This years B.E.E.R. Cruise wasn’t like last years, (it was HOT this year!!!) but it was still great. We had intended to leave Wednesday afternoon but that was just not to be. So after finishing up all of the things that still needed done, we set out Thursday morning and arrived about 1:30 in the afternoon, and if I didn’t mention it before, it was HOT. After dropping off the boat at the marina, we ran and got a quick bite to eat, then back to the boat to get setup and put in the water. Friday we just kind of hung around the marina and visited with everyone coming and going. It looked like there was going to be a good crowd this year with what looked like about 50 boats or so with five of us from the middle Georgia area: Bob, John and Sherry, Warren, Valerie and Nicholas, Ken and Jennifer, Pete and Jimmy and ourselves. Not to repeat last years debacle, we made sure we did do all (or at least most) of our shopping on Friday so we could leave on time, which we did. Once out on the bay we had a light northwest breeze and a slow run of 3 to 4 knots to the mouth of Santa Rosa Sound. By the time we made the turn east, the breeze freshened and came around to the southwest. This made for a nice broad reach. We sailed on and the wind slowly increased. By the time we were about three or four miles from Navarre, our first nights anchorage, the wind must have been 15 to 18 and Summer Breeze, still under full sail was going as fast as she could. Bob was right behind and closing. There was a storm just ahead of us so we decided to reduce, then drop all sail and drop anchor and ride out the storm. Right after dropping anchor, the bottom fell out and we went below for cover. After the storm let up some I noticed I was quite as close to Bob as I was when I dropped anchor. Must have dragged a bit, but no problems. After the rain it was nice and cool and instead of sailing the rest of the way to Navarre we decided to motor. After anchoring, we rowed in and looked for a place to eat. Wind was still blowing pretty hard and ended up dropping another anchor just in case. There was a boat damaged in the storm (see picture). The story was it was hit by lightening but later I talked with him and he said he was just over canvassed and the top portion of his mast and topsail were blown off. The next morning was nice when we set out for Quietwater Beach and another nice sailing day and the trip was uneventful. After arriving, we dropped anchor and set off in search of something to eat. After a good dinner, we came back to the boat and found that she wasn’t where we put her. Arggg, we drug anchor again. After much consternation and a broken throttle control, we finally dropped two anchors and turned in for the night. Monday we decided that since we had throttle problems and a shower would feel soooo good, we turned north toward the marina instead of going onto Sand Island. Tuesday we pulled the boat out early and after getting her ready for the road, we headed home. Jeff and Linda from Summer Breeze