suffered heart attacks.

And the luckiest was 57-year-old Harvey Williams -- for he lived to tell the tale.

"It's just great to be alive,'' exclaimed Mr. Williams yesterday from his hospital bed in Bermuda.

Yesterday the brave American told how a lifelong dream which started two years ago ended at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

Mr. Williams had set sail from Florida with his girlfriend Judy for a new life in the Caribbean.

The joyful couple even tied the knot on their boat, Irie Spirit , on July 4 -- US Independence Day.

But the romantic start to their adventure was to be followed by horror.

In Puerto Rico the pair formed an unofficial sailing club -- "The Rat Pack'' -- with a group of other enthusiasts.

Shortly after 13 boats in the club left the Turks and Caicos Islands for the Dominican Republic the tragic sequence began.

"One of the boat owners suffered a massive heart attack and died,'' said Mr.

Williams, a retired philosophy teacher.

The tragedy was followed by another during Antigua Race Week last month.

A Rat Pack member on the Lovely Lady suffered a heart attack, and a plane flew out to pick him up.

"But as the Lear jet was about to take off he had another heart attack, and this time could not be revived.'' Tragedy number three occurred shortly afterwards in Puerto La Cruz as an American on board Sable collapsed and died.

Mr. Williams' own drama began just days later after setting out from Tortola to Bermuda.

By that stage they had been joined on board by a young Venezuelan friend, Mr.

Javier Ocampo.

"We endured three bad storms, and finally our engines quit. We lost an inordinate amount of fuel,'' Mr. Williams recalled.

With just eight percent of its fuel left, the power trawler limped into St.

George's last Thursday.

Said Mr. Williams: "It had been a very stressful time, coping with the weather.

"It was while on board the boat, at about 1 a.m., I felt this numbness down one side of my body.

"I also felt like there was a huge weight on my chest.'' Harbour Radio sent out a pilot boat and Mr. Williams was rushed to hospital, where he is now in stable condition.

"Everybody in Bermuda has been so wonderful. It feels as though I've dropped from another world into a piece of heaven,'' said the father-of-one.

"Harbour Radio were just magnificent, and all the nurses here are also fantastic.'' Despite the trials of his epic voyage, Mr. Williams, who sold his Florida home in the hope of a new life, has no regrets.

"I like to live on the edge, I love challenges. It was one of the dreams of my life to make this trip.'' FIGHTING SPIRIT -- Mr. Harvey Williams' courage shines through the high seas tragedy which claimed three lives.