[1][3] Golden Fleece made 3 passages from Boston to San Francisco, with an average time of 117 days.

Other ports of call included Manila, Cebu, Honolulu, Yokohama, Callao, Liverpool, and Queenstown.

In 1868, Golden Fleece made a 44-day passage from San Francisco to Hong Kong, arriving three days before White Swallow, a clipper known for her speed.

Despite taking different routes in the Atlantic section of their voyages, the two ships arrived in San Francisco a few hours apart, on Oct. 29th, after passages of 128 days.

[clarification needed] Golden Fleece was run up on the mud flats, and made it to the wharf with 12–14 feet of water in the hold.

Three days out, a fire was spotted at the bottom of the forward hold, in the sawdust and shavings used to pack the 1902 tons of ice.