Continuing the saga of our shakedown voyage, you'll recall that we'd finally left Tortola for the last time and were in our way to Saba, a Dutch island south of Tortola. On the way one of the mounting bolts on the port engine broke so we shut that engine down. Then the starboard engine started heating up so we lowered the rpm and kept going. We were also towing the dinghy with only one rope but would add another when we got to Saba. I told you we were really novice sailors. Also I have a theory that the engines talk to each other and conspire to see which one can give us the biggest headache. Our progress was down to 1.1 knots.

The next day we fixed the bolt on the port engine so it was usable once again. Our speed increased to 4 knots since the starboard engine decided to run normally also. We finally arrived at Saba, which looks like an enormous rock sticking up out of the ocean as you approach it, and picked up a mooring ball. The island and surrounding water is part of a marine sanctuary so no anchoring is allowed. After a long, rough dinghy ride we made landfall with Star, the dog, on a deserted pebble beach.

A couple of years later we toured Saba and discovered its wonderful alpine charms. It's very different from any other Caribbean island we've visited and is one of our favorite places. On this first visit, though, we figured that while the island might have great diving, it didn't seem to have much else.

We left Saba at 6 AM the next morning headed to Nevis. We finally had over 8 knots of wind so we made good progress. The generator still had problems but we figured we could fix it in Martinique. Somewhere on the way to Nevis we lost the motor off the dinghy. At least we still had the dinghy itself. Arrived in Nevis in early afternoon and toured the island. Our plan was now to go to Montserrat and then Martinique.

The next day we started out for Montserrat but the new bolt we had installed on the port engine broke. Unable to drill it out, we returned to Nevis to fix it. On top of everything else our problems with the female member of our crew continued to worsen. At this point Charlie and I decided that if we could get the boat fixed we would head straight for Curacao.

To be continued.