Ten weeks at sea - 7454 nautical miles across the Atlantic Ocean, through umpteen climatic zones; in cramped conditions onboard a nutshell exposed to sun, wind and high seas; with hard work, meagre rations, but the spectacle of a starry night sky: this is a journey into the past. In the autumn of 2004, a vintage sailing vessel travelled from Bremerhaven to New York with 19 passengers, 18 crew onboard and a TV-team. This documentary series is about how a group of people, who are accustomed to a modern standard of life, adapt to the far harder conditions their ancestors were exposed to in the 1850s.