Sultana had made it across the Atlantic, and was anchored just outside the largest base of the world's most powerful navy, with seven other naval vessels, but her men were focused on keeping her anchored there, as November gales lashed the anchorage. On the first day at anchor, they shifted their berth; they chose a new spot, perhaps one less-exposed, farther away from another vessel, or with better holding ground. The men were serving the cables – wrapping twine tightly in the lay of the thick rope, to protect it from chafe. Also on that day, Inglis records that the schooner was ‘very leaky in her bows,’ a problem they had been grappling with since early spring on the Delaware. This did not mean that Sultana was structurally compromised in any serious way; one or two planks with fasteners just loose enough that they could work their seams even slightly would be enough to cause persistent leaking.

On the second day at Spithead, they let go their best bower – larger anchor. They had originally used the small bower, but the gales had worsened and squalls were blowing through, with their unpredictable sharp gusts that could reach hurricane-strength. The men were still serving the cables that kept Sultana attached to her anchor. During a one-day lull in the weather, during which they hove up the best bower, they ‘received a harbour boat,’ which transported the four invalids from Boston to Haslar Hospital at Gosport. The next day, the gales returned even harder from the south-southeast, south, and southwest, blowing on shore; the schooner was now facing into the blast, her stern to the shore. They let go the best bower again, at three in the morning. Their two heaviest anchors had the best chance of holding them. At nine, they got the boat in, before it could be capsized or torn away. The following afternoon, they ‘shipped a great deal of sea’ – for the last time. At seven the next morning, they hove up the best bower and hove short – pulled in most of the cable – on the small bower, and signaled for a pilot to take them into Portsmouth Harbor. By noon, they were anchored there, drying their sails. Only now was Sultana's Atlantic voyage truly over.