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Rodeo: Lee Graves going for stem cell treatment Bruce Campbell/OWW

Black Diamond steer wrestler Lee Graves, here pulling down a steer to win the 2010 Calgary Stampede, plans to go to the Cayman Islands for stem cell surgery for an injured ankle.

A former Calgary Stampede champion from Black Diamond may be heading down to the Cayman Islands to invest in his future.

Black Diamond steer wrestler Lee Graves plans to have stem cells injected into his injured right ankle during a procedure in the Cayman Islands, rather than having surgery in order to get back on the rodeo circuit as quick as possible.

I hurt it at a rodeo last fall and they did a scope on it and there are some pretty good cysts on my ankle, Graves said. Im missing about 15 per cent of my ankle joint. Thats quite a bit missing from an ankle.

The process is called the Regenexx-SD procedure.

All your joints must be working when you are jumping off a horse at a near gallop and then braking while trying to wrestle a 400-pound steer to the ground.

I have blown my knee out twice, he said. Theres a lot of force on your lower limbs because youre going at a high-rate of speed and pushing on your feet trying to control 400-pounds.

Hes done well digging in his heels to pull down a steer. The 40-year-old Graves is a two-time world champion and has won the Canadian championship five times.

He is the first Canadian steer wrestler to earn more than $2-million in his career. He went over that mark when he won the 2010 Calgary Stampede.

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Bulldogger going to Caymans for joint investment

Grand Turk in the wondrous Caicos Islands is exciting, glamorous and fundelicious. With exotic cuisine savored to a Calypso beat in a remarkable beachside setting, Grand Turk will charm you into a genuine Caribbean mood. B. J. and I enjoyed our visit there almost to the maximum. We gathered seashells from the adorable beach only to discover that we could not bring them aboard our elegant ocean liner, the Westerdam. Disappointed, we deposited our pretty seashell collection on the dock before boarding our cruiser.

Sailing on the Westerdam was smooth. This was our fifth cruise to the Caribbean and the glossy sea had never been more agreeable. We joined other gleeful voyagers on the impressive promenade deck to delight in the awesome Caribbean panorama, the balmy breezes, music and the tantalizing aroma emanating from the poolside grills.

Nestled snugly in the in the calm, turquoise waters of the Western Caribbean south of Cuba, lies the peaceful British Overseas Territory known as the Cayman Islands. Consisting of three islands just 480 miles south of Miami, Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman are pieces of paradise in the Caribbean.

The Cayman Islands offer something few destinations can matchexquisite natural beauty infused with commitment to making your visit a Caribbean dream come true. There is a barefoot elegance that promises to make your stay truly funtabulous. Grand Cayman, Little Grand Cayman, and Cayman Brac provide the activities and attractions to make ones Caribbean island experience larger than life.

Add to that, one of Holland Americas newer luxury liners, the Westerdam, to sail the ocean blue and you are whisked into a world of delightful fantasy.

Our stop is the largest of the three-island group the exquisite Grand Cayman--a garden in the Caribbean. The name Cayman is derived from a Carib word for crocodile, although the Caymans were first called Las Tortugas by Columbus when he observed in 1503, the hundreds of turtles living on these uninhabited islands.

The Cayman Islands, a British Crown Colony since 1670, were settled by a motley collection of British Army deserters, shipwrecked sailors, retired pirates and African slaves who gained freedom when ships carrying them foundered on Cayman reefs.

B. J. and I stood anxiously on deck as the captain skillfully maneuvered the Westerdam into position off Grand Cayman and our Port-of-Entry, George Town. We were aghast at the stunning scene spreading before us. We absorbed the amazing view for a few minutes before going below to board a tender bound for the island.

Visitors are ferried ashore in large tenders. Tenders are boats designed to carry passengers to shore through shallow waters where the big ocean liners cannot go. The tenders can pose a crisis to B. J. or anyone else inclined to seasickness. Rough water causes the tenders to bob like corks.

The water was tranquil that day though and the short trip from ship to shore was fun.

