Mihlstin says he's not worried about his legal troubles, which appear to be mounting.

MANAGER ARRESTED

On Friday, the Seminole County Sheriff's Office arrested an assistant manager for the Buoy Club, on charges of profiting from prostitution, this in connection with a raid on a nightclub, Sassy Merlot's in Maitland.

While his lawyers battle Port Canaveral officials, Mihlstin says his plans include expanding to Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades or the Port of Miami-Dade.

Those ports, too, soon may face this dilemma: How do you square the image of a cruise ship where the women get naked with the family fun of a ship operated by Disney or Carnival? How would Port Everglades feel about playing host to the Buoy Club?

"While it behooves us to make certain any operator we provide services for meets all the laws for its operation, Port Everglades is not in the business of dictating morality, " said Jim Lida, assistant director of cruise marketing at Port Everglades. Mihlstin, who says he worked for adult clubs in South Florida - although he won't say which - conceived of the Buoy Club with several friends 18 months ago in a brainstorming session.

He said he promoted the Thursday, Friday and Saturday night cruises heavily in Orlando before the Canaveral Star made its maiden voyage June 5.

The ship has a capacity of 355. On a recent night, 27 men and 27 women came board. The night before, the cruise drew 220 men and about 20 women.

The fast-talking entrepreneur says his plan was to "take it away from the schools, take it away from the churches and put it out at sea." By "it" Mihlstin said he means "adult nude entertainment."

Opposition on the part of Port Canaveral began as soon as word got out about the Canaveral Star's trips beyond the three-mile limit. Port officials say they had been told by the club that the ship was offering dinner cruises.

Central Florida talk radio stations, some of which did broadcasts from the boat, got into the act, and men looking for commercial sex on Web pages began gossiping.