Flying Cloud

by David Shaw

"Flying Cloud" is the riveting and thoroughly researched tale of a truly unforgettable 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 89 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-19th 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 3-masted clipper through 16,000 miles of the fiercest, most unpredictable oceans in the world.

Shaw vividly recreates 19th-century seafaring conditions and customs, for both the crew and the passengers who entrusted their fate to an untested ship. Including excerpts from letters and diaries of passengers, Shaw recounts "Flying Cloud"'s victory in the face of adversity--including sabotage, insubordination, and severe damage to the clipper's mainmast that might have sunk her with all hands lost. But the ship triumphed and would ultimately sail the world. "Flying Cloud" brings to life, for the first time, the glory of one of America's most important seafaring tales and one woman's incredible achievements.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

336 pages, ebook

First published April 10, 2007

Reviews

[Lee Vaughan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flying Cloud is a great book if you enjoy reading about old time sailing ships and clippers in particular. The story is a true and very interesting one, where a husband and wife team set the record for fastest passage from New York to San Francisco in a sailing vessel (other than a modern day racing yacht). I learned a lot about how navigation was performed at the time, and about a technological advantage provided by new wind and current charts built from hundreds of ship's logs. You learn a lot about how the clippers were built, maintained, navigated, and sailed, and about the living conditions for crew and passengers. Much of the book involves the passage from the equator to Cape Horn, and it is definitely exciting, though it is told more as a documentary/historical recount than historical fiction. I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5 as it is often heavy with jargon (topgallant sails, studding sails, fibs, hounds, etc.) that can get tedious at times. There was also a problem with the printing of most of the maps, so that the continents are essentially invisible over much of the map.

[Paulette Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally picked up this book to use as a resource for a novel I'm writing, and had planned on only skimming it to get a basic knowledge of clipper ships of the Victorian era. Before I knew it, I'd gotten pulled into the story of Eleanor Creesy and Flying Cloud as if it were a novel. This book reads like a novel, and it's just as page-turning as any work of fiction I have ever read - especially in the middle of the book, where Shaw describes the Flying Cloud's passage around Cape Horn and the hardships the crew and passengers faced while onboard.

If you are at all interested in maritime history, navigation, or strong women throughout history, please do yourself a favor and read this book! I'll be picking up Shaw's other works in the future. Very impressed with his writing.

[Margaret T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I marked this as non-fiction but a lot of it is fiction filled in from the historical record. It's a very dry book, and tells you a lot more than you ever wanted to know about sea navigation and the arrangement of sails on a clipper ship. However, it is interesting, and makes good bedtime reading when you must turn out the light at a certain time. You can put it down and go back to it at any time. I read it because I want to read Master and Commander and I thought it would be good preparation.

[Doc Honour · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Riveting"might be going a bit too far. The book is interesting, no doubt, and documents a unique event in history with an excellent personal touch, well researched. But there have been other "round the Horn" stories that I found to have a greater sense of adventure and daring. "Two Years Before the Mast" is referenced in this book, a classic of the genre. It is also a true story, and has more depth than this one. "Voyage" is appalling in its scope of danger and difficulty, albeit fiction.

It is also apparent that the author told this story with a very modern liberal eye. The captain's wife may have had navigation training and may even, by the author's research, have performed the bulk of the navigation, but the author repeatedly in the narrative gave her the responsibility for making both strategic and tactical course decisions throughout the voyage. This is simply not in keeping with nautical practice either then or now, and reflects wishful thinking from a sexist viewpoint. Navigators do not make the decisions. Captains do. At times, Shaw shows that he knows this, yet he still tells most of the story as if Eleanor Creevey were actually in charge. Had that been true, her Captain husband would have hard far greater difficulties maintaining his command than were documented.

That said, this is nonetheless a reasonably well-told story with sufficient interest to be well worth reading.

[Lynette Caulkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've wanted to read this book ever since I read All Sail Set: A Romance of the Flying Cloud a couple of years ago. ("Romance" being the key word for All Sail Set, which is definitely historical fiction more than non-fiction, although quite interesting).

And while the word "riveting" takes marketing too far on this one, I certainly enjoyed learning the true story of this most famous clipper and the short-lived glory days of these ships in U.S. history. Shaw clearly did a phenomenal amount of research, and in his introduction, he explains that all conversations and portrayals of emotions and interactions between people are extrapolated from various diaries. You're not reading historical fiction here.

You get the bonus of the true story of the woman who made this ship's record-breaking performance possible, and the exposure to the truth that more women than one would think served on the seas, contrary to the popular "memory" that teaches us that sailors all thought a woman onboard was nothing but bad luck.

You also learn of another huge leap in maritime science and practice - Matthew Maury's comprehensive work on ocean currents and best routes for sailing ships. Reminds me of reading Carry On, Mr. Bowditch.

[Paul Raymer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exceptional story about an exceptional woman. The ability to create a ship and sail her with such skill is worth emulating.

[Virginia Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very dry. But was interesting to read about the clippers. Very impressed that this clipper set a record with a female navigator.