What I have yet to mention is the thrilling ride of going 90 miles an hour around the tip of South Beach. The whipping wind played havoc on the ocean’s surface as hinted by the multitude of whitecaps. Without a seatbelt in sight, the gals and I were willing to take the risk for the once-in-a-lifetime THRILL of a cigarette boat ride! (Thanks JVO & Noelle!!!) Blazing a watery trial, we were tossed like ragdolls into the air with each intermittent trajectory. Traveling at what seemed like warp speed barely allowed us to take-in this vantage point of SoBe’s magazine-esque shoreline. Only a sneak peak looking-in, behind the scene of hotel facades. 
CIGARETTE BOAT Motor History/racing thrills up to 250 mph
The cigarette boat or go-fast boat is a small fast boat designed with a long narrow platform and a planning hull to enable it to reach high speeds. Originally these boats were called "Rum-Runners" because during the era of Prohibition they were used to transfer Rum from larger vessels waiting outside the territorial waters of the United States. The high speed of the Rum-Runners enabled them to avoid interception by the Coast Guard. More recently the term "Cigarette Boat" has replaced the term "Rum-Runner" when similar boats were used to smuggle cigarettes between Canada and the United States. The present era of Cigarette Boats, dating from the Sixties, owes much of their design to boats designed for offshore powerboat racing, particularly by designer and builder Donald Aronow. During this period, these boats were used by drug smugglers to transfer drugs across the Caribbean to the United States.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go-fast_boat
In complete contrast to our jaunt, JVO took her sleek 32’ silhouette down to a Stealth Bomber coast and glided into the dock.
The reality at a standstill was
1.) we were convinced we had just experienced Nature’s Spa, thanks to the salty air, a Mini-facelift AND
2.) After riding a Rum Runner, we were “required” to end the day sipping a Pain Killer ;)
Be on the lookout for this sport as it moves to a circuit racing style – also known as “Run What You Brung”!
The Painted Memory
www.thepaintedmemory.com
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