rescued off Bermuda.

Mr. Joey Rousell and Miss Marie Jose Leduc arrived in Bermuda with just over $100 and a small lifeboat between them after a nightmare voyage from New York.

And Mr. Rousell spoke of his horror as he watched the yacht Caplan Two , his home for the past three years, sink.

The boat actually went down as it was being towed behind the Danish cargo ship Anne Sif . It is believed a combination of a valve being left open and the speed of the ship caused the Caplan Two to go down.

A visibly distressed Mr. Rousell said: "We were never in any real problems.

We were OK really.'' Picture -- Page 3 But he admitted that the journey had been tough since they set off from New York earlier this month.

At first there were four crew members but early problems persuaded two of them to leave the boat on a passing Norweigian ship.

Mr. Rousell said: "We hit two storms and had engine problems, then we lost the rudder. The other two people decided to leave but we wanted to continue.

"I actually sailed for 300 miles without the rudder and although it was a problem we were never in any danger.

"I knew the US Coast Guard was looking out for us because they knew we had fuel problems.'' At this time the Anne Sif had been instructed to divert from its course from Houston to Algeria and Italy, to help the couple reach Bermuda. They reached them early yesterday.

Mr. Rousell said: "They helped us on board and started towing the boat.

Everything was good. But I think I had left the sea lock valve open. The ship was travelling at about 13 knots.'' The crew noticed that the Caplan Two was behaving erratically as though it was taking on water and they all watched as the boat finally sank beneath the waves.

Mr. Rousell said: "Everything I had was in that boat. I had built it about three years ago, and we have lived in it ever since. We were making our way to the Caribbean to live. That was my house.

"Basically we lost everything except for our lives when the boat went down.'' Mr. Rousell and Miss Leduc were picked up by a pilot boat and brought to Bermuda, where they were met by Customs Officers and Mr. Tim Southern of agents John S. Darrell.

Pilot boat crew members Mr. Maurice O'Connor and Mr. Wendall Burchall will help them sell their motor boat today.

An elderly American solo sailor arrived in Bermuda last night under his own steam after experiencing problems on a journey from Virginia.

The sailor had experienced steering problems on the 35-foot yacht Pals One , but after resting he continued his journey.

Then 33 miles Northwest of Bermuda he ran out of fuel and needed assistance from the sailing vessel Anore .

HOMELESS -- Canadians Mr. Joey Rousell and Miss Marie Jose Leduc who lost their boat at sea this weekend.