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Winds are what make the sailing ship go, and so winds were always welcome to clipper ship captains. As long as the winds were not coming in over the bow (headwind), the captain adjusted the sails to catch whatever breezes appeared and put them to work. Too much wind in the sails, however, could blow them away, demast the ship, or drive it bow first under the waves. Only years of experience and a "feel" for the ship helped the captain determine how much sail to carry under different conditions of wind and weather.
In a few places on earth the winds seldom blow. One such place is in the Doldrums in the central Atlantic Ocean. Because of the action of global wind patterns and the movement of the currents, the winds seldom blow in the Doldrums. Sailing ships that enter this area can be trapped for weeks at a time. In plotting a course, wise clipper captains steered wide of the Doldrums.
Currents, winds, and Doldrums are some of the factors that determined how quickly and thus how profitably a clipper ship could complete a voyage, but where on the ocean were they to be found? For centuries sailors simply pointed their ships in the right general direction and hoped that nature and luck would help them along the way. This Changed in 1842, when Lieutenant Matthew F. Maury of the U.S.Navy began collecting information on the winds and currents of the world. The Navy considered Maury unfit for sea duty because a leg injury made him limp. He was assigned to work in an office in Washington. There he discovered that the Navy had a collection of ships' logs.
A log is the official record of a voyage that tells on a daily basis the weather, the sailing conditions, the ship's location, and any unusual events that have happened since the previous day. Maury reviewed thousands of old logs and collected from them much valuable information about the winds and currents of the world. Soon he was able to issue maps showing just where to be found and the directions from which the winds could be expected to blow at any time of the year. As captains used Maury's maps, they collected more information for him. Over the next 10 years, he mapped all of the world's oceans and produced guides that showed the best routes to follow in going from one port to another. The average ship could save 40 days' sailing time in going from New York to San Francisco just by following Maury new maps.
Demanding merchants and creative designers produced the new clipper ships. Using Maury's sailing charts and Nathaniel Bowditch's book on navigation, the captains set the course; but it was the crew that did all the work.