The ship exited New York Harbor into a full-on Atlantic gale. The Baltic was well designed and handled the seas well, but the storm impeded and scattered the rest of Fox’s fleet, especially the ocean tugboats. It forced the Uncle Ben to seek shelter in the harbor at Wilmington, North Carolina. Another tug, the Yankee, was blown past Charleston and found refuge in Savannah. The tug Freeborn avoided the storm altogether: Deeming the risks of the expedition simply too great, its owners decided at the last minute to hold the vessel in New York. Fox did not know any of this. He had no means of
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