Two of Cayman’s local heroes were
honoured at the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame’s 10th anniversary
celebrations this weekend.
Charles ‘Captain Chuckie’ Ebanks
and Patrick Evans received awards from Mr. Cline Glidden at the ceremony held
on Saturday night at Pedro St. James. Captain Ebanks said that the award gave
him great pleasure.
“I never dreamt I would be up here
with all you stars to get an award for just loving the water,” said Ebanks, who
said that his son was the driving force that was ‘pushing him on’. He also said
that he wished more Caymanians would take up the sport of diving.
“You must remember one thing – the
sea is a great place but you must respect it. It’s too much salt water and
there’s too much to drink so you must respect it.”
Honour
The second Local Honouree was
Evans, who thanked his brother Atleee for encouraging him to become an
instructor. He also thanked Bob Soto for giving him his first job in the sport
“I would like to get all young
people of Cayman Islands to start scuba diving.
It’s a great honour to be a diver here because you can sell this country a lot
by doing it,” he said.
At the ceremony, it was announced Cayman Islands topped several categories at the readers’
choice awards of Scuba Diving magazine. These included best overall destination
worldwide, first place in health of marine environment, wall diving, visibility
and advanced diving.
Cayman was also voted into second
place in overall diving and marine life and third place in marine diving and
underwater photography.