Newton White (N4EWT) and Jim Reed (N4BFR) will be operating Holiday Style from 7-Mile Beach on Grand Cayman Island Holiday Style from 18 - 24 December 2014 as ZF2KO (Newt) and ZF2JS (Jim).
This is the 4th year we’ll be operating from near Hell on Grand Cayman so we’re calling it Hellexpedition IV. Expect CW and Digital ops mostly but some SSB as well. Best bands are usually 15, 17 and 20 Meters.
QSL info
ZF2KO via N4EWT, LOTW.
ZF2JS via N4BFR, LOTW.
Cayman Islands
Geographical Location of Cayman Islands
Caymans Islands are located in the western part of the Caribbean Sea with a high underwater ridge and this ridge is referred to as the Cayman Ridge. The Island is on the northwest of the Caribbean Sea, to the south of Cuba, to the west of Jamaica and to the east of Mexico. The Caymans’ Islands have three islands;
- The Grand Cayman
- The Cayman Brac
- The Little Cayman
The Grand Cayman happens to be the largest among the three. The climatic condition in Caymans Island is the tropical marine climate which has a wet season, rainy summer and hot winters. During the Atlantic hurricane season, Caymans Islands usually experience a major natural hazard known as the tropical cyclones. Although, there was a time the Islands experience Hurricane Ivan which destroyed quite a lot of things that worth over 3.4 billion dollars and also claim lives. Caymans Islands is owned by the British and therefore can be said that they are part of British Overseas Territory.
Origin of Caymans Islands
Cayman Islands were not inhabited for as long as until the 17th century. However, people come in and go. Such dwellers included; pirates, sailors, deserters and refugees. England took control of Caymans Islands in the year 1670. It was after this that the Islands were able to experience settlement but most of the settlers were slaves from Africa. This is exactly why most of the inhabitants today are Africans. When the slaves who are residents in Caymans Island increased to an extent they were more in number than the masters who are the English, the importation of slaves were abolished and this took place in the year1833. The slaves were about 950 as compared to 116 English families who owned them at the time of abolishment. Though owned by England, Cayman Islands remained under the colony of Jamaica until the time Jamaica got independence in 1962. However, the Islands dwellers are not permitted to pay taxes owing to the fact that they rescued ten merchant ships which were about to sink. One of the ships was carrying the King’s family members and the king promise to exempt them from taxes in compensation for the rescue mission they did. Though, the story was seen as not being true but the fact remains that Cayman Islands dwellers do not pay taxes. George Town which is on Grand Island is the capital of Cayman. The residents of Cayman are mostly Christians and the population is between 56,000 and 60,000.
Income and Economy
Cayman has a standardized economy and as it stands, it is the most stable country in the Caribbean. The islands print their currency and the value of their currency is a bit higher than the US dollar as 1 KYD is equivalent to 1.25 USD.
Cayman Islands depend mainly on indirect taxation for their revenue derivation. The government do not demand for income tax, corporation tax or capital gains tax. The import duty is considerably low too and there is no import duty on items such as; cameras, books, infant formulas, etc. In 2012, precisely on the 15th of July that the Islands’ premier announced the introduction of payroll tax which should be for only foreigners working in Cayman Islands but this was not eventually implemented.
Tourism in Cayman Islands
There are quite a lot of attractions that compels foreigners to visit Cayman Islands and they includes;
Grand Cayman
- Seven Mile Beach
- Island Hotels and resorts
- Historical site known as Pedro St. James Castle in Savannah
- Scuba diving
- Snorkelling locations
- Swimming with stingrays
- Shipwreck sites
Cayman Brac
- Shipwreck sites
There are many other artificial events that attract tourists such as; the Pirate week, Iron shore landscape of Hell, the 23-acre marine theme park Boatswain’s Beach, Turtle Farm, production of gourmet sea salt site, mastic trail, hiking through the forest, Observation tower, etc. as a matter of fact, there are guide to tourists that are provide on weekly bases to enable tourists find their locations especially for Mastic Trail.
Other Activities in Cayman Islands
Shipping
Shipping activity is a well-known activity in Cayman. There are so many ships both foreign and local that enter or leave the shores of the Islands on regular bases. They include;
- Merchant marine which is about 123 ships
- The fleet which includes; cargo ship 5, petroleum tanker 21, bulk carrier 22, roll on/roll off vessels 5, container ship 2, specialized tanker 1, chemical tanker 31,refrigerated cargo ship 35 and liquefied gas transport 1.
- Registered foreign ships from other countries which is known as flag of convenience include; 15 ships from Greece, 3 ships from Norway, 2 ships from Cyprus, 5 ships from US, 2 ships from Denmark and 5 ships from United Kingdom.
Work Force
The Islands have very few residents and this undisputedly has affected the labour or work force in Cayman. Thus, it usually creates room for work permit for foreigners and so far about 21,000 foreigners have gained work permit from Cayman Islands. In order to live and work in Cayman, you should be able to gain a work permit. Work permit in Cayman involve two prerequisites and they are;
- Health confirmatory tests
- Police check
The health check involves basically a test for HIV and also testing for syphilis. However, a foreigner who is coming based on a special work can be allowed to work. For foreigners who may want to live and work in Cayman, it is advantageous if they are already working so that that will be able to pay for the work permit. However, work permit is only granted to foreigners who are not already in the Islands but for those who have gained access into Cayman, they cannot be given work permit except in a situation whereby the resident foreigner is seeking for a renewal of work permit. As a matter of fact, a foreigner who is applying for a work permit in Cayman is advised not to come in until he or she has received the permit. Cayman Islands policy on expatriate workers is that they work for the period of only 7 years. This policy is referred to as a roll over policy and quite a lot of firms and organizations are not in support of this as it cut short the presence of experienced expatriates in the Islands.