Storms in the Atlantic 

‘His men were very surprised when he commanded all possible sails to be taken in. But it was done just in time to save us from being upended and dismasted by a storm. Tremendous rain followed, with thunder and lightning all through the day. Next morning we were becalmed while surrounded by the most awful and magnificent thunder-storms imaginable.’ This is a quote from The Claudians: gardens, landscapes, reason and faith: John Claudius Loudon and Claudius Buchanan, Tom Turner (Kindle, 2024).

More about high winds in the Atlantic

High winds and waves could strain masts, sails, and hulls, ripping sails and causing leaks. Crew members could be injured or killed by falling debris, rogue waves, and powerful winds. Damp and cramped conditions increased the risk of illness among the crew. The isolation of the South Atlantic made rescue efforts unlikely.

A famous black-and-white film made in 1929 shows these conditions: Around Cape Horn. It is a documentary and was filmed in 1929 by Captain Irving Johnson. The Peking, a large steel-hulled sailing ship. He shows it rounding Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America. The Peking was one of the last great ‘windjammers.’ They were large commercial sailing ships used to transport goods around the world before steamships took over.

Claudius Buchanan embarked on HMS Busbridge thinking of the impact of Atlantic storms on his friend and patron, John Newton. Though not in danger of shipwreck, Buchanan saw the magnificence of the ocean scenery as evidence of the magnificence of God's creation of the universe. In this, Buchanan was following in the footsteps of John Ray FRS (1627 – 1705), a Christian English naturalist who influenced Lord Shaftesbury's comments on garden design.