Romarin turned into a six-year stay, have finally first sailed off for another adventure into the unknown.

"At one time, our daily decision was what to have for dinner, but these days it's more likely to be "Where do we anchor tonight?'' says Mr. Ed Cutler, who with his wife Wendy, left their home port of Anapolis, Maryland in 1984 and spent the next two years sailing the Atlantic reaches before Bermuda beckoned.

With 11 children and 17 grandchildren, the Cutlers feel they have earned the right to live their lives as they most enjoy it, and recall with some merriment that daughter Amy admonished them, asking, "When are you coming home and resuming your responsibilities?'' For answer, Mr. Cutler says he told his children "This is now your world -- take care of it!'' The couple make the reasonable point that most of their friends are in the sailing fraternity who see nothing strange or unusual in their way of life.

"We feel completely normal -- it's only when we meet people outside the cruising community that we are sometime made to feel a bit eccentric!'' says Mr. Cutler.

Not that they have been taking it easy since they arrived in Bermuda. As mathematicians with special skills in computer technology, they have been working for NASA as well as teaching these subjects at university level on the US base at Kindley.

The one major hiccup in their Bermuda idyll was when they decided to take another year off, for a sail down the Caribbean in 1987. But their plans were thwarted when their main mast broke in half and the engine seized up.

"We were not really in any danger,'' Mr. Cutler relates, "I used to be a carpenter, so I spliced the mast, threw the engine overboard and we sailed back to Bermuda and started working for NASA again.'' The worst accident that has be fallen them in their eight years of life on the ocean waves was when their dinghy sank -- and took a $5,000 computer down with it.

Most of the friends they have made in Bermuda have been sailing people but, says Mrs. Cutler, "We have met so many Bermudians, partly through our teaching at the Base and we have been made so welcome here.'' One local sailing enthusiast sold a moped to the Cutlers for one dollar -- as they made preparations to leave the Island last week, they sold it, 14,000 miles later, back to its owner for two dollars.

"When we're at sea, we do have to observe a set routine, like four hours on watch, four hours off, which we take in turns as we do sleeping, and cooking, and constantly checking the boat for safety.'' One of the things that distinguishes them from land-bound couples is, however, the close-knit living conditions. Mr. Cutler explains that they have overcome tensions that may arise from living within a couple of feet from each other for months on end, by agreeing set times for quiet (sometime silent!) periods and instigating what they call "type once conversations'', where one partner can "sound off'' without fear of interruption or rebuttal from the other.

"We also have the time to say that we love each other,'' beams Mr. Cutler.

As they sail off, the cutlers announce that they are "sailing south to Seattle'' Adding that it may take ten years or so to reach their destination, they explain that they plan to sail to the Bahamas, then Venezuela, through the Panama canal, stopping off at ports that catch their imagination.

It could prove a complicated business reaching Seattle, as Mr. Cutler points out that you have to go to Alaska first and then sail down. "Of course, we could end up going to Hawaii! It could take us ten years to get to Seattle!'' CALL OF THE SEA -- Mr. and Mrs. Ed Cutler, who sailed into Bermuda for a weekend and ended up staying six years preparing to leave the Island last week.