Western Atlantic

East of the American coast, the open Atlantic was crossed by ships trading between Europe and the colonies and by whalers sailing out from the northern ports. In the seventeenth century Long Island whalers launched small boats from shore when whales appeared. By the eighteenth century crews from Nantucket were outfitting sailing vessels for longer pursuits offshore. Farther south, the Gulf Stream could carry an eastbound vessel along its course while slowing ships bound the other way.