Potter and Wellington believe that Nephi’s ship must have been even larger than the largest Arab merchant ships of his day for the following reasons:
1. The Number of People Aboard: Even if we limited the size of Nephi’s party to 50 individuals, he would have needed to build a ship at least as big as the largest ocean-going freighters of that day.
2. Food & Water & Utensils for a Pacific Crossing: Perhaps the greatest fear in regard to water is for the ship to be trapped in a fair weather doldrums for weeks on end without the ship being able to move forward and without rains. Additionally, once past India, there were few, if any, ports where Nephi could have restocked his ship. Presumably, they fished and collected rainwater when possible, and they also possibly stopped often along the way at tropical islands to search for water and food. It is certain Nephi needed to have taken on board large stores of food and water. For Severin’s voyage to China, his 20-man crew rationed 25 gallons of water a day for drinking water and cooking. All washing was done in sea water, while the cooking water was diluted, half and half, with sea water. His ship carried a month and a half supply of water, roughly 1100 gallons. It is reasonable to assume that Nephi’s ship required a water reserve at least twice that size. Depending on the winds, the voyage to the New World probably took at least a year. Sailing the Pacific is not a casual venture.
3. Ship’s Repairs & Tools: A wooden ship is in need of constant maintenance, an endless effort that, once stopped, dooms the ship. Nephi’s ship had to be maintained while on the open sea. It is likely that he beached his vessel once or twice for repairs, but dry-docks and shipbuilding yards there were none. Thus he had to carry with him all the tools and supplies necessary to maintain the ship, its riggings and sails.
4. Extra Sails: Large sailing ships carried one suit of sails for the night and bad weather, and another suit of sails for day and fair weather. The main sail on Severin’s ship required 2,000 square feet of canvas. During one stormy day in the China Sea, his ship had five sails “ripped to shreds.” We can be assured that Nephi’s ship needed several sets of sails, and so she had to have the capacity to hold all of these as well.
5. Tents?: Nephi’s family might have taken tents with them to the land of promise (see 1 Nephi 18:23). If so, they would have been traditional Middle Eastern tents. A typical folded 10‘ x 10’ goat hair tent measures 3‘ x 3’ x 6.5’ feet or 58.5 square feet. Multiply that by eight families, and the tents form a stack 13 feet long, 6 feet wide and 6 feet tall.
6. Anchors & Ballast, etc.: Resting the ship and maneuvering through straits required heavy anchors. Ancient anchors have been recovered in Omani waters. They were made from stone and were quite heavy. A recently recovered anchor in Oman weighed 2,200 pounds and was 9 feet long. Severin’s ship carried four anchors, which is one less than ancient Mediterranean ships carried. Ballast for maintaining a ship in an upright position was also necessary. For example, Tim Severin’s ship the Sohar required 15 tons of sandbags as ballast.
[George Potter and Richard Wellington, Discovering the Lehi-Nephi Trail, Unpublished Manuscript (July 2000), pp. 199-202]