by: Capt. Jim Kalvin
This is my second favorite time of the year! As a native Floridian and a career water-man, June will always have that special #1 place in my heart. But the Holidays bring out the best in the people that we see and work with every day. They also signal, to me anyways, that âBeach Campingâ season has begun! As a kid, weâd pray for the cooler weather that would knock the mosquito population back to the point that we could motor south to Keewaydin Island and enjoy some time away from the city noise. From shark fishing to star-gazing, being as loud as we wanted to be, or just sitting around the drift-wood campfire telling stories and lies, the memories from those trips never seem to blur with time.
One year, I was about 12 or 13 years old when us neighborhood brats had such a trip planned. Just prior to the trip, I happened by the tobacco shop down by Cambier Park, while my folks were playing tennis, and I bought a handful of cigars. We had seen in a movie once where the characters all lit up cigars when they were being bothered by bugs, and the bugs disappeared. If the mosquitoes got too bad, weâd employ that remedy, and all would be good! Just light up a cigar, and the smoke would drive those blood-suckers away! Pretty cool planning we thought.
See, this was back in the day when Mom would give us money and send us to the store to get her cigarettes. It was also back in the day when there was a âSmoking Sectionâ in the cafeteria at Naples High School. A kid buying a few cigars was no big deal. My, how times have changed!
We would take the family boat out to the island by ourselves â no parents, with the eldest of our Company being about 15. So â Dad was helping us load the boat â explaining âproper trimâ and âweight and balanceâ â all the while giving us advice on what to do if any emergency might arise. You know, snake bite, sting-ray barbs, cactus thorns, fish-hook puncture, the usual concerns of the day. As he handed me my backpack, the bag of cigars fell out. âWhatâs this?â he asked. âJust some cigars in case we need to drive mosquitoes away,â I answered as the crew was nodding in agreement. âNo â I think you can leave these here,â he said as he giggled and put the bag on the dock. âYou guys better leave now â you want to get your camp set before it gets dark.â And with that minor set-back behind us, off we went.
Not to ramble, but the mosquitoes were bad that weekend. And with no cigars, we were at the mercy of the elements! What to do? What to do? We were all subscribers to Outdoor Life magazine and we prided ourselves on the thought of being able to âsurviveâ in the wild, so we improvised. We tore even strips from the brown paper bags from Sunshine Foodway and rolled up dead Australian pine needles in the shape of a stogy. We licked the last edge of the roll to hold them together, and lit them up! Success! Who needs to go buy cigars? We can make our own! And it seemed that the bugs did leave us alone. We were so proud of ourselves â until the next morning. Our teeth, tongues, and lips were black! Also, we could barely taste the honey buns we had brought for breakfast. When we got back to the dock two days later, we had some âsplaininâ to do. Dad laughed out loud, and said, âI guess I should have let you keep your cigars!â The black wore off over a few days, but we never felt compelled to try that again! It was a lot easier to bring a can of Off! Oh, the âGood Olâ Days!â
Capt. Jim Kalvin is a Native Floridian, a U.S.C.G. licensed 100 Ton Master, and a local Marine Contractor. He can be reached at 239-280-6054, through kcmcfl.com, or at james.kalvin61@gmail.com.