Anyone with knowledge of ocean sailing or navigation?

[csziggy]

I am transcribing letters from a great-great-???-uncle who ran away from home in 1853 and sailed to Australia for the gold rush there. He wrote fairly detailed letters that were saved by the family and I wanted to plot on a map his voyage and the time in Australia and New Zealand. After the ship passed the Cape of Good Hope, he began to give longtitude and latitudee, but the first letter we have just says, "Within 1400 miles of Cape of Good Hope, 52 days out of New York, 40 days more will see at anchor in Port Phillip" and "As far south as the Cape and steering east."

Can anyone help me with coming up with a rough idea of the route across the Atlantic? I may need help with some of the other positions, but I need a starting point other than just New York City and this approximate point.

[flying rabbit]

1. kick for curiosity

[cbayer]

2. Routes are highly dependent on weather conditions. Mariners will generally plot

the course they hope to take, based on historical information about tradewinds, storms, etc., but almost inevitable have make major variations in their plans. Storms, strong currents, low winds, etc. will all effect the plan.

The best you can do is plot the points you have and approximate with the information given to you. If he documented his average speed, or nautical miles per day, you may be able to get some ideas based on the information in his letters.

Does anyone in the family have the logs from his boat. It is very unlikely that he would not have kept detailed logs so that he could approximate his own position from day to day. Are there any maps that he may have plotted.

Anyway, since you are interested in this, you might want to take a look at Jessica Watson's site. She is about to be the youngest person to ever make and unassisted, non-stop voyage around the world. Her blog is fascinating and there are some maps that might help you.

http://www.jessicawatson.com.au/

There are also lots and lots of great books about ocean crossings and around the world sails.

Hope this helps.

:hi:

[csziggy]

5. He and his companions were just passenges

And I doubt the logs of the ship survived - it was a minor barque or bark that frequently advertised a far greater capacity than it was rated for. In the letters, the relative mentions that it was advertised as 1000 tons burthen, but that he saw the ships papers and it was only 399 tons. It carried 300 passengers from New York City to Melbourne without stopping anywhere along the way. It was returning by way of Calcutta apparently since the relative said he was sending one letter that far with the captain.

I looked at some the sites of modern day round the world sailors - they don't usually take the same route. For instance, Jessica Watson is staying entirely in the Southern Hemisphere, though the route she took between Australia and the Cape of Good Hope is pretty much the same as the route I have for the bark.

I did take a hint from her site, and downloaded Google Earth. I've got the points plotted that are mentioned for the voyage in the letters and now I just have to get the locations in Australia and New Zealand plotted. Of course, some have changed names in the last 150 years, but I think I have a good start. And I found some good background information - for instance, he mentions the miners' discontent about the gold licenses and I have found there were two uprisings of gold miners that tie into his comments.

Looking over the letters, it seems that the captain simply headed pretty much south until he was approximately level with the Cape, then turned east and stayed on a steady eastward course through the Indian Ocean. They had very good weather through the Atlantic and until after they had cleared the Cape, then ran into alternating storms and calm through the Indian Ocean. The voyage took 109 days - can you imagine? The only loss was a stowaway who fell overboard and was run over by the ship. They turned back for him but he was already gone. No one even knew the young man's name.

[hayu_lol]

6. Jessica Watson crossed the equator to circle one of...

the Line Islands...one of the requirements of a circumnavigation. The Line Islands include Christmas Island, about 50 miles north of the equator. This is where the Brits did Operation Grapplebird, their hydrogen bomb testing in the mid 50s. Location is 1200 miles due south from Honolulu.

Circumnavigators may not touch land during their adventure. They must cross 360 longitudinal lines and also cross the equator. There are other requirements. See her blog for details.

Her route to Australia from Capetown is pretty much what any sailing ship would choose.

[csziggy]

10. Oh that is what that one hump was!

I'll try to look at the log sometime - right now I've got enough on my plate.

Thanks!

[cbayer]

7. Sounds like a great project and I wish you the best.

:hi:

[Orrex]

3. I don't have any useful information to add, but...

this sounds like one hell of an awesome project. Very cool!

[csziggy]

4. Oh, this is just one small part of my family history project

I am re-editing the books my Mom did in the late 60s of family history for her side and Dad's side of the family. Her originals were on legal size paper and used copiers which make for lousy photo reproduction. I want to make PDF versions for the grandkids that they can easily store but print out when and if they wish - which means resetting everything for regular paper size.

While we have new data, I want to stick to Mom's original information for the first step, to make sure I can get that done quickly. Since Mom is 89, I want to have at least one version for her to approve.

THEN I am going to do updated versions with the additional research, including the letters of the gold miner and the massive amounts of additional material our families have saved over the generations.

But the letters from the gold miner have been an interesting part of the history for my entire life and no one has ever plotted the course of the ship or of his travels in Australia and New Zealand.

[hayu_lol]

8. Your gold miner would have gone south to pick up the southern trades...

and crossed the Atlantic at that point. You have a number: 1400 miles to Port Phillip...and 40 days to make that distance. Divide the 1400 by 40 and you have a rough idea of what speed they were making. You can also use this speed to calculate a rough daily log of distance covered between Port Phillip and Australia...taking into account any storms/other delays encountered and mentioned.

Any US seaport would have a maritime museum and could be of help. Check the Brits for the same and the Dutch as well.

Since your mom is elderly, use a tape recorder and transcribe the high points later. Faster and easier for her to use.

Don't forget US Yacht Clubs as a source. Sometimes they can be very helpful.

[csziggy]

9. Actually it was 1400 miles to Cape of Good Hope

He says that they are "as far south as the Cape" and from that point on he gives a regular account of location - sometimes just the east longtitude. Two weeks later they passed 200 miles south of the Cape. The latitide varies between 35 and 41 south.

It is really just the voyage from New York to the point 1400 miles east of the Cape that I have no information about. He says he wrote a letter or two during that time but I get the feeling he did not save or post them. I think at nineteen, running away from home and problems he was likely very homesick and depressed.

Mom already has made a pretty good account of things. I just want her input into the style of the re-edit of her books. She was an editor of a history periodical for twenty five years so she knows far more about editing than I do. She just does not have the computer expertise to produce electronic format documents - she edited articles and collaborated on the layout for her periodical but was using a 286 and a very crude word processing program for what she did. These days she is spending most of her time looking after Dad as best she can so does not have time to do the re-edits herself.

I have the technology and the ability to do the electronic versions and for making them print-ready I can consult with my husband who works at FedEx Office and can ask the production people about things he not sure of.

[kayakjohnny]

11. Maybe you can get a hold of Denbot.

I bet anything he'd be able to help. This seems up his alley.

Cheers.

[david13]

12. I can't add any help. Only to say that I have done ocean sailing

and navigation in small private boats and love it. Some people love being out there, and others just get sick. I never did.
It is like becoming a bird, and traveling with the wind.
If a person likes it it is pleasant like nothing else.
dc