1 Nephi 18:22 ”
22 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did guide the ship, that we sailed again towards the promised land.
Walton discussed the possible routes:
The normal wind movement is northward into the Indian Ocean, which includes the Arabian Sea, during the summer months, and in the opposite direction in winter, generally with periods of calm in between. Had they sailed in the early summer, they certainly could have made no progress against the summer winds, so we must assume they sailed in the early autumn. Thus, they could very easily have gone through the period of calm referred to, followed by favorable winds. …
An examination of the Pilot charts of the world reveals that if the Nephites embarked in late summer, after the harvest, they would have two or three months of northerly winds, or about 100 days, and, if they floated at the normal rate of from 3 to 5 miles per hour, they would reach a south latitude of about 40 degrees in that length of time, or slightly south of the line connecting Cape Town, South Africa and Melbourne, Australia. Here they would encounter the …’Prevailing Westerlies,’ as they would here enter the ocean currents that travel eastward around the globe the year round. These currents continue their eastward course until they encounter the southern tip of South America, which extends southward to 56 degrees south latitude, where they split. Those south of 56 degrees continue on around the earth, while those striking the Chilean coast are deflected northward along the shoreline, turning seaward again at about 35 degrees south latitude during the warm months, but continuing northward to about 20 degrees during the winter.{1}
Brown and his party have suggested essentially the same route.{2} However, some scholars are now suggesting that the Nephite civilization was in the northeastern United States. If that is correct, then their route might have been across the Atlantic, and the storm a hurricane.
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FOOTNOTES
{1} Leon C. Walton, “Routes To The Promised Land,” Liahona, The Elders Journal, August 8, 1944, 101-03.
{2} John Sorenson and Kelly DeVries in S. Kent Brown and Peter Johnson, Journey of Faith, from Jerusalem to the Promised Land (Provo, Utah, The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, BYU, 2006),
92-94.
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