Ilene The Boat's First (and only) Mate

I don't recognize myself some of the time. Even the title of this posting leaves me a bit incredulous.  First mate?  Who am I?
Well, if I live in the present moment, which I try to do, I am wife and companion to Roger, my Captain. 
I fell in love with him on a boat (having never been sailing before we met, our first summer together was one of the most romantic times in my life.  I pined for him when he went away on a 16 day summer cruise with his yacht club without me.)
So, now I can drive a dinghy FAST and get to the dock, tie her up and start her again by myself...I can steer our 43' foot, 10 ton sailboat onto a dock and I steer her to the mooring ball while Roger picks up the ball from the front of the boat.  This is very cool stuff to know how to do!  And, I understand and can speak "sailing lingo".  I say head and galley as a matter of course.
And, probably most important to Rojay, is my commitment to this 8 month, 2000 mile journey from Grenada back home to New York.
I'm really a sailor, and yet it's still hard to believe.
Let me add in here that as much as I love Roger and as caring as he is for my well being, this trip might not have been possible without the hours of fun and love I get from Alpha Girl & Whitty.


I won't recap the entire trip so far (actually not much of one yet...we'll have been in Grenada a month in 2 days and have moved about 12 miles so far.  We are both ITCHING to get going and to have all of the systems we need working...it has been frustrating so far to say the least!) as Roger has done a lot of that in his several blog postings so far.  I hope to post more than I did last season and will have my own take on what transpires.
I'll start with my reflection of a couple of days ago.  We experienced yet another mechanical breakdown.  In the middle of only our 2nd very short passage from Prickly Bay to the anchorage outside St. Georges (the capital of Grenada) our engine screeched and died.  Now, I'm sure not many of you have sailed onto an anchorage and I'll tell you that it is a somewhat scary maneuver.   But, my Captain is a very good sailor who may not be able to fix a windlass (the mechanism that lifts and lowers our very heavy anchor for us)...but he can sail!
Yesterday, Wayne, a local mechanic found for us by our wonderful friend, Marti, who lives on the island came and fixed the engine. 

We are hoping to take a snorkeling trip today or Thursday morning to the underwater sculptures, and then sail to Cariacou and Sandy Island.
Thanks for reading.