Benjamin Franklin, arguably the father of American oceanography, recorded
his eight voyages in considerable detail (for a quick overview see Van
Doren's Benjamin Franklin).  Also check ship's logs.  Good place to start
would be Marine's Museum in Newport News, Virginia. (757) 591-7703 They have
a small but interesting scholarly library.  Beverly McMillin is the VP of
the museum.  Take a look at the Naval Institute in Annapolis;  their staff
is very helpful.

If you really need to get into detail, The British Admiralty archives, and
the National Archives in Washington have  the logs of all warships in their
respective navies.

From memory: crossings could take anywhere from 5 weeks to 3 months.

-- Stephan


 on 5/27/02 10:24 AM, M. Flanagan at [log in to unmask] wrote:

> In a letter from John Pory (then in James City) to Sir Edwin Sandys dated
> June 12, 1620, Pory wrote:
> "A speedy voyage is particulalrly important for the health of the people.
> They consider Mr. Elford, pilot of 'The Swan', has found the best passage by
> way of the Sommer Islands; the other voyages by way of the West Indies and
> by the North are too long."
>
> I believe the Sommer Islands are what became Bermuda.
>
> Does anyone have info re: the length of time for voyages from England to
> Virginia? I would think that 2-4 months would be typical.
>
> Is it known what these routes were? The Northerly passage I take to be
> essentially the same as Leif Erickson's route along the Canadian coastline,
> and I think the West Indies route meant down the European coastline to
> Saharan West Africa, and then due west. Can someone offer something more
> specific about 17th century nautical routes and approximate transit times
> for each?
>
> Thanx!
> Michael
>
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