built the first ship that was powered by this technology, the Clermont, which succeeded in traveling between New York City and Albany, New York in thirty hours before entering into regular service between the two cities. Soon after, other vessels were built using this innovation. In 1816, the became the first steamship to cross the English Channel. Another important advance came in 1819, when became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. She left the U.S. city of the same name and arrived in Liverpool, England in 27 days. Most of the distance was covered by sailing; the steam power was not used for more than 72 hours during the travel. The public enthusiasm for the new technology was not high, as none of the thirty-two people who had booked a seat boarded the ship for that historic voyage. Although Savannah had proven that a steamship was capable of crossing the ocean, the public was not yet prepared to trust such means of travel on the open sea, and, in 1820, the steam engine was removed from the vessel. Work on this technology continued and a new step was taken in 1833. Royal William managed to cross the Atlantic by using steam power on most of the voyage; sail was used only when the boilers were cleaned. There were still many skeptics, and in 1836, scientific writer Dionysius Lardner declared that: As the project of making the voyage directly from New York to Liverpool, it was perfectly chimerical, and they might as well talk of making the voyage from New York to the moon. The last step toward long-distance travel using steam power was taken in 1837 when left Liverpool on 4 April and arrived in New York eighteen days later on 22 April after a turbulent crossing. Too little coal was prepared for the crossing, and the crew had to burn cabin furniture in order to complete the voyage. The journey took place at a speed of 8.03 knots. The voyage was made possible by the use of a condenser, which fed the boilers with fresh water, avoiding having to periodically shut down the boilers in order to remove the salt. The feat was short-lived. The next day, , designed by railway engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, arrived in New York. She left Liverpool on 8 April and overtook Siriuss record with an average speed of 8.66 knots. The