At first nine?year?old David Cashin didn?t really like camping with the cub scouts on an island with no electricity, no running water, no toilets and sleeping under canvas tents for a week.

It was also the first time that David had been away from his parents for so long.

?On Saturday I felt homesick, but once I had dinner and went to sleep I felt better. The next day I had a good breakfast and had athletics badge and that was good fun,? David said.

After saying goodbye to his parents at the dock he said he ?thought about it a little bit and wanted to get off the boat?.

Linda Tailford, an instructor at the camp for the last 27 years said David had a little trouble at first but was soon ?doing well?.

Mrs. Tailford said she joined the camp when her son joined the cub scouts nearly 30 years ago.

?For a week it really is a back to nature experience for the leaders and the boys,? she said.

?We learn a lot about teamwork,? she said. ?And the boys do too?.

There were 26 boys at the camp on an island in St. George?s Harbour and 11 leaders. The leaders call Tim Smith, the leader of the troupe, Akela.

His name comes from is from ?The Jungle Book? by Rudyard Kipling that said ?Akela, the great grey Lone Wolf...led all the pack by strength and cunning?.

The rest of the pack leaders are: Kevin Hill, Linda Tailford, Doug Patterson, Stephen Barton, Angela Tull-Simmons, Geoff Rothwell, Nick Rowse, Sherry Skinner, Michael Smith and Al Spearing.

Every cub on the island from July 2 to 9 this year was between eight and 11-years-old.

Cub leader Doug Patterson said ?discipline has to be a big part of the camp?.

?It?s a constant struggle but otherwise it would be pandemonium? he said.

So every minute of the boys? day at camp is organised.

At 7 a.m. they wake up, take care of personal hygiene and have breakfast.

At 8 a.m.they clean up all their gear inside the tents ready for inspection at 9 a.m.

The cubs who have the cleanest tents win the morning inspection and get the special staff tied to the pole of their tent.

But they also win a coveted soda to drink at lunch, when normally they only get water or Kool Aid.

Whenvisited them, the cubs in tent four won inspection: Jesse Marshall, Matthew Hollis-Smith, Brian Longworth and Vaughn Rowse.

The rest of the day revolved around eating, activities, or resting until lights out (in theory) at 9.30 p.m.

Another leader, Al Spearing, works for the rest of the year as an executive Vice President of Smiths Trimingham?s in Hamilton, but for one week of the year in St. George?s harbour he is known as the cook.

Unlike a lot of the scout leaders whose sons are on the camp that year, Mr. Spearing still wants to be a part of the camp, even though his sons left cubs long ago.

He said: ?I enjoy it. It?s a great experience for the boys. It is something they always remember, and character building.

?For many of them its their first time away from mother. We don?t overly pamper them.?

He said that the torrential rain during the first week of July did not dampen the proceedings.

?It?s no problem ? they get under a tent.?

But Akela Smith said this year was the first time in 11 years that the cubs had to set up camp in the rain.

?Rain makes things a lot more difficult,? he said.

Akela Smith said that the tradition of cubs camping out on an Island in St. George?s harbour had been going on since 1957.

He came out as a cub to the same island, with the same cub troops nearly 30 years ago in 1967.

He said that being a cub leader was ?the toughest job you?ll ever love?.

?You get the satisfaction of doing something for someone else,? he said.

?They learn life lessons. How to get along with a team: how to survive. How to survive the heat out here.?

Commissioner of the Scouts, Shinah Simons, was at camp one day this week as a special guest.

The leaders said they were going to build an extra large bonfire in his honour.

Last year the fire they built was so tall it was larger than the casurina trees and could be seen all the way from St. George?s.

Someone phoned the Fire Department, who went across St. George?s Harbour to put the fire out.

The firemen stormed the island in their fire gear, and were very embarrassed to find dozens of cub scouts and leaders singing songs under the massive fire, leader Michael Smith said.

Overall, most scouts liked camp, but some felt it had its ups and downs.

One scout doing his athletics badge said he was pleased that he threw a cricket ball ?108 feet, because he had never done that before?.

Another lad who made a lean-to with the rest of his mates said he had ?made a deal with his parents that if he came to camp, he would be able to go to the Annex and Phoenix stores afterwards?.

That was before his leader threw water from the cooler at them, while he was testing whether their palmetto-thatched lean-to was waterproof.

The cubs called their outhouse ?Juliet? and the outhouse the leaders used ?Romeo?, but did not explain why.

Colin Rego, 11, said he enjoyed camp. He tried hardest on the athletics badge, even though he had not gotten it yet, he said.

?The hardest part about camp was the challenge badge,? he said.

Many thought the best part about camp was the food and drink.

Another said the best part was because there were no girls on the Island, but one youngster thought that was the worst part.

Someone thought the worst part was tent inspection but one said ?the outhouses are awful?.

But Leader Doug Patterson said he knew what the best part about camp was.

?It?s getting a number of personalities together and being able to show everyone can coexist and get along,? he said.

?We are fathers for all these boys for a week,? he said.

In the first two or three days the boys learn to come to the leaders about any problems they are having They learn pretty fast who to go to.

?Sometimes they are homesick, or have lost something, or are not getting on with someone. But whatever issue it is, they are encouraged to come and talk to me. A week away from their family is a long time,? he said.

In the two years that he had been a leader at camp, no one had ever left the camp, no matter no bad they felt.

?By making it for a week that?s their accomplishment,? he said.