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The fabulous Cayman Islands

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, March 16 (Reuters) - The Ritz-Carlton luxury resort and high-end residential developments in the Cayman Islands were placed into receivership this week because of an outstanding $250 million loan.

RC Cayman Holdings LLC, which is registered in Delaware, appointed KPMG (Cayman) as the receiver of the group of four companies, which had developed and owned the five-star hotel and residential developments, effectively wresting control from its chairman and chief executive, Michael Ryan.

The 365-room oceanfront Ritz-Carlton opened on Grand Cayman Island in 2005 and was the first and only five-star hotel in the British Caribbean territory.

In the last several months, Ryan had been trying to renegotiate $7.5 million in deferred import duties owed to the Cayman government as part of its discussions with its primary lender, RC Cayman Holdings, according to correspondence with the Financial Secretary released under a Freedom of Information request.

Ryan blamed the global economic downturn and escalating construction costs in the Cayman Islands as the driving factors for his inability to meet his obligations.

"We are now operating in an extremely difficult economic environment," Ryan said in a January letter.

The receivership appointment followed a civil suit filed by RC Cayman Holdings in the Grand Court last month seeking an injunction against Ryan's executive team.

KPMG joint receiver Keith Blake said the receivership was a "private contractual matter" independent of the courts but would not elaborate.

While Ryan's companies own the 144-acre property, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. manages the resort operations and would not be affected by the receivership, according to a KPMG statement.

In the last year, Ryan has laid off a significant number of staff as cash flow continues to stall his new Dragon Bay property, an upscale residential development on Grand Cayman targeting millionaires.

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Cayman Islands Ritz-Carlton placed in receivership

GEORGE TOWN, GRAND CAYMAN, CAYMAN ISLANDS--(Marketwire -03/15/12)- Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: CWCO - News), which develops and operates seawater desalination plants and water distribution systems in areas of the world where naturally occurring supplies of potable water are scarce or nonexistent, today reported its operating results for the year ended December 31, 2011. The Company will host an investor conference call tomorrow -- Friday, March 16, 2012 -- at 11:00 a.m. EDT (see details below).

Total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2011 increased 9% to approximately $55.2 million, compared with approximately $50.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2010.

Retail water revenues rose 7% to approximately $23.4 million (42% of total revenues) in 2011, versus approximately $21.9 million (43% of total revenues) in the previous year, reflecting a 2% increase in base rates due to an upward movement in the consumer price indices used to determine such rate adjustments, and higher energy price pass-through charges, partially offset by a 3% decline in the number of gallons of water sold by the retail segment. The decline in gallons sold during 2011 was due to the absence of water sales made in the first quarter of 2010 at bulk water rates to the Water Authority-Cayman ("WAC") to replace water previously supplied by the Red Gate plant while such plant was under refurbishment. Excluding this water sold to the WAC, the number of gallons of water sold by the retail segment increased by approximately 3% from 2010 to 2011.

Bulk water revenues increased 22% to approximately $30.8 million (56% of total revenues) in 2011, compared with $25.3 million (50% of total revenues) in 2010, reflecting a 6% increase in the number of gallons of water sold and energy pass-through charges due to higher energy prices. Bulk revenues in 2011 benefited from $770,000 in revenues generated in the fourth quarter from the expansion of CW-Bahamas' Blue Hills plant.

Services revenues declined 71% to approximately $1.0 million in 2011, compared with approximately $3.5 million in 2010, reflecting substantially lower plant sales revenues due to a lack of plant construction activity for third parties, the expiration of the management services contract for the Bermuda plant on June 30, 2011, and lower fees earned on the Company's management agreement with OC-BVI (the Company's equity investment affiliate) due to the incremental fees earned on the higher earnings generated by this affiliate in 2010.

Net income attributable to stockholders declined 3% to $6,113,218, or $0.42 per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2011, compared with net income of $6,292,025, or $0.43 per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2010. A modest increase in operating income during 2011 was more than offset by a reduction in OC-BVI's earnings. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company recognized earnings on its investment in OC-BVI of $838,652, compared with $1,235,146 in 2010.

