by: Capt. Jim Kalvin
Naples is still a small town – if you know where to look, that is. A lot of the characters that I grew up with here are still around. However, getting together to share old stories happens less and less these days. I did run into a former marina owner and friend, Cottie Morse, a few months back, and he recanted a tail that some might remember from back in 1970-sumthin’.
It was back in the day when he and his family ran the old Boat Haven Marina. Both Cottie and his dad, Philip, were very active participants in local waterway issues, and were well known throughout our small town.
The ship’s store at Boat Haven was unparalleled in the selection of marine supplies, and nautical clothing & knick-knacks. They also had fish mounts hanging all over the walls – tarpon, snook, sharks, jewfish, etc. And, as Cottie was and is an avid hunter and best friends with Bucky Flowers at Skins & Scales Taxidermy, stuffed animals adorned the sales racks and counter tops. As a kid, I could wander that store for hours and never get bored!
Philip was also a world traveler, and had an amazing collection of nautical artifacts. Among these collectibles was a cannon with a barrel that had to be 5 feet long. It was on wheels, and it was kept in the store in perfect condition. Where it came from, I never knew.
This was also back in the day when you could buy black powder in 3 and 5 lb sacks from Sunshine Hardware’s “Sporting Goods” section. Well, one afternoon, the elder Morse brought a sack of powder back to the marina, and he and a friend wheeled the cannon out to the point of the property, past the turtle tanks, and aimed it down the bay. They charged the cannon, packed the wadding in, lit the fuse, and…..
Well,….. the huge smoke ring that it spewed never caught up with the concussion wave of the blast that travelled south down the Bay rattling windows all the way to the end of Port Royal and beyond. Startled by the success of their experiment, Philip and his accomplice hoped in a truck, and yelled at Cottie to “..hurry up and put the cannon away before the cops show up!” With that, they left the parking lot with tires squealing!
The cannon was moved to the boat storage shed post-haste, but it wasn’t hard to figure out where the “boom” came from. I don’t believe there were any real consequences – other than a stern “don’t ever do that again!” from Chief of Police Paul Rebel. But the phone lines at the station rang off the hook for hours!