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Three months later, we were ready to try again. This time, I had a little more control over routes and crew. Irish was still part of the crew, but he had learned allot on the last trip and was a big help. Also, one of the twins (her name was "trish")came along. I brought along a girl that had sailed with me many times before and I knew I could trust. We took the route through the Bahamas as mentioned before. The weather was beautiful and the sailing, outstanding. After five days of non-stop sailing, we pulled into the pre-arranged cove on Jamaica's north west coast just as the sun was setting. Our contacts came out to greet us bringing "lobster Pizza". After eating, we quickly unbuttoned the secret holes in the bulkheads and started loading the one and two pound bricks of compressed and tripple wrapped (to cut down on the smell) pot. Just before dawn the next day, we were loaded and put back together and set sail for Mexico with two and a half tons of pot and nine gallons of oil that came from the presses that compressed the pot into bricks. Three days later, with the help of the wind at our back, we anchored in the harbor of Cozemel, Mexico. The next morning, after giving the harbor master and the customs man some nice gifts, we were legally admitted by the Mexican Government. We stayed there for five days, resting and acting like happy tourists. Finally, after a call to our contacts in Florida, giving them the pass word that we were on our way, we were off to sea again. The next day we were spotted and stopped by the U.S. Coast Guard. The girls put on their skimpiest bikinis (to distract the boarding party's attention) and put some sausage, onions, peppers and garlic on the stove (to cover up any lingering smell of the pot) and welcomed them aboard. After a casual inspection of the boat, they were satisfied that we were legitimate tourists and went along their way. I can not describe to you the fear I felt during that inspection. The rest of the trip went without incident and the pot was successfully unloaded into vans and shipped to who knows where. We all got paid and bid our farewells till next time. I tipped each of the crew $12,000 for a job well done. |
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