When we sailed the North Channel and Georgian Bay we were well aware of the Little Current Cruisers Net slogan, Cruisers Helping Cruisers. We experienced this first hand this past two weeks in the Bahamas.

First, our solar panel controller failed. This meant we couldn't run our fridge and other electric devices consistently unless we were underway. We ordered a replacement in Spanish Wells but of course it had to come from the mainland, via air, which only came in once a week. Our neighbors across the dock on Leap of Faith learned of our problem and promptly offered their spare controller. They had upgraded their systems and had no more need of it so we didn't even have to replace it for them.

Second, a week later the propane suddenly stopped flowing to the stove. This meant cold food from cans on the menus and, horrors, no morning coffee. It was far too windy to attempt to use our Magma grill as a backup cooker. We were with a dozen boats on the mooring balls at Warderick Wells Exuma Park, so after the morning announcements, we got on Ch16 to ask for assistance. Three boaters answered with offers to give us their spare solenoid! Since the one we choose from SV Corret had been given to them, they played it forward and gave it to us at no cost. It works great and even uses less amps than our original unit.

Third, on our passage from Warderick Wells to Staniel Cay we managed to foul our fuel filters when the rough seas churned up gunk on the bottom of the fuel tank. We had plenty of spare fuel filters but had difficulty getting the air out of the lines to get the engine running again. Charlie from My Time Too became our hero, spending hours with Bill huddled over the engine finding and fixing the air leaks. He showed Bill a couple of innovative tricks we will keep for future reference. Charlie and Kathie graciously accepted the scones we delivered to their boat in thanks this morning.

The next day we still had a glitch in starting, so we appreciated when Darrell from Majica came by with his toolkit to fine tune our engine. Betty tells me Darrell has five tool kits on board to deal with any event.

So we are hoping that "3 is the charm" and we can be the helper instead of the helpee as we continue our adventures.