I wish that I had written about Max earlier as I’m having some difficulty recalling specifics about her engines. I believe she had two 225 h.p. Evinrude outboard motors. She was very fast; I feel certain that she could attain 45 knots on any given day. I regret that I don’t have any pictures of Blue Max as she had an impact on my life that continues to this very day.

The minimum crew size on the Blue Max was two, one person at the controls and one person hanging on for dear life. There were no seats. There was a backstop behind the control console to lean against. She could cut through waves nicely while “on the step” but was not a nice ride as a displacement hull in rough water.

From what I heard when reporting to the unit, Max was a recovered drug boat. She had been come upon by law enforcement while fully laden, probably with bales of marijuana, and scuttled. What better and more ironic use could be imagined than to turn an outlaw Blue Max into a boat supporting international law enforcement activities. She was a blast to drive.

While I can’t say what it was that we were doing that required our unit to utilize Max and a few other boats in the waters of Panama, I can say that we found a little time to amuse ourselves while going from one work location to another. One day I was at Max’s controls as we were speeding across the Bay of Panama toward Taboga Island (Isla Taboga). The water was glassy smooth and I spied a flock of brown pelicans (pelecanus occidentalis) at some distance more or less in front of us.

I was used to seeing brown pelicans flying low across the Bay of Panama. Adult brown pelicans have wing spans of five-to-seven feet and they cruise at speeds of about 35 mph in long lines a few feet off the water. A small course correction and a little more throttle and I had the Blue Max closing in on the squadron from behind. My idea was to see if it would be possible to bump the rear pelican in the butt with the bow of the Blue Max, tumble the poor bird into the water, and continue right up the row of those birds until they were all bobbing in the water wondering what had happened.

Closer, now closer; I was within ten feet of the first pelican. The birds moved up and down in the air with each wingstroke. With their heads were in line in front of their large bodies, and I thought that Blue Max would be invisible to them as we approached. Suddenly, however, the rear bird swiveled its head a bit to the left and spied us. Still, something told it to stay in line with the other birds. It kept moving its head to peek nervously at us from the right and then the left. Four feet, three feet, two feet…

Suddenly, the pelican broke formation and flew to the right. The entire squadron abruptly split into two parts and headed well away from our necessary course. My short research experiment was concluded, at least for this day.

We continued on to Taboga Island to complete our human mission, of which I had higher hopes.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE (CBSLA.com) — Authorities Friday continued to search for suspects in connection with an alleged drug boat that washed ashore near Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Air Force Base personnel said they found the 20-foot aluminum boat on Thursday afternoon.

According to authorities, the engine of the boat had been removed and bags of marijuana were allegedly found in the sand worth as much as $1 million.

“These large bags kinda like these dark-colored trash bags wrapped up and stacked. And actually, [they] have been covered and it looks like an attempt to camouflage them with surrounding brush,” said Cmdr. Nina Armagno.

Officials subsequently searched the area and determined there was no threat to the base.

The Department of Homeland Security has taken over the investigation.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Northland captured 3,532 pounds of cocaine from the 35-foot boat on March 3. The drugs have a total wholesale value of more than $43 million. All total, the Northland confiscated 54 bales of cocaine.

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The interdiction was part of Operation Martillo, which is one part of the U.S. government’s counterattack to the use of Central American littorals as shipment routes for drugs, weapons, and cash.

Four suspected smugglers were taken into custody during the stop of the go-fast boat. The Coast Guard Cutter Pea Island, based in Key West, also took part in the interdiction.

According to Boynton Beach Police, marine officers Gregg Koch and Darin Hederian were patrolling the Intracoastal waterways when they came across an 18-foot Donzi beached at Harvey J. Oyer Jr., Boat Club Park on Wednesday, Nov. 30th.

Several local fishermen told police that the speed boat had been sitting there for about two hours.

On the boat, police found a gallon of water, a plastic bag filled with bread and an extra fuel drum on board, signs that suggested a possible smuggling venture had just occurred.

A K9 responded and immediately alerted to the forward bow of the boat. Officers located a hidden compartment under the steering wheel. Inside, they found a garbage bag filled with 11 bundles of marijuana. The marijuana weighed about 20 pounds and has a street value of $20,000Officers said it appears that the majority of the smuggled load was already offloaded. These bundles were overlooked and left behind.

No arrests have been made and the boat has no Florida registration or hull number.