Consolidated gross profit rose 15% to approximately $19.0 million (34% of total revenues) in 2011, versus approximately $16.6 million (33% of total revenues) in 2010. Gross profit on retail revenues improved 3% to approximately $11.9 million (51% of revenues) in the most recent year, compared with approximately $11.5 million (53% of revenues) for the year ended December 31, 2010. The slight decline in retail gross profit as a percentage of retail revenues reflected the increase in energy pass-through charges and higher non-revenue water volumes during 2011. Gross profit on bulk revenues increased to approximately $6.6 million (22% of revenues) in 2011, from approximately $4.4 million (17% of revenues) in the prior year, primarily due to improved operating efficiencies and the increase in bulk segment revenues. A significant portion of the bulk segment's production costs are relatively fixed in nature and do not increase proportionately with an increase in the volume of water sold. The services segment recorded a gross profit of approximately $0.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2011, compared with a gross profit of approximately $0.7 million in 2010. The lower gross profit for 2011 in the services segment stems primarily from the decrease in revenues discussed above.

General and administrative expenses increased 21% to $13,651,650 in 2011, versus $11,329,648 in 2010, primarily due to (i) approximately $1,286,000 of incremental expenses related to the project development activities of the Company's consolidated Mexico affiliate and (ii) approximately $1,045,000 in higher employee costs due to additional management bonuses, higher stock-based compensation, the hiring of additional personnel, and salary increases.

Interest income decreased 13% to $1,200,999 for the year ended December 31, 2011, versus $1,375,827 for the previous year. Interest expense decreased 28.0% to $1,141,744 in 2011, from $1,584,771 in 2010 as a result of $246,851 in interest capitalized for the expansion of the Blue Hills plant and the prepayment on September 30, 2010 of $1.5 million of our 7.5% bonds payable.

"We were pleased with our ability to achieve a level of net income attributable to common stockholders comparable to that of the prior year while incurring an incremental $1.3 million in expenses for our Mexico joint venture and experiencing a 32% decline in earnings from our OC-BVI affiliate," stated Rick McTaggart, Chief Executive Officer of Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. "The performance of our bulk water segment was particularly gratifying given our recent efforts to improve these operations. Margins in the Bahamas increased because of a strict cost-control program, efficiency gains resulting from various operational improvement programs that we have implemented over the past four years and increased water production. In November, we commissioned a 67% expansion in the capacity of our Blue Hills plant in Nassau. This expansion contributed $770,000 to our revenue during the fourth quarter of 2011, while allowing the island of New Providence to eliminate its dependence upon the expensive barging of fresh water from Andros Island. We expect the increased revenue resulting from higher production at the Blue Hills plant to have a positive impact upon the performance of our Bahamas subsidiary in 2012 and future years."

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Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. Reports 2011 Operating Results

THE family of missing Jamaican nurse Kerran Baker has been experiencing a whirlwind of emotions since last Tuesday when The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service classified her disappearance last year a homicide.

The Cayman Compass last week reported the updated status of the missing Jamaican nurse, quoting a statement issued by the police there.

According to the Cayman Compass, the police came to the conclusion that Baker was murdered based on the circumstances surrounding her disappearance last July and evidence unearthed by investigators.

Reacting to the news, Baker's stepfather Wilmot Anthony told the Observer, with despair in his voice, that on the one hand the family feels that the status would lead to the arrest of the main suspect. But on the other hand, he said that the declaration confirmed the family's worst nightmare: That their loved one will not

be returning.

"The whole family is in confusion," Anthony said, summing up the mood of his household.

Anthony said he still cannot accept that 25-year-old Baker

is dead.

"I haven't seen any proof that she is dead," he said.

Last month, the family told the Observer in an interview that they were holding out hope that Baker would have been found alive.

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Family distraught after J'can nurse's disappearance ruled homicide