Dear Don,Here are some pretty good shots which I hope will bring back some pretty good memories. I
included one signed shot in your packet for [Aronow's pilot] Randy [Riggs]. Also am enclosing a
set of picture [sic] for Willie not having his address or knowing how he spells Myers? Will you
please give them to him and thank him for his part in our wonderful outing. He is quite a guy and I
learned a lot from him on the way up to Miami from the Keys.Again Don this day was one of the greatest of my life. I love boats, always have. But ever since
knowing you that private side of my life has become ever more exciting and fulfilling.
Incidentally, I didn't get to tell you but my reliable 28 footer Cigarette that is, still doing just
fine...no trouble at all and the new last year engines.All the best to you and all your exciting ventures. May all your boats bee [sic] number one and
may the hosres [sic] be not far behind.At the end of this message, before his signature, Bush wrote in by hand, "My typing
stinks." [fn 7]
As a result of this outing, Bush is said to have used his influence to see to it that Aronow
received a lucrative contract to build the Blue Thunder catamarans at $150,000 apiece for
the US Customs Service. This contract was announced with great fanfare in Miami on
February 4, 1985, and was celebrated a week later in a public ceremony in which Florida
Senator Paula Hawkins and US Customs Commissioner William von Raab mugged for
photographers together with Aronow. The government purchase was hyped as the first
time that the Customs would receive boats especially designed and built to intercept drug
runners on the high seas, a big step forward in the war on drugs.
This was the same George Bush who in March, 1988 had stated: "I will never bargain
with drug dealers on US or foreign soil."
As one local resident recalled of that time, "everyone in Miami knew that if you needed a
favor from Bush, you spoke to Aronow." [fn 8] It was proverbial among Florida pols and
powerbrokers that Aronow had the vice president's ear.
The Customs soon found that the Blue Thunder catamarans were highly unseaworthy and
highly unsuitable for the task of chasing down other speedboats, including above all
Aronow's earlier model Cigarette boats, which were now produced by a company not
controlled by Aronow. Blue Thunder was relatively slow class, capable of a top speed of
only 56 miles per hour, despite the presence of twin 440-horsepower marine engines. The
design of the catamaran hulls lacked any hydrodynamic advantages, and the boats were
too heavy to attain sufficient lift. The stern drives were too weak for the powerful
engines, leading to the problem of "grenading" : when the drive shafts severed, which
was often, the engines began to rev far beyond their red line, leading to the explosion or
disintegration of the engines and the sharpnel-like scattering of red-hot steel fragments
through the boat. This meant that the boats had to be kept well below their maximum
speed. Most Blue Thunders spent more time undergoing repairs than chasing drug