According to Randall Spackman, so long as there is sufficient sea room to avoid being driven onto a shore, drifting with the storm may be the safest tactic for surviving extreme weather conditions, particularly for a vessel built in the manner of the Jaredite barges. Drifting or "hulling" or "lying a-hull," as the tactic may be referred to in different nautical works, is a desirable storm tactic when "the boat has a high range of stability, . . . is light but strongly built," and "the keel is of such shape and depth that it permits ample leeway when the boat has no headway." In other words, a wide, low, barge-like hull, which is light and watertight, with no keel to resist the drift of the barge with the wind, is the best form of vessel for drifting safely through a storm at sea. [Randall P. Spackman, The Jaredite Journey to America, p. 144, unpublished]
Geographical [Theory Map]: Ether 6:8-12 Driven before the Wind 344 Days to the Promised Land (Year )
“They Were Driven Forth Before the Wind”
Randall Spackman notes that on the question of wind propulsion, Hugh Nibley stated his opinion that the Jaredites "apparently did not use sails: the almost perpetual hurricane conditions would have made sails impossible even if they had them." (The World of the Jaredites, p. 176) John Sorenson seems to have assumed from the length of time the crossing took that the barges merely drifted and were "sailless." (An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, p. 111) Nonetheless, according to Spackman, the Book of Mormon does not support the idea of a completely sailless barge. The Lord commanded that the barges be built in the manner "hitherto built" (Ether 2:16); so, it may be assumed that the Jaredites, at a minimum, attempted to make use of common propulsion technology in the new barges. Such technology included sails. Furthermore, the Book of Mormon records the travels of Lehi and his family, who came to America in the 6th century B.C. They are said to have "put forth into the sea and were driven forth before the wind toward the promised land" (1 Nephi 18:8). These are identical phrases to those used to describe the voyage of the Jaredites. Ether 6:8 similarly states that "they were driven before the wind." The Book of Mormon also notes that after some difficulties, Lehi's family "sailed again towards the promised land" (1 Nephi 18:22). Hence, the phrase "driven forth before the wind" (Ether 6:8) has a textual connection with Lehi's sailing vessel and cannot be cited without question to refer merely to drifting with the wind. [Randall P. Spackman, The Jaredite Journey to America, pp. 89-91, unpublished]
The Wind Did Never Cease to Blow Toward the Promised Land
According to Hugh Nibley, in relationship to what direction the Jaredites traveled, one thing that is most revealing is the report that "the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land, while they were upon the waters; and thus they were driven forth before the wind" (Ether 6:8). Although weather has changed through the ages, and freak storms do occur; the extreme steadiness of the wind strongly suggests prevailing westerlies and a North Pacific crossing. [Hugh Nibley, The World of the Jaredites, p. 182]
According to Verneil Simmons, this statement that "the wind did never cease to blow" (Ether 6:8) lends some credence to a legend recorded by the historian Josephus that the great tower was destroyed by mighty winds when the world was experiencing a period of violent weather. (Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews, Book 1, Chapter 4) [Verneil W. Simmons, Peoples, Places and Prophecies, p. 30]
Glenn Scott notes that in speaking of these "mighty winds" which destroyed the tower, Josephus quoted the Sibyl, a prophetess who was also quoted by Heraclitus as early as 500 B.C. and whose verses were accepted by most Christian writers down to the fourth century A.D. Josephus says the following:
When all men were of one language some of them built a high tower, but the gods sent storms of wind and overthrew the tower and gave everyone his peculiar language. After this, they were dispersed abroad on account of their languages, and went out by colonies everywhere; each colony took possession of that land which they did light upon and unto which God led them. There were some who passed over the sea in ships.
This description of "storms of wind" fits very well into the Jaredite account that "the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land and thus they were driven forth before the wind" (Ether 6:8). Furthermore Scott raises some very interesting questions about the Josephus quote: How do you suppose they knew about "some who passed over the sea in ships"? and Why would they mention migrations by sea? [Glenn A. Scott, Voices from the Dust: New Light on an Ancient American Record, pp. 21-22] [See the commentary on Ether 1:33]