 2008 so in a way I am glad something is finally done to what was becoming an eye sore.

Now to George Town.  The wave action is even more fearsome here.  This is Eden Rock ; notice the handlebars to go into the water for snorkeling.  Usually the water here is calm and crystal clear.

Here is a short video I made since the pictures do not do justice to the force of these things.  The best waves are near the end.

Meanwhile, on the southern side of the island …

This is the cloud that dropped quite a bit of water on GT and caught many runners and tourists off guard and scrambling for cover.

This system is expected to be over very soon ; so back to normal heat & sun in the following days.   Looks like diving is on the program next Saturday 🙂