Frannie B has been faithful and very dependable for us for nearly 10 years now, So it was not a surprise when her Panda generator decided not to start for the second year in a row. Fortunately, this happened in Trinidad before we left and we had Raymond and the boys there to zap the Panda with 24 volts of electricity. Yikes! Who knows what it did to the rest of the electrical system. Enroute from Trinidad to Union Island we had a middle of the night fire drill which involved a near collision with a white work boat near to a gas drilling platform, the shrill bilge alarm coming on and after starting the engine for collision avoidance the red alternator warning light came on. This meant that our batteries were not charging when the engine ran. Good news. Collision avoided, bilge under control and we are sailing along. In the morning we sailed into Chatham Bay, Union Island turned the motor on and the red light was still on. We dropped anchor and since our genset was also marginal, we were a bit concerned about our charging capacity. Through a series of tests we decided that yes our alternator was not working. The closest place where there might be help was Bequia so a few days later we sailed the 30 miles to one of our favorite places. We tied to a buoy and asked the “boat boy” who tied us up if there might be a mechanic around. Within half an hour Terone appeared. Off he went with our alternator in hand. Next thing we hear he has sent it on to St. Vincent. A week later Veril Nicholas pays a house call from St. Vincent. He arrives and reinstalls our new rebuilt alternator with a new rectifier. All is running smoothly now. Two new friends and confidence that there are folks everywhere who are capable, helpful, affordable and friendly.