In 1851, the race to the California goldfields was in full swing. Men with dreams of striking it rich sought the fastest route from the East Coast to San Francisco. However, speed was a relative concept at the time. Overland travel took at least six arduous months, requiring pioneers to endure treacherous wilderness trails. The isthmus route, which involved sailing to Nicaragua, crossing by mule and steamboat, and then boarding another vessel on the Pacific side, was equally perilous, fraught with tropical diseases and dangerous terrain. The final option was the sea voyage around Cape Horn—the southernmost tip of South America—a daunting journey requiring skill and endurance.
The need for swifter passage had already led to the rise of the clipper ship, a new breed of fast, sleek sailing vessels. Among them, the Flying Cloud stood out as the pinnacle of speed and design utilizing three masts holding twenty-one sails using 30,000 square feet of sailcloth. Built for record-breaking voyages, she embarked on her maiden journey from New York to San Francisco on June 3, 1851, under the command of Captain Josiah Perkins Creesy. By his side was his wife, Eleanor Prentiss Creesy (1814-1900)—not just a captain’s companion but the ship’s navigator, a rare role for a woman of that era.
Eleanor Creesy faced the formidable challenge of plotting a course across 16,000 miles of ocean, ensuring maximum speed while avoiding perilous waters. Using charts, a sextant, and complex calculations, she sought out favorable winds and currents, all while enduring the unpredictable conditions of the open sea. At the time, the fastest clipper ships made the journey in roughly 120 days, but Flying Cloud aimed to surpass them all.
From the outset, Flying Cloud proved its mettle, slicing through the Atlantic waves under full sail. As the ship pushed southward, the first of many gales struck, testing its resilience. The storm battered the vessel, snapping topmasts and spars, but the crew—undaunted—rushed to make repairs even as the wind howled around them. Eleanor’s precise navigation kept them on course, using the storm’s powerful winds to their advantage rather than slowing their progress.
Twenty-two days into the voyage, Flying Cloud crossed the equator, entering the Southern Hemisphere where summer turned to winter. By the fiftieth day, Eleanor had guided the ship through the perilous, wind-ravaged channels near Tierra del Fuego, where icy blizzards coated the decks and rigging in frost. Yet, the ship pressed onward, emerging from the Atlantic into the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean.
With the winds at their back, Flying Cloud surged northward at an unprecedented pace. On the eighty-fourth day, they reached a point due west of California, where Eleanor charted the final stretch, leveraging the California Current and westerlies to propel them toward San Francisco. On the eighty-ninth day, Flying Cloud sailed into harbor, setting a world record for the fastest passage between New York and San Francisco—a record that would stand for nearly a century.
Unlike many ships abandoned in San Francisco as crews deserted for the goldfields, Flying Cloud retained its crew and continued to sail under the Creesys’ command. Incredibly, three years later, the ship broke its own record, solidifying its place in maritime history.
Eleanor Creesy’s exceptional navigational skills were widely recognized, with the Daily Alta California newspaper dated April 20, 1854, crediting her expertise as a major factor in the ship’s legendary speed and safety. Her knowledge, honed from studying Matthew Fontaine Maury’s book titled Sailing Directions, proved invaluable in charting a swift and efficient course. Maury was superintendent of the U.S. Naval Observatory and today is the father of oceanography.
Sadly, Flying Cloud was laid up in 1857 due to economic downturns, but its legacy endures. The ship’s speed, design, and, most importantly, the remarkable teamwork of Josiah and Eleanor Creesy, remain a testament to an era when courage, skill, and determination could defy the limits of time and tide.
For more information regarding Flying Cloud and its navigator, Eleanor Creesy, I highly recommend the book Flying Cloud – The True Story of America’s Most Famous Clipper Ship and the Woman Who Guided Her by David Shaw.
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