User blog comment:Imhungry4444/WHAT WAS HE THINKING?/@comment-3242083-20101231060345

It took Luffy what, one week to reach Impeldown? One week, just to reach it. In that week, Whitebeard had to rally all the 42 ships, including the ones not directly belonging to his crew. Quite the feat if you ask me... considering how harsh the new world environment is.

Also, on top of Amigo's great reasons: He is Whitebeard. It is not his style to go the "easy, sneaky way". Whitebeard does not take the backdoor, Whitebeard has no scars of retreat on his back.