Capt. Allie Osmon Ebanks Sr. began his career at sea at age 17, first working on a dredge off Key West Florida. It was there that he met and established a relationship with Maitland Adams, who later funded the construction of a Caymanian-built schooner which was named the MV AM Adams that Capt. Allie went on to captain. Like many early Caymanian sailors, Capt. Allie spent a considerable portion of his sea-faring career turtling the waters off the Miskito Cays, primarily on this vessel. He was instrumental in securing an extension to the license for Caymanians to fish these waters, and his crew were among the first to capture green sea turtles from the deep waters in this area. His reputation as an accomplished seaman and turtler was such that the experiences of him and his crew were chronicled in a 1943 edition of the National Geographic Magazine, a 1956 novel by Archie Carr entitled The Windward Road, and a Master thesis by a student of Boston University in 1964. These texts are among few that captured the hardships endured by Caymanian seafarers, and photographs from these early publications were used in the National Gallery exhibition to honour their memory. One of these photographs of Capt. Allie and his son also serves as the basis for Tradition, the Cayman Islands Seaman Memorial Statue erected in Heroes Square honouring the 450 heroic seafarers who lost their lives at sea. His contributions to the Caymanian community, in particular the districts of West Bay and East End from where the majority of his crew originated, were vast. The AM Adams became a lifeline for these communities, bringing food supplies, clothing and other household items for many families who relied on her safe passage for their survival.

Capt. Allie Osmon Ebanks Sr. began his career at sea at age 17, first working on a dredge off Key West Florida. It was there that he met and established a relationship with Maitland Adams, who later funded the construction of a Caymanian-built schooner which was named the MV AM Adams that Capt. Allie went on to captain. Like many early Caymanian sailors, Capt. Allie spent a considerable portion of his sea-faring career turtling the waters off the Miskito Cays, primarily on this vessel. He was instrumental in securing an extension to the license for Caymanians to fish these waters, and his crew were among the first to capture green sea turtles from the deep waters in this area. His reputation as an accomplished seaman and turtler was such that the experiences of him and his crew were chronicled in a 1943 edition of the National Geographic Magazine, a 1956 novel by Archie Carr entitled The Windward Road, and a Master thesis by a student of Boston University in 1964. These texts are among few that captured the hardships endured by Caymanian seafarers, and photographs from these early publications were used in the National Gallery exhibition to honour their memory. One of these photographs of Capt. Allie and his son also serves as the basis for Tradition, the Cayman Islands Seaman Memorial Statue erected in Heroes Square honouring the 450 heroic seafarers who lost their lives at sea. His contributions to the Caymanian community, in particular the districts of West Bay and East End from where the majority of his crew originated, were vast. The AM Adams became a lifeline for these communities, bringing food supplies, clothing and other household items for many families who relied on her safe passage for their survival.