Day 23 Taking stock

We’re doing OK
Position - 06º08S x 135º20
The Puddle Jump Fleet - We get three radio reports of the progress of the other Puddle Jumpers. Some are doing well and others - not so well.
Two boats have turned back. One had mechanical problems with their autopilot and the second returned to Mexico to seek medical help for a broken finger.
Our friends on Cardea ripped their mainsail in two and may have to return to Mexico and may no be able to make the trip this year.
Every boat has reported some form of mechanical problem, most due to the length of the trip or the harshness of the weather.
We have had half a dozen small issues that we have had to solve during the passage. This morning’s challenge was a seriously frayed jib reefing line. (This is a rope that allows us to make the jib smaller when the wind gets too strong).
No Regrets gets the prize for being first to sight land and will reach the Marquises Islands this afternoon. Their lightweight Cal 39 was able to speed ahead whenever there was light wind. On the other hand, they had green water on the deck when the weather was heavy. Green water on deck means that the deck of the boat was under water whenever they encountered a large wave. This kind of thing happens to the America’s Cup racers all the time but is usually not the thing that ocean cruisers like to see.
This afternoon, we passed a tug boat traveling Eastward. The Dutch captain said they were delivering it from Guam to Mexico. He was a sailor at home and was delighted to see a sailboat this far out in the pacific.
Conclusion of the day - At the end of the day, Kurt seared some tuna steaks and we ate the best and freshest tuna you could ever taste. The best restaurants in the world could not top that.
The first destination - We are getting close now and expect to make our entry to French Polynesia on Sunday. Our first port of entry will be the town of Atuona on Hiva-Oa. We will check in with the gendarmarie and then find a beer and a Laundromat - in that order. We expect to be a bit wobbly at first. We need to do a thorough cleaning of everything and to dry out the wet things. We will also re-provision as needed and do some necessary repairs.
From there, we will visit several other islands in the Marquises - Fatu-Hiva, Tahuata, Ua-Pou and finally Nuku-Hiva.
For those of you with geometry skills, you can calculate our distance to Atuona at 09º48S x 139º02W if you know how to find the hypotenuse of a right triangle knowing that each minute of longitude and latitude is one nautical mile and there are 60 minutes in one degree. Happy calculating.
You will also be able to determine the total length of this fist part of our journey knowing that each nautical mile is 1.1 statute miles. (If you get close to 3,000 stature miles, you’ve got it right.)