Sometimes, it is just best to sit tight and not rush off. This was Mary Margaret's suggestion yesterday evening when the starboard engine would not start right away. I had figured out that the reason was that the starter battery voltage was down and by switching starter batteries, the engine would turn over and start. Thus, if we wanted to, we could have left Barbados for St. Lucia but I would not have figured out what was causing the problem. Mary Margaret's suggestion was a good one because we have a good electrician here in Barbados if we needed him. Her suggestion also gave me the night and early morning to think about what could be causing the problem.

Early this morning, armed with my multi-meter, I started testing the various electrical lines and connections and decided that the starboard battery was down in voltage because it was not charging well when the generator was on and charging my batteries. I believe the problem is with the isolation switch that I can turn on to isolate that battery. I believe it is faulty.

I also thought about the engine and am suspecting that I might have a corroded wire where the leads connect to the starter motor. That or the starter motor is starting to fail. I am no expert on starter motors so I will need to turn to a mechanic if the leads to connect the start motor look fine.

I have decided to deal with all of this when we do reach St. Lucia since there is an Island Water World chandlery in Rodney Bay and I can get most things readily there. Thus, this evening we tossed off the mooring lines and said goodbye to Barbados. We really enjoyed our stay here and met the warmest and kindest people here. It was hard to leave.

The winds were great, 15 to 20 knots blowing to the west. Since we were sailing in a westerly direction, we had a lovely downwind sail. The stars came out, the seas were moderate and we were making 6.5 knots with about 11 knots of apparent wind.

We expect to arrive in Soufriere Town, St. Lucia around mid to late morning if this keeps up.