According to the NY Times "Marine Intelligence" column, the Bark Stanislaus, on which my ancestors traveled, arrived in NY on 3 Jan 1852 and took 72 days to cross the ocean from Antwerp. This seemed like a long time to me, so I did some checking on the other ships that traveled from the continent in that time frame. Based on info reported in the Marine Intelligence column, the average voyage length to NYC for ships that departed from continental ports from 7 Oct 1851 to 19 Dec 1851 was 51 days. Of the 40 ships that departed in that time frame, only 8 exceeded 60 days in voyage length. 6 of those 8 were from Antwerp, 1 from Rotterdam, and 1 from Havre. N Mean Median Havre 12 42.5 41.0 Bremen 10 49.9 50.0 Rotterdam 3 53.0 51.0 Hamburg 5 56.0 54.0 Antwerp 8 64.4 64.5 Total 40 50.8 50.0 I also discovered that 3 ships had embarked from Antwerp on the same day: the Bark Stanislaus, which toook 72 days to cross the ocean; the Fanny (55 days); and the Bark Koophanelle (65 days). I have a lot of questions about all this, and hopefully some of the knowledgeable people on this list can help answer one or more. (1.) Did ships departing from the continent pass the British Isles to the south or the north? (2.) Did it take longer to cross the ocean in late fall-early winter than during other seasons? (3.) What sort of weather is typical on the Atlantic in that season? Is it worse than in other seasons? (4.) Why would ships from Antwerp have taken longer to cross the ocean than those from other ports, even ports that were further away, such as Bremen and Hamburg? (5.) How common was it that 3 passenger ships would depart from Antwerp on the same day? (6.) Does departure of 3 ships on the same day suggest that they were all waiting for a break in the weather? (6.) What factors are likely to account for the differing voyage lengths for ships that all departed on the same day? (e.g., captain’s skill, ship size or design, etc.) Thanks for any help, Kathy

Kathy One think I notice in the NY Times is that many of the vessels were reporting very foggy weather -- so much so that some were several days in the bay waiting for the fog to lift. I also see ships arriving a few weeks before the Stanislaus reporting heavy gales. The Bark Brilliant (arrived Dec 20) reported that on Nov 23 they "encountered a gale from the northward and westward which continued 4 days, and which from its violence and the intensity of the cold was the most tedious and trying of any that the master had before experienced for many years. Split sails, lost head-rail and part of bulwarks....Three men were so badly frost-bitten as to be rendered unable to do duty. Sailed in co. with bark Sarah Bridge, for this port." It is possible that the weather played a big part in the length of the voyage. Regards.. Marj At 12:21 PM 3/3/2010, Kathy wrote: >According to the NY Times "Marine Intelligence" column, the Bark >Stanislaus, on which my ancestors traveled, arrived in NY on 3 Jan 1852 >and took 72 days to cross the ocean from Antwerp. This seemed like a >long time to me, so I did some checking on the other ships that traveled >from the continent in that time frame. > >Based on info reported in the Marine Intelligence column, the average >voyage length to NYC for ships that departed from continental ports from >7 Oct 1851 to 19 Dec 1851 was 51 days. Of the 40 ships that departed in >that time frame, only 8 exceeded 60 days in voyage length. 6 of those 8 >were from Antwerp, 1 from Rotterdam, and 1 from Havre. > > N Mean Median >Havre 12 42.5 41.0 >Bremen 10 49.9 50.0 >Rotterdam 3 53.0 51.0 >Hamburg 5 56.0 54.0 >Antwerp 8 64.4 64.5 >Total 40 50.8 50.0 > >I also discovered that 3 ships had embarked from Antwerp on the same >day: the Bark Stanislaus, which toook 72 days to cross the ocean; the >Fanny (55 days); and the Bark Koophanelle (65 days). > >I have a lot of questions about all this, and hopefully some of the >knowledgeable people on this list can help answer one or more. > >(1.) Did ships departing from the continent pass the British Isles to >the south or the north? >(2.) Did it take longer to cross the ocean in late fall-early winter >than during other seasons? >(3.) What sort of weather is typical on the Atlantic in that season? Is >it worse than in other seasons? >(4.) Why would ships from Antwerp have taken longer to cross the ocean >than those from other ports, even ports that were further away, such as >Bremen and Hamburg? >(5.) How common was it that 3 passenger ships would depart from Antwerp >on the same day? >(6.) Does departure of 3 ships on the same day suggest that they were >all waiting for a break in the weather? >(6.) What factors are likely to account for the differing voyage lengths >for ships that all departed on the same day? (e.g., captain's skill, >ship size or design, etc.) > >Thanks for any help, >Kathy > >------------------------------- >visit TheShipsList Website >http://www.theshipslist.com/ >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >THESHIPSLIST-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' >without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message