BEER Cruise 2009

By Bob Horan

Linda and I were packed and ready by 2PM on Friday afternoon. The drive down Highway 96 into Columbus went quickly and before long we were approaching Montgomery. I decided to fill up on fuel and shortly we were past Montgomery and cruising down I-65. We were only about 25 miles South of Montgomery when a passing motorist motioned for me to pull off and told me that I had a smoking hub on the trailer. Sure enough the bearings were gone and we went looking for some bearings. It was almost 6:30Pm when we rolled into Greenville looking for auto parts stores but we could not find the parts and were soon heading back to the boat. We slept on the boat with each passing car/truck making the boat sway on the trailer. In the morning we drove back to Montgomery and found a NAPA store that had the bearings and within 3 hours we had the bearings installed and the trailer ready to roll. It was 12:30PM and the BEER Cruisers had already departed Pensacola Shipyard Marina Complex and we were still 2-3 hours away. We arrived at the marina by 2:45 but the Ships Store was already closed so we got started getting the boat ready to launch. By 4PM we were ready to launch. We tried but the tide was going out and we had arrived too late. We could not get the boat deep enough to float without getting the trailer over the dropoff on the ramp. We would have to wait to launch on Sunday morning. Once again we slept on the boat on the trailer but this time we would not be rocked by passing trucks and cars.

We launched after 9AM on Sunday morning and sailed out by 10AM. With a 120% jib and full main we were soon tacking across Pensacola Bay. As we approached Santa Rosa Island we merged in with the BEER Cruise fleet as they sailed East toward Navarre Beach. It was almost 13:00 as we passed under the bridge. We had our picture taken by Murray White and then headed in to make a short stop in Quietwater Beach for some supplies. We headed out again about 14:30 sailing toward Navarre Beach on a fast reach. We had let a number of boats pass us on our stop in Quietwater Beach but we were now catching up to some of the stragglers. We arrived at 17:30 and anchored behind Shane's 33 footer. We were able to row ashore and visit with all the skippers and crew before rowing back out to "Linda Jean" to cook supper before it got too dark. It was a somewhat quiet night but by morning the water was like glass. We waited, went ashore, etc until the wind started filling in around 10:00. The next stop was back to Quietwater Beach and we made pretty good time as the wind filled in from the Southwest. We had to tack 7-8 times but then we finally were able to make a long run that took us almost to the Pensacola Beach bridge. We arrived and anchored again at Quietwater Beach by 15:30. We visited again with skippers and crew then after a great dinner at Flounders Restaurant, we re-anchored "Linda Jean" to give us more swing room and went to bed with the loud music from the bars keeping us awake till past 2AM.

Monday morning started out very calm again so we waited for the wind to fill in again and by 10:30 we sailed out with a destination of Sand Island. As we crossed Pensacola Bay we were sailing close hauled with full main and a 120% jib again. We could have reefed the main since the wind had increased to almost 20mph but we pressed on with the toe rail near the water and making more than 5kts. It was a great day for sailing. Arriving at Sand Island we anchored near Ft. Mcrae and spend a nice quiet evening snorkling, touring the old fort, watching a large square rigged ship depart, and watching the sunset. As usual it was a quiet anchorage with maybe 6 boats anchored nearby. The following morning after breakfast we were treated to the Navy Blue Angels air show. It was a nice way to start our final day of BEER Cruise 2009. We sailed back to the marina with plenty of wind and had the trailer packed and ready for the road by 4PM. The trip home was uneventful and we arrived before midnight.