|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Check out our South Florida Boating Guide!
|
|
|
"Square Grouper" Drug running, drug boats and one of the best bars in south Florida. And bales of weed falling out of the sky...
Smuggling As long as boats have plied the waters of south Florida, smugglers have been running illicit cargo. In the civil war it was guns for the Confederacy. During Prohibition it was alcohol for much of the southern US. In recent decades drug smuggling has taken a place of prominence.
Thankfully the wild west era of the cocaine cowboys and Miami Vice is over (leaving aside the recent remake of Crokett and Tubbs). During that time bales of cocaine and marijuana washed ashore with such frequency they were locally known as square grouper. And it wasn't limited to boats. In one famous incident, a small drug plane was being chased in flight and drug-runners decided to pitch the bales out the plane. One of the bales crashed through the roof of residental house. Only in Florida.
Click to zoom in on the drug bust "kills" painted on the side.
Speedboats, "cash and carry" The demand for these, uh, “speedboats” was so great that some boat builders were known to cater to both sides of the business. One could wander the shipyards of Miami and occasionally spot DEA and drug runner boats under construction side by side, at the same builder!
Think we are kidding about this? One of the nicest boats now being made, the Midnight Express 39, was originally built for and sold to drug runners years ago. The owner back then eventually ran afoul of the feds and ended up doing serious time. Apparently he was fond of cash-and-carry deals for his boats, no questions asked. The company that now builds the boats has no relation to the original builder and in fact they produce the boats for the Customs and the DEA (now part of Homeland Security). And no, if you offer them a wad of cash for boat "off the books" they will promptly escort you to the door. www.midnightboats.com Beautiful boats.
The current Midnight Express - click to enlarge
Gone Commercial Today drug smuggling continues but in a less glamorous fashion, much to the chagrin of local film-makers. The transport of choice is now freighters and container ships. But make no mistake, if you stumble across a triple engine center console painted grey, without numbers and 50 gallon fuel tanks on deck it’s likely up to no good. Or is undercover.
A Kick-Butt bar So yeah, if ya live down here in Florida ya have to accept the place for what it is - colorful in every sense of the word. Heck, terms like "Square Grouper" are so common that one of the best waterfront bars in south Florida, and maybe in the whole southeast US, is the "The Square Grouper" - Alan Jackson even filmed the video for "It's Five O'Clock Somehwere" there. The bar is located just inside the Jupiter inlet on the south side of the ICW (there is more about it in our South Florida Boating Guide).
One final note, we couldn't resist the irony of putting this article in the How To section. Consider a lesson on what NOT to do...
One Final note....
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
home marinas ramps dining photo gallery how to things to do contact us |
|
|
|
© 2006 VantagePoint Guides - All Rights Reserved |
|