for the past week, last night sailed on safely to their southern destination.

Mr. Daniel Ladrigan and his wife, Marcia, were believed to be heading for Antigua after spending the last five days bailing out their floundering 35-foot yacht Owl .

Owl , which left Bermuda over a week ago, began taking on water.

And despite having to battle waves as high as 30 feet and strong gusting winds, the couple refused to abandon their yacht.

Mr. Ladrigan, 55, and his 46-year-old wife endured the ordeal with assistance from numerous people, including US Coast Guard personnel, crew on two passing ships, and local ham radio operator Mr. Herb Hilgenberg of Paget who assisted with communication.

Last night a US Coast Guard spokesman said during the week the Coast Guard repeatedly urged Mr. Ladrigan to abandon the Alden sailing vessel.

But when this was not successful, they dropped from rescue planes about seven pumps to the couple.

For various reasons, however, this did not help the Ladrigans.

One pump seized up due to salt water.

Mr. Ladrigan, who is believed to have a broken rib, was unable to prime another.

And several pumps simply missed the yacht, landing in the Atlantic.

"When our aircraft left the scene (on Thursday night) we had not been able to determine whether they received the last one we dropped,'' the US Coast Guard spokesman said from New York.

"But apparently the pump worked and they have carried on their merry way.'' He said initially the Coast Guard feared that the Ladrigans had sunk because when rescue planes returned to the site at daybreak yesterday, the yacht was not in sight.

"We could not spot it anywhere,'' the spokesman said. "We had about four planes up flying around looking for them.'' Mr. Ladrigan later contacted the Coast Guard and told them the last pump had landed squarely in the Owl and he managed to get it working.

"The guy was pretty comfortable with that and they had enough fuel to carry on their journey,'' the spokesman said.

Harbour Radio last night estimated that the Owl was about 300 miles from Bermuda, heading south.

The Ladrigans, who are avid sailors from Cherryfield in Maine, had spent about a month in Bermuda.