Most cruisers know that life is not all about sandy beaches, palm trees, gorgeous reefs and umbrella drinks. The real, hidden secret is that cruising is often just fixing your boat in paradise. A few days ago, after a trip to the big town of Nargana to try to hook up with another boat that might have a switch we could use for a repair (which ended up not being the case), we moved on to one of our favorite anchorages in Esnasdup and while backing down to set the anchor, Alan noted a "funny" response from the starboard side engine. After we got the sails covered and the boat "put to bed" he opened the engine room to discover that the bracket that is bolted to the side of the engine that holds the throttle cable and fuel cut off cable had broken. Ugh. BUT, since we ARE a SAILboat and we do have 2 engines, this really isn't a BIG deal, but you always want to have everything in working order, if possible, aboard your vessel. So, after enjoying some snorkeling for a couple of days on some off lying reefs only accessible in calmer weather, we headed BACK to the big town of Nargana (that we had previously left) in search of one of the 2 supposed resident welders. We used a local Kuna "guide" to help us find the welders and found out that BOTH were in Panama City and wouldn't be back for several days and that one of them had broken equipment anyway. Sigh. So, we had heard of another steel boat with two women aboard that had welding equipment...so after a radio relay from another boat, we found out where THEY were heading and headed that way to meet up with them to see if they could help. (Kokopelli---zipping back and forth, zigzagging from island group to island group...) We met us in the Holandes Cays and Maria was able to weld the part for us!! Yeee- haww! After a nice coat of paint, we installed the part 2 days later and the starboard engine was back in business! We've also had issues with the autopilot which has been temperamental--deciding which days it wants to work and which days, it just ignores us. We have taken to tapping it with a plastic hammer, much like you do for a temperamental starter, and that will sometimes knock some sense into it. So, after the engine was finally fixed, we took apart the autopilot motor--as recommended by another fellow cruiser who had done the same--and found it very "gunked up" with a lot of carbon from the worn brushes. It was a black mess of somewhat sticky powder. We cleaned all of that up, sanded the commutator ring and cleaned the "gaps" and, since there was still a LITTLE bit left on the brushes before the stops, we put it all back together. Still need to "field test" it, but are hoping this does the trick. We have also had to repair the water maker's boost pump (by epoxying the internal magnets that broke) and so far that kludge-y repair is holding :).