Blog

Modern day Columbus discovery ship runs aground in Florida

A replica of the boat that Christopher Columbus first sailed across the Atlantic in, “La Niña”, ran aground on sandbanks in a fierce storm, recently, as it attempted to enter Tampa Bay on the West side of the Florida panhandle in the United States. Luckily, the grounding was only temporary and together with a companion boat, the Pinta, it was able to proceed on and tie up for an official visit to Tampa.

Columbus left Spain for the Canary Islands, then crossed the Atlantic with three vessels. His own boat was the Niña. He sailed with the Pinta and the Santa Maria. Only the Niña and the Pinta made it back to Europe.

Discovery of America (1492)

The Niña was built originally in Moguer in Spain’s Andalucia province, and designed as a coastal trading boat with a shallow draft and wide beam. Strangely, there were no drawings or models of any of the boats which could be used as a reference when the decision was made to build replicas back in 1986 by the Columbus Foundation. The idea at the time was to have two of the three boats built in time for the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ Atlantic crossing. In fact, there was only time and money for one to be built before that date – this was the Niña.

The Niña and Pinta were caravel redondas – four masted timber boats with square sails for down wind sailing on the two fore masts and lateen sails on the two aft mizzen masts. They had large holds for carrying cargo and were much in use during the so called “Age of Discovery”. They were apparently good sailing boats and were used in times of war as well as for piracy. The cargo hold came in useful on Columbus’ voyages as the sailors had to share the ships with horses, cattle, chickens and pigs! The animals were kept in slings to stop them from being damaged when sailing.

The Santa Maria- Columbus’ third boat of the expedition was a different type of boat called a Nao, or freighter. It was apparently disliked by Columbus and never survived the trip and was wrecked on a reef, in what is now the Dominican Republic. Columbus said after it ran aground that it was too clumsy and slow and not suited for the purposes of discovery when there was a need for maneuverability in waters that were unknown.

The replica Niña was buillt in Brazil between 1987 and 1991. The location for the project was specially chosen by the Columbus Foundation because of the skills that the boat builders had in the Brazilian coastal village of Valenca on Brazil’s Bahia coast and the tools they used for boat building- hand tools such as axes, adzes, and saws. The timber for the craft came from nearby forest trees and it was built not from an actual paper plan, but from a mental image the boat builders had in their heads. The boat building method used in the sleepy little village was called Mediterranean Cold Moulding and dated back to the time of the real Niña. .

The replica was completed in 1991 and sailed for 4,000 miles on its first voyage through the Panama Canal and up to the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, proving that a replica caravel could still complete lengthy voyages 500 years after it was the master of the seas. The Niña arrived in time for the filming of “1492”, featuring Columbus and his four voyages.

The Niña’s sister ship, the Pinta, was built a little later, also in Valenca in Brazil. The two replica boats are still used and are actively sailed around the U.S. coast as floating museums representing the type of boat that was prevalent in the fifteenth century.

April 11, 2013 | Alison Williams

Las Palmas Farewells Spanish Navy’s Iconic Tall Ship

It is rare that this writer gets to farewell a national maritime icon, but it happened yesterday in the waters off Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in Spain’s Canary Islands, 200 km off the shores of Africa.

With trumpets blaring, water cannons shooting columns of spray from tug boats and a cavalcade of lesser craft including yachts, sailing dinghies and kayaks, the Spanish Navy’s sail training ship, the Juan Sebastián Elcano, left town en route to Puerto Rico.

The four masted brigantine had been making a good will visit to Las Palmas to coincide with a maritime fair and exhibition organized by the city council. Hordes of Canarian school children and curious residents had been given the chance to pay a visit to the ship as it docked alongside the navy wharf in Las Palmas.

Juan Sebastian Elcano, “entre castillos”. Ferrol by Pablo Avanzini

The ship, built in 1926, and no stranger to the Atlantic, is now on passage once again across to the Caribbean. It will be joining sister tall ships from South American nations on a cruise from Puerto Rico to Colón in Panama to celebrate the original voyage of Juan Ponce de León, who made the same trip back in 1513.

The Juan Sebastián Elcano, captained by Alfonso Gómez Fernández de Córdoba, has a complement of 45 officers and 140 crew. It will be 100 days away from Spanish waters, visiting Miami and Rhode Island in the United States before returning to Europe via the Dutch city of Den Helder.

The ship is named after the first captain of any ship to complete a circumnavigation of the globe, retuning with the remnants of Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition in 1522. Elcano has remained in relative obscurity outside his native Spain ever since his voyage, but an account of his exploits and that of the original Magellan voyage makes astounding reading.

Magellan lived at a time when Europe had already mapped out a route to the East Indies, but the route was largely controlled by Spain’s maritime rival, Portugal. Magellan was convinced that a route to the East Indies was possible via the Americas, at that time only just being colonised, thus allowing Spain to access the spice island treasure house without hindrance from Portugal.

Elcano was one of 242 men and five ships which left Spain in 1519 to endeavour to reach the Moluccas via South America. The voyage was understandably difficult and was dogged by storms, mutiny, hunger and disease. Elcano himself was part of the first mutiny in Patagonia, but was later pardoned. Magellan thought that the Moluccas would be found soon after penetrating the Magellan Strait at the bottom end of South America. It wasn’t until many months later, however, that the four remaining ships arrived in Guam, then the Philippines.

Elcano eventually came to lead the last remaining ship in the expedition, the Nao Victoria, after Magellan and other officers were killed during fighting amongst tribes in the Philippines. Elcano eventually arrived back after completing the first circumnavigation of the globe by any means – no mean feat.

He later died of starvation in another ill fated venture organised by Spanish King Carlos 1 to capture the East Indies for Spain as he and many other fellow sailors crossed the Pacific Ocean.

March 11, 2013 | Alison Williams

Tall Ships

Gallant Tall Ships of the Sixteenth Century were the first to Encircle the Globe

Entering the harbour of Maó, Menorca, after yet another long distance motoring session from the Italian island of Sardinia we wondered again how the ships of the past managed to cope without an engine. Our modern sailing yacht seemed to be cursed wherever we went in the Mediterranean with either winds which were too strong or too weak. To navigate from one end of this inland ocean to the other without the helping hand of our sturdy diesel engine seemed unthinkable. And yet, before the invention of powered craft, all vessels were either moved by sail or muscle power alone.

Maó’s magnificent harbour has often been seen as a prize by many nations in the previous centuries and yet its narrow entrance and long inlet with their capricious breezes were defended, attacked and negotiated totally with the help of the wind.

By coincidence, as if to confirm our question about the abilities of the sailing vessels of the past, the replica of the “Nao Victoria” was berthed alongside the Maó town dock to allow an opportunity for curious onlookers to inspect the ship. The replica was built in Seville, in Andalucia, the same city as the birthplace of the original vessel. The first Nao Victoria was the very first sailing ship to successfully circumnavigate the globe, returning in 1522 with its captain Juan Senbastián Elcano after a three year voyage which must have been both perilous as well as incredibly adventurous.

The original vessel was part of the five vessel fleet that set off from Cadiz in 1519, with Magellan as its commander, in search of a route to the spice islands of Indonesia and the Phillipines. The fleet negotiated the Cape of Good Hope, then made its way through the East Indies and then returned across the Pacific to Cape Horn, up the coast of South America and back across the Atlantic to Spain. By the end of the voyage the Nao Victoria was the only surviving vessel. The other four ships, together with many of the original crew members had perished en route. Only 18 sailors returned to their native country out of the 243 that had set out.

Map Charting Sir Francis Drake’s Circ…

To emphasise the enormity of the accomplishments of this ungainly looking vessel one has to remember the circumstances. These craft had no engines, no charts, no GPS, no liferafts, no credit cards, satellite telephones and no way of communicating with Mother Spain.

When they left for their voyage there would be no contact at all until the Nao Victoria sailed back into the very same place that it has set out from.

The 25 metre long replica, despite its frail looks, is no toy or model. It has already accomplished a lot in its own right. Between 2004 and 2006 it made its own global circumnavigation, to celebrate the achievements of its ancient namesake. Its route was totally different, however, being within the gentler waters of the tropics and the trade winds. From Seville, it crossed the Atlantic, passing through the Panama Canal – itself non existent, of course, when Magellan was alive – across the Pacific to Japan, the East Indies, the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, returning to the Atlantic coast of Spain through the Mediterranean.

It is impossible these days to recreate the ordeals and achievements of those first sixteenth century explorers and sailors. The replica no doubt had its own engine, and all the modern paraphernalia and technology which makes maritime travel so much safer and easier.

Only the winds and the sea are the same as they were back then.

July 29, 2012 | Alison Williams

Tall Ships

Little and Large Share the Ocean Waves

Wooden Luxury Tender at Monaco © Douglas Freer Fotolia.com

Let’s face it most of us are ordinary people with moderate wealth and expectations. We have moderate sized houses, cars that are neither too big nor too small, never have too many children and go on holiday to moderate sorts of places. If we have a boat, it won’t be very big or very small. However, it’s the extremes in life that continue to fascinate us. This is true no less in the marine world. Records for the longest, most expensive super yacht and the tiniest of boats to cross the seas keep falling to ever bigger and smaller vessels.

Despite the uncertain economic times that much of the world has been experiencing, the number of the world’s largest yachts continues to grow. Admittedly, many of these were commissioned in the boom years, but the design and construction phases have maintained pace. Only five years ago, a 60 metre boat would easily have made the top 100 world yacht league, now the smallest boat to reach this list would have to be 72 metres! Within the last year alone, the 162 metre “Dubai”, owned by the Ruler of Dubai, has been beaten into second place by the 180 metre “Eclipse”, owned by one of Russia’s new billionaires and one of the world’s wealthiest men, Roman Abramovitch. Although many of the details of these mega yachts are initially clouded in mystery the “Eclipse” was apparently built simply to be bigger than the Sheikh’s sleek “Dubai”!

While Germany and Holland remain the centres of mega yacht construction, with German boat yards having built seven of the ten new mega yachts during the last year and Holland building three, the number of countries involved in producing boats that will get into the top 100 list has diversified with Marco Yachts of Chile entering this elite field with three to reach the top 100.

Wooden Luxury Tender at Monaco © Douglas Freer Fotolia.com

Mega yachts have continued to grow in size partly due to innovative construction materials and design. Composite materials have been favoured by many of the newer boats allowing a much lighter, but larger and faster boast to be constructed. The Phillipe Starck designed “A”, built by the Blohm and Voss yard from composite materials impressed its audience with its revolutionary curved deck design, and light mass allowing easier handling and navigational capacity.

With a sigh we have to admit that very few of us could ever dream of owning one of these huge beauties – anyway where would we put it? The tiniest of boats are a different matter entirely. Now here we are not talking about model boats, tenders or things like kayaks or wind surfers or even such boats as Optimists or Lasers, small though they might be. The tiniest boats that catch our attention are those that cross oceans – or make the attempt anyway. The owners of these little craft are eccentric, adventurous, philanthropists or just plain mad. The latest of a whole string of world records for the tiniest boats to sail the high seas now includes Tom McNally’s just under 4 feet long, “The Big C”. It has been built to cross the Atlantic from Spain to Puerto Rico, up the East Coast of America and then back to Britain. If this seems like a total impossibility or complete suicide, reflect that Tom has already crossed the Atlantic once in a 6 foot boat, also called the Big C, from West to East and in a five foot boat from Portugal to Puerto Rico in 1998. His latest feat is to raise funds for cancer research, hence the name. The Big C will be attached to two side floats that contain all the boat stores, such as they are, and Tom not only has to sleep in a sort of a sling, but will catch fish once his initial supplies run out, and eat it raw for food and make water at night with a manually powered desalinator.

Tom is not alone in his tiny boat accomplishments – the list of little ship adventurers is surprisingly long – longer than most of the boats on the list! Some of these were never really well thought out or just ran out of luck and boats and their occupants have often disappeared without a trace. In 1973, the 12 foot “Sea Egg” with John Riding the lone occupant, was lost in the Tasman after a crossing of the Atlantic and nearly the whole Pacific, while Bill Dunlop in the 9 foot “Wind’s Will” disappeared while crossing the Pacific in his round the world attempt in 1984. Luckier, in the 8 foot “God’s Tear”, was Wayne Dickinson, who survived his boat being smashed to pieces on Irish rocks in a force 10 storm after completing an Atlantic crossing.
In the early years of the twentieth century, when increasing affluence initiated a flurry of record breaking attempts in little boats, the number of twenty something foot boats making trans Atlantic crossings increased substantially with 20 foot “Trekka” being the first little boat to get into the record books with a circumnavigation, followed by several others, including the Australian built aluminium “Acroch Australis”, only 12 foot long that made a 500 day circumnavigation recorded in laconic style in the book of the same name.

Tiny and huge, adventurous, mad or plain billionaire, the stories will continue to fascinate us while we continue our own safe, moderate and definitely less newsworthy lives!

June 24, 2011 | Alison Williams

Travel and Cruising

Spirit of Bermuda Leaves home en route to start of Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge‏

Press Release
4 April

Driving rain and increasing winds in front of an approaching cold front failed to dampen the spirits of those on land or those on board The Spirit of Bermuda – Bermuda’s first purpose built sail training ship – as she left the Atlantic Island this morning for her first Trans-Atlantic crossing to Europe. As the ship sailed out of Hamilton Harbour to the cheers of onlookers, John Wadson, Director of Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge; Tall Ships Bermuda and Sail Training Bermuda enthusiastically declared: “This is the beginning of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009 Race!”

“This will be our most challenging voyage yet”, Malcolm Kirkland, Executive Director of the Bermuda Sloop Foundation added. “It’s our first offshore voyage operating in Northern latitudes, up to 40 degrees north, and we have purchased thirty ‘survival suits’ which takes us well over and above the safety requirements. This is all about a challenging, mission critical, operating community, with all the best safety “nets”.

First stop for The Spirit of Bermuda will be in Horta and then Ponta Delgada in the Azores and then Porto, Portugal, before the ship heads to Vigo, Spain for the start of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009 Race on 3 May. That Portugal is her first port of call is significant in that the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009 race is designed around Bermuda’s 400th Anniversary of Permanent Settlement and a large proportion of Bermuda’s strong Portuguese community originates from the Azores.

John Wadson, Malcolmn Kirkland, and Sutherland Madeiros, the Mayor of Hamilton joined an excited throng of family members, friends and supporters at dockside to bid the ship, its trainees, crew and captain ‘Bon Voyage’ as it sailed out of Hamilton Harbour in southwesterly 22 – 28 knot winds.

Bermuda Sloop Foundation official Jay Kempe said this first transatlantic leg will be something of a pilgrimage for the ship as the stop in the Azores will honour Bermuda’s strong cultural ties with those islands that began in the 1840’s. The pilgrimage will no doubt be especially meaningful to Portuguese-Bermudian Brian Bulhoes and his family. Brian, 16, is a veteran of the Public Middle School Waterwise Programme (Yr 1), the 5 Day learning expedition aboard The Spirit (Yr 3) and a world class U16 sailor. Though born and raised in Bermuda, his

large family hails from Ponta Delgada, San Miguel. He is looking forward to meeting other members of his family when the Spirit arrives there and his passage has been sponsored by D&J Construction, one of the Island’s leading construction companies.

Also crewing onboard The Spirit for this historic voyage are five Bermuda Regiment soldiers and three members of staff from the Department of Marine and Ports. “This is important for us”, said Kirkland. “These two institutions are strategic partners and offer important disciplined training for young Bermudians. We are really delighted to have them aboard.”

The Spirit of Bermuda has eight professional crew members under the command of Capt. Simon Colley and 15 trainees. Four seasoned public school students Vershon Simmons, 16; Michael Byron, 15; Cameron Joseph, 16; and Denzel Todd, 18, are on board for the complete round trip of two transatlantic crossings of some 7,000 nautical miles. Spirit will race from Vigo, Spain to Tenerife in the Canary Islands before embarking on the second race of the series to Bermuda. She will continue racing to Charleston, SC, then on to Boston MA and Halifax NS before returning to Bermuda to commemorate the actual landing of the crew and passengers from the ill-fated Sea Venture after her shipwreck on July 28, 400 years ago. It was this event that started the settlement of Bermuda.

Ends

April 6, 2009 | admin

Tall Ships

Daunting Challenge for Gap Year Student

A young student from Portsmouth is making plans to conquer her fear of open water by taking to the seas on a square rigged ship as part of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge, which starts in May 2009. Along with 40 others, Jocelyn Smith, will be joining the Bulgarian tall ship Kaliakra in Vigo, Spain, before sailing to Tenerife and then across the Atlantic to Bermuda and then to Charleston in the States.

The eighteen year old is currently on work experience in Gloucestershire during her gap year before going to university to study mechanical engineering. Jocelyn has taken part in two Tall Ships’ Races before but realises the Atlantic Challenge will be something quite different.

“It’s not called a challenge for nothing so I’m well aware that it will be a life changing experience,” says Jocelyn. “But I want to take part to prove I can conquer my fears and see how far I can push myself. I realise it may be difficult at times but when I step ashore in Charleston after having sailed some 3,000 miles over two months I know I will have a sense of elation and achievement. This will be made all the more sweet as I have family in Charleston so arriving by ship will give me a great sense of pride.”

Jocelyn believes the experience will also stand her in good stead for her future. “Sailing on a tall ship requires good teamwork and self-determination and I believe this will be great preparation for study,” she says. “Not just because I will be meeting new people and living with them in close quarters, much like university, but because it will help me learn to motivate myself and others and that’s a great thing to learn in life.”

Kaliakra is just one of a dozen or so tall ships that will be racing across the Atlantic, arriving in Bermuda in time to coincide with the Island’s 400^th anniversary. The Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge is to form a key part of the Bermuda celebrations and special first day cover stamps are to be issued, featuring some of the tall ships taking part.

Captain Toma Tomov will be the master of the 52m three masted barquentine Kaliakra for the epic voyage. Captain Tomov has many years experience of sailing the seven seas with his ship, including taking part in a past Atlantic Tall Ships race in 1992 to celebrate the 500^th anniversary of the discovery of America when the ship came third of 143 participants.

“Kaliakra is one of the fastest and best looking tall ships in the world,” says Captain Tomov proudly. “She is owned by the Bulgarian Maritime Training Centre. We always have a wide range of different nationalities on board which creates a wonderful informal and fun atmosphere on board. We fully intend to race to win and so encourage others to come and join us. It will be a wonderful experience I guarantee!”

Jocelyn is hoping to get some sponsorship for her participation. “It is quite expensive to take part but I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she says. “I would like to donate some money to Cancer Research UK but obviously the current economic climate doesn’t smile upon sponsoring people but we’ll see how much I can raise. Thankfully my employers are happy for me to take two months off and then I’ll still have a month or two before starting university.”

The youngster believes her parents are more worried about it than she is. “My mother didn’t even know Bulgaria had a coastline, but I think my father is secretly very jealous of my impending adventure. The longest I’ve ever been without seeing land is six days so to spend a couple of weeks at sea is going to be a whole new experience,” says Jocelyn.

The Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge is being organised by Sail Training International and the full race will go from Vigo in Spain (30 April – 3 May) to Tenerife (14-17 May), across the Atlantic to Bermuda (12-15 June) to Charleston in the USA (25-29 June) to Boston in the USA (8-13 July) to Halifax in Canada (16-20 July) and then back across the Atlantic to Belfast (13-16 August).

Ships from all over the world will be taking part in the event and anyone is invited to get on board and have an adventure of a lifetime. No experience is necessary so if you fancy joining Jocelyn and others visit the website and get planning your own challenge.

www.tallshipsraces.com/atlanticchallenge.

December 10, 2008 | admin

Crowds pour into Bergen to visit The Tall Ships’ Races fleet

As the final vessels in The Tall Ships’ Races fleet arrived in Bergen this morning, so crowds of people turned out to see them. A huge carnival atmosphere quickly built up with the three stages around the town entertaining the crowds with jazz, shanty singing and other music.

A total of 84 vessels will be in Bergen for the four day festival prior to the start of the second race to Den Helder in the Netherlands. Crews arriving on the vessels reported having a fantastic time on the cruise in company, with all the little ports offering them welcome parties and other entertainment.
Arnau Garcia Hidalgo, a 16 year old from Barcelona, said he had a great time and enjoyed the cruise in company almost as much as he had the race from Liverpool. “I