noon on Tuesday,
April 5
Bowditch 's Navigator , an indispensable work to the seaman , was consulted frequently both for the rules and the nautical tables it contains . The course , after allowing for the variation of the compass , was found to be north-east by east , which , agreeing with the calculations of Mr. Fluxion , was given out to the quartermaster conning the wheel . The wind continued to blow fresh from the south and south-west during the rest of the day and the succeeding night ; and the log-slate showed ten and eleven knots until midnight , when the wind hauled round to the westward , and soon came strong from that quarter . At noon on Tuesday , April 5 , the Young America had made two hundred and forty-four miles during the preceding twenty-four hours , which was the best run she had had during the voyage . On the afternoon of this day , a ship , bound to the westward , was seen , and Captain Greely expressed a desire to be put on board of her , with his family , as he did not wish to return to the point from which he had just come . The Young America bore down upon the sail , and spoke her at sundown . Her captain was willing to take the shipwrecked voyagers on board his ship , which was bound to New York , and they were transferred in the barge and gig .