by Andrew Rowen | | Atlantic Ocean, Sea of Darkness
At about N35⁰ W50⁰, Columbus reckoned that the North Star was as high in the sky as it appeared off Cape St. Vincent, Portugal (N 37⁰), indicating to him that he had sailed northeast from the Indies to approach the Azores (N 37-40⁰) from the southwest. What was his...
by Andrew Rowen | | Atlantic Ocean, Sea of Darkness
After departing the Samaná peninsula, Columbus drafted two letters about the voyage, likely completing them before the Niña and Pinta were engulfed by a violent storm on February 12, 1493. The first is known as the “Letter to Santángel,” written to King Ferdinand’s...
by Andrew Rowen | | Atlantic Ocean, Sea of Darkness
The Niña and Pinta were engulfed by a “perfect storm”—multiple violent storm fronts colliding from different directions—that began on February 12 and continued for three days. The ships were separated, the men on both nearly perished, and the world-changing event of...
by Andrew Rowen | | Atlantic Ocean, Portugal, Sea of Darkness
After three perilous days, the violent storm began to abate on February 15. But the sea remained rough and, now alone, the Niña struggled for two days to make landfall on the southernmost island of the Azores, Santa María. After sunset on the 17th, Columbus anchored...
by Andrew Rowen | | Atlantic Ocean, Portugal, Sea of Darkness
On February 19, Columbus dispatched half his crew ashore at Santa María, Azores, to fulfill a vow made during the storm for a pilgrimage—barefoot and without pants—to the first church they found dedicated to the Virgin Mary. But the locals, subjects of Portugal’s King...
