Flying Cloud
Subtitle: The True Story of America's Most Famous Clipper Ship and the Woman Who Guided Her
Publisher: William Morrow & Company
Published: June 20, 2000
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 290
ISBN-13: 9780688167936
Subjects: Maritime History; Sports & Recreation; History; Clipper ships; Women sailors; History - General History; Sports; Ships & Shipbuilding - History; United States - 19th Century; Boating - General; 1814-1900; Biography; Creesy, Eleanor,; Flying Cloud (Clipper-ship)
First sentence: The surf broke steadily on the east side of Sandy Hook, carry sinewy lines of foam and bits of kelp up the hard-packed beach toward the high-water mark.
Description: "Flying Cloud is the tale of a sea voyage during the days of the California gold rush. In 1851, navigator Eleanor Creesy set sail on the maiden voyage of the clipper ship Flying Cloud, traveling from New York to San Francisco in only eighty-nine days. This swift passage set a world record that went unbroken for more than a century. Upon arrival in San Francisco, Flying Cloud became an enduring symbol of a young nation's daring frontier spirit.

Illustrated with original maps and charts as well as historical photographs, Shaw's compelling narrative captures the drama of this thrilling adventure.".

"In a position almost unheard of for a woman in the mid-nineteenth century, Eleanor Creesy served as the ship's navigator. With only the sun, planets, and stars to guide her, she brought Flying Cloud safely around Cape Horn at the height of a winter blizzard, faced storms, dodged shoals, and found her way through calms to make the swift passage possible.

Along with her husband, Josiah, the ship's captain, she sailed the mighty three-masted clipper through sixteen thousand miles of the fiercest, most unpredictable oceans in the world."--BOOK JACKET.