21st A Stiff fair breeze but most all on board are sea sick. we see a sail south of us
she left N York the Time we did she is bound for London
~ Sunday
22nd Sunday most are still sick a high wind through the day & a high gale at night sea
vary rough & boat pitched badly
~ Monday
23rd Sea vary rough & winds high many still are sick our cabin is crouded & unholesome
~ Tuesday
24th The sea Runs mountains High & looks like the hills & valleys of Kirtland. we shiped
some heavy seas I got wet yet I sat upon deck untill late in the evening though it was
winter it was not vary cold
~ Wednesday
25th A calm in the morning yet the ship rocked bad upon the dead swells. the wind
soon rose & we sailed fast through the day & night
~ Thursday
26th A Rough sea & strong breeze we sail fast
~ Friday
27th Fair wind sail fast dut [but] do not know how many not [knots]. had a number of short squalls
we have got over our sea sickness & have good Appetite
~ Saturday
28 A vary rough sea, most of the day we saw a large school of porposes & Blackfish
all around the ship. we had a calm in the evening
~ Sunday
29 Sunday A Plesant day & a high breeze
~ Monday
30th A rough sea. A severe gale at night the ship rocked & pitched to such a degree it was with
much difficulty that we kept our births, trunks Boxes & barrels were tumbling about
the cabin.
~ Tuesday
31st The last day of AD 1839. Sea still vary rough, under closs reef top sails cloudy weather. their
is not much to interest the mind on a sea voyage while one is many days out of sight of land
except the rolling billows which are majestic. A person is freequently not ownly out of sight of
land but do not even see a sail or the sun, but have to be crouded together in a steerage like
hogos or stay upon deck in the mids[t] of spray wind & storm. This day leaves me in the centre of the Atlantic from N Y to Liverpool whole distan[c]e 3800 miles half the distan[c]e sailed in Dec 1839 1,900 mil[e]s
~ Saturday
21st A Stiff fair breeze but most all on board are sea sick we see a sail south of us
she left N York the Time we did she is bound for London
~ Sunday
22nd Sunday most are still sick a high wind through the day & a high gale at night sea
vary rough & boat pitched badly
~ Monday
23rd Sea vary rough & winds high many still are sick our cabin is crouded & unholesome
~ Tuesday
24th The sea Runs mountains High & looks like the hills & valleys of Kirtland. we shiped
some heavy seas I got wet yet I sat upon deck untill late in the evening though it was
winter it was not vary cold
~ Wednesday
25th A calm in the morning yet the ship rocked bad upon the dead swells. the wind
soon rose & we sailed fast through the day & night
~ Thursday
26th A Rough Sea & strong breeze we sail fast
~ Friday
27th Fair wind sail fast dut do not know how many knots, had a number of short squalls
we have got over our sea sickness & have good Appetite
~ Saturday
28 A vary rough sea, most of the day we saw a large school of porposes & Blackfish
all around the ship. we had a calm in the evening
~ Sunday
29 Sunday A Plesant day & a high breeze
~ Monday
30th A rough sea, A severe gale at night the ship rocked & pitched to such a degree it was with
much difficulty that we kept our births, trunks Boxes & barrels were tumbling about
the cabin.
~ Tuesday
31st The last day of AD 1839. sea still vary rough, under closs reef top sails cloudy weather. their
is not much to interest the mind on a sea voyage while one is many days out of sight of land
except the rolling billows which are majestic. A person is freequently not ownly out of sight of
land but do not even see a sail or the sun, but have to be crouded together in a steerage like
hogs or stay upon deck in the midst of spray wind & storm. This day leaves me in the centre of the
Atlantic from NY to Liverpool whole distance 3800 miles half the distance sailed in Dec 1839 1,900 miles
Select a date to see more documents from that day.
"Journal (January 1, 1838 – December 31, 1839)," December 21, 1839 - December 31, 1839, The Wilford Woodruff Papers, accessed January 22, 2025, https://wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/p/gWY
