If I press start it has a choice to continue or continue from last save, but not one to save BTW I have three Pikmin so far

I think you have to go back to the ship. You don't want to do that until it's time to leave though.

I went back and all it says is that I have 0 of 30 parts.

I do have to leave... to return some tapes to the library

LOL! I meant leave the area you're in.

It asks you if you want to save at the end of the day. It's the only time you can save. Each day lasts about 20 minutes.

Oh so it will automatically allow me to save after 20 mins?

I swear I've been playing more than that...

I am a freaking genius !!!

I couldn't get to that last chip so I threw a Pikmin at it.

This is my favorite so far

Ah, I see, you can only save each time you find a piece of rocket. Good to know

No... You should be given the option of saving after each day. Even if you don't collect a piece of the ship.

I was only given the choice when I got the ship part.

I played for more than 20 mins. Wouldn't a 20 mins day be too short? It's a piece of ship per day (30 days 30 ships) but does that mean you can only spend 600 mins = 10 hrs to finish the game? What if you're slower than that?

And what's with the proprietary AV connector?

1. You get as much time as you want on the first day.
2. The game is about 10 hours long, maybe a couple more.
3. (very minor spoiler)

Nice going! thats what I love about Pikmin, trying different techniques to get the ship parts back. If I recall, it saves the game when you go to the next day. There were a few days I ended up not doing so well that I had to retry a few times, some of the later ones get pretty hard but never impossible.

It's always good to see someone enjoying a great underappreciated game like Pikmin.

Yep. 10-15 hours. Longer if you decide not to save your day and try it again for a better score(for lack of better terms).