How long did it take a ship to travel from Philadelphia, Pa to England in the 18th century?

Question

Also, due to the trade winds, what months could a passenger ship leave the colonies to travel to England?

Answer 1

leaving FROM Philly to England could be done any time of year.it was Ben Franklin, in fact who figured out that not only to the prevailing winds blow from west to east up at those latitudes, but there was an ocean current that went that way too. We now know it as the Gulf Stream.

There are a whole bunch of qualifiers to tis answer but.....with good winds and the Gulf Stream a typical colonial era passenger ship could do about 150-200 miles in a day. It's about 3500 miles from Cape Henlopen to London, so 17 days for an exceptional passage and 30 for a good one.

Now light winds or winds from the east and 60 days would not be uncommon.......