Q&A YOU ASK, WE ANSWER

What was it like on the Mayflower?

SHORT ANSWER The voyage was late, crammed, and took double the time – like any standard train journey then, but with added storms

LONG ANSWER No one said seeking a new life in the New World was going to be easy, or if they did, then the voyage on the Mayflower would have shaken sense into them. In fact, things were bad from the outset when the Pilgrims had to wait around to see if their second ship, the Speedwell, was seaworthy. It wasn’t.

So, 102 passengers and up to 30 crew crammed on to the Mayflower and set sail on 16 September 1620, packed like sardines in quarters not tall enough for anyone over five feet, enduring cold and damp, and living off paltry rations. And the delay with the Speedwell meant the crossing had to be done during stormy season.

Ferocious tempests battered the Mayflower, which was ill-designed to cope with strong waves and winds, meaning everyone got sick. One boy, William Butten, perished and another man was swept overboard, although he was miraculously saved.

In fact, it is surprising there weren’t more deaths during the 66-day voyage – twice as long as it should have been – and, actually, the same number of Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts after a woman named Elizabeth Hopkins gave birth on board the ship. Appropriately, she named the boy Oceanus.