York Harbor York Maine United States

Bartholomew Gosnold pioneers a direct sailing route due west from the Azores to New England, arriving in May 1602 at Cape Elizabeth in Maine (43 degrees north).

He skirts the coastline for several days before anchoring in York Harbor, Maine, on the 14th.

Gosnold is a friend of the English writer Richard Hakluyt, principally remembered for his efforts in promoting and supporting the settlement of North America by the English through his works, notably Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America (1582) and The Principal Navigations, Voiages, Traffiques and Discoueries of the English Nation (1598–1600).

Gosnold, who has sailed with Walter Raleigh, had obtained backing to attempt a colony in the New World and in 1602 had sailed from Falmouth in a small Dartmouth bark, the Concord, with thirty-two on board, intending to establish a colony in New England, which is at this time known as Northern Virginia.

Gosnold sails the next day into Provincetown Harbor, where he is credited with naming Cape Cod.