I see the "tomorrow" in the last post has turned into 3 days from now but it's better than a week. Anyway to continue with the shakedown voyage...the day after our guests left we sailed back to St. Thomas to get the boat problems resolved. We'd planned to be in Curacao by August 1 before hurricane season reached its peak but at least we weren't taking on any more guests. Of course we were still planning on going down the eastern island chain to Trinidad and then go west to Curacao from there, so time was at a premium since it was now July 1.

The next day we pulled into Yacht Haven Marina in St. Thomas, contacted Don regarding the engines, rented a car and did laundry. On the following day one of our crew members helped Don pull the starboard engine to see if it could be rebuilt. We also ordered a new port engine which was supposed to be delivered by the end of the week In addition, Charlie was dealing with new parts for the generator, new block and tackle for the dinghy and a new shackle for the main sail.

While we waited for the new engine to appear, we bought 4 new house batteries, fixed all the bilge pumps and amused ourselves by going to the movies and having dinner with friends. Finally on July 12 the new engine arrived along with the parts necessary to rebuild the starboard engine and Don got to work.

About this time the female member of our young crew started to get a bad attitude but refused to discuss it with us. Not exactly helpful, especially considering our continuing time crunch. We monitored the weather constantly; lots of tropical waves but no hurricanes so far. In addition, I slipped getting off the boat one day and ended up in the water between the boat and the dock. I was fine except for a very bruised butt and a cell phone and PDA that were now toast.

To be continued.