Voyage II · Three-mast Sailing Ship · Capt. Castoff
Louis Philippe
New York → Le Havre · 24 September – 14 October 1844
After 3 years' residence in New York, I depart on 24 September 1844 aboard the same ship on which I had arrived at New York in December 1841. Here are some notes penciled day by day.
24 September. Emigrants, hidden on board in the hope of passing unnoticed and returning to Europe free of charge, are driven off with rope's-ends. We are towed a long distance by a steamboat of the port; a drunken sailor, shipped against his will, throws himself into the sea. A boat is sent to fish him out. The tug still under way, it was far off by the time the boat's crew could seize him. He was brought back aboard inert, half dead. He pulled through, and I saw him again active and in good health in the days that followed.
We drop anchor at the S.W. Spit to wait for the next day's tide.
| Date | Conditions & Position |
|---|---|
| 25 Sept | Under sail at 7 o'clock; passed the Hook at 9 h. with rain and SE wind, we pass near the lightship (phare flottant [floating light]). In sight, the packet Iowa, steering toward New York. |
| 26 | Wind NE. Rain; in sight the brig Partridge of Bath. Two birds settle on the ship's rigging. Seasickness. |
| 27 Sept | Rain, ill, following wind S.W. |
| 28 | Stayed in bed until 2 o'clock. Calm with a heavy roll; we pass floating weeds. |
29 September. Health better; at 8 h. in the evening a violent gale from the N.W. Superb bearing of the ship, carried along at tremendous speed amid the foam. Enormous waves. The 3rd officer, who was furious that I had made a sketch showing the patches on the seat of his trousers, said to me, "you have never seen a whale? no: well then, climb to the top of the Dunette stair and hold on tight." I climbed up. At that very instant a wave, striking the ship's flank, drenched me and threw me — unhurt but soaked through — onto the deck. This man, ugly and disagreeable, was perpetually in a foul humor. He had left a young woman in New York and suffered fits of jealousy.
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| Date | Conditions & Position |
|---|---|
| 30 Sept | Very heavy sea. Following wind, with reefs in the sails; we see a ship lying to. Lat 42.13 / long 57.59 (?). This evening I went up onto the dunette deck; at midnight, talked with the 2nd officer. Good breeze, sails and studding-sails set. |
| 1 Oct | The sea has calmed. Saw this morning a ship sailing west at 2 h. Wind W.N.W we pass a ship steering toward Newfoundland; talked on deck with the captain until midnight. |
2 October. Fine weather. Heavy rolling, without the sea being rough.
We pass through the middle of more than 50 American schooners line-fishing for cod. We see them hauling up enormous fish at every moment. Spoke the schooner Balance of Marblehead, nearer to us than the others. Lat: 44.4 (?) / long. 51 (?). We catch sight of a sperm whale, signaled by its water-jet. Its black, glistening flanks appear from time to time above the waves. Wind W.N.W, light, 3 to 4 miles an hour.
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| Date | Conditions & Position |
|---|---|
| 3 Oct | This morning the wind changed. All day we ran close-hauled against a head wind. This evening the ship is dancing hard. |
| 4 Oct | Wind still contrary. We steer SE, sailing close-hauled. lo 41.18 / la 44.13. Sea passable. A brig on the horizon. |
| 5 Oct | Wind contrary again; we head NE hugging the wind. Fine sky, magnificent sea. In the evening the wind comes round to the S; broad reach, 8 miles an hour. |
| 6 Oct | Fresh wind from the South. Fine weather, 11 knots an hour. Spent the morning on deck, admiring the ship's bearing — heeled over on her side yet running without a jolt. 13 knots! Saw a ship on the horizon. In the evening the wind freshens; the studding-sails are taken in; we run at 10 to 11 knots before the wind. |
7 October. Good wind, S, broad reach. In the last 24 h. we have covered 274 miles and gained 52 m. of latitude longitude 31.50; we passed the night with reefs in the canvas. It is raining. In the evening cloudy weather, wind W, 10 to 11 miles an hour, heavy sea — we are carrying too much sail.
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8 October. The captain is a bold one. A gale carries away a studding-sail and breaks 2 yards. At midnight, we are running fast. The night was stormy. All day rain, 11 miles an hour, lo 26.30. In the evening a fine sky. Then great black clouds, racing up from the horizon, bring a sudden tempest and violent squalls of wind. The ship plunges and rolls heavily; amid the noise of the Tempest one hears the cries and the chants of the sailors furling the sails. The waves crash onto the deck; at each new squall the ship flies on, carried along with a terrifying speed.
| Date | Conditions & Position |
|---|---|
| 9 Oct | Last night was stormy and bad. The rolling was such that sleep was impossible. Heavy sea all day. The weather does not improve toward evening. la 48.39 / lo 19. |
| 10 | Very high sea. Favorable wind. Much rolling. 8 to 10 knots an hour. Saw, far off, a ship supposed to be a Liverpool packet. lo 15.09. |
| 11 | Good wind. 6 miles N of Scilly. Saw 3 brigs. Land is in sight. lo 9.9. In the evening wind S.E with rain. |
| 12 | This morning, choppy sea and hard rain. Contrary wind. The waves sweep the deck. At 5 h the sea calms, the wind shifts, and we run at 10 knots an hour. This evening, strolled on deck; at 10 h the foam around the ship is phosphorescent. She holds herself heeled under the weight of her sails. A sailor perched on the next-to-last yard of the mainmast searches for the lighthouses of the English coast. We make out the lights of a big ship. |
| 13 | We work back up the Channel. Wind nearly dead ahead; we make tacks in a choppy sea. At 7 h. we are off Start-Point; at 2 h. we run along the rocks of the Gasquets — a jagged coast, a dangerous spot. Farther on, the coast of France stands out clearly with its houses its meadows and its greenery. At 4 h we take the pilot; at 7 h. we see the lighthouses of Cherbourg. |
| 14 Oct | Arrival at Le Havre, which we enter at the hour of the tide. |
