A few days ago I posted Leu Cat's dirty little secret, which was that we only have hot water when we run the starboard engine. This means that we only have very cold water to take showers in when we are in very cold climates. Well, today I am going to share a sneaky little secret with you so that if you ever come to visit us on board Leu Cat, you will be well prepared. I write this knowing that our friends, Mary and Greg will be boarding their flight to Luderitz to join us for 8 to 10 weeks to sail across the Atlantic. Plus, I cannot remember if I shared this sneaky little secret with them or not. Opps!

The sneaky little secret is that each person who does come and visit us must write one blog posting a week. If two people come, then they each must write one each week. We make this a requirement just so that people who read our blog get a different perspective of what our cruising life is all about instead of reading only what I or Mary Margaret write. I think it helps when others offer their views since we are both so biased. I sure hope Mary and Greg don't mind doing this. If so, we will just leave them on the Luderitz dock!!!!!

Today, I and Mary Margaret, both went ashore. She walked over to the OK Supermarket to do some shopping, and I went and got 50 gallons of diesel. As it turned out, the tanks needed only 45 of those 50 gallons so I only have 45 gallons more to get to have all of the Jerry cans filled and lashed down on deck before we go. I will do this on Friday.

Tomorrow, around noon, Mary and Greg should be arriving. Their little delay allowed them to spend some time in Windhoek but ended up cutting off some time that they would have had on Leu Cat learning how she works before we start out on Saturday. Thus, they will be learning how she handles and what it takes to make her work out in the open seas. Fortunately, Leu Cat is an easy boat to sail and both Greg and Mary have some good sailing experience so the learning curve should be mild.

The weather maps are still showing that Saturday should be a good day to leave. The winds will be up some (20 to 30 knots depending on what model you like), but it will be downwind sailing so the apparently wind will be less. With a reef or two tucked into the sails, it should be a nice day of sailing.

The passage to St. Helena is about 1400 nm and should take about 9 days. The duration will be a function of the wind but the wind predictions look pretty good. It should be downhill just about all the way!