Our next stop was down by the docks. They had plenty of interpreters down near the boats, telling us how life was aboard these ships. The passengers had to ride down in the cargo hold and could only come up on deck at the permission of the captain. After leaving London, in December of 1606, the ships traveled to Virginia using the favored southerly route, across the Atlantic Ocean, taking advantage of trade winds and stopping at numerous islands to resupply. Cramped, unsanitary conditions and unrelenting boredom created tension and conflict among the passengers. After 6,000 miles at sea and the loss of only one passenger in the Caribbean Islands, the voyagers arrived off the coast of Virginia. On May 13th, 1607, they decided upon Jamestown Island as the new settlement.