Quoting: I suppose going directly west from England in the fall was a bad idea. Look at the Plymouth Pilgrims and their horrid voyage across, which was the subject on a recent TV show. - - - - Going west from England to America was a bad idea in any season; it meant they were bucking the Gulf Stream almost the whole way. Later, when more about the winds and currents was understood, it became routine for sailing vessels to drop down as far as the Azores, perhaps ("until the butter melts," as one sailor put it) and then hang a right. They could then pick up the trade winds, which blow almost due west. They seldom went any other way. A much easier route than the North Atlantic one, possibly taking a shorter amount of time even though longer in distance, and certainly much warmer. Edie in Maine

Actually, it was not "later" when the southern route was recognized. The Jamestown settlers used that route, http://www.virtualjamestown.org/pic10a.html BEFORE the Mayflower voyage. The lesson learned by many US school children is that the Mayflower landing was the earliest landing of settlers and establishment of a settlement in America, which of course is wrong. Events of this year - the 400th anniversary of the landing at Jamestown - may help expose this classic historical error. The story of why that myth was established, and why it has been so persistent, would be interesting in itself. But of course it wasn't a Dutch Colony so may not be a suitable topic for this board. Peter Van Dyke Wilde ----- Original Message ----- From: "Edith Bailes" <edieb@suscom-maine.net> To: <dutch-colonies@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 4:04 PM Subject: Re: [DUTCH-COLONIES] 17th Century Ships & the Voyage to America > Quoting: I suppose going directly west from England in the fall was a bad > idea. Look at the Plymouth Pilgrims and their horrid voyage across, which > was the > subject on a recent TV show. > - - - - > > Going west from England to America was a bad idea in any season; it meant > they were bucking the Gulf Stream almost the whole way. Later, when more > about the winds and currents was understood, it became routine for sailing > vessels to drop down as far as the Azores, perhaps ("until the butter > melts," as one sailor put it) and then hang a right. They could then pick up > the trade winds, which blow almost due west. They seldom went any other way. > > A much easier route than the North Atlantic one, possibly taking a shorter > amount of time even though longer in distance, and certainly much warmer. > > Edie in Maine > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to DUTCH-COLONIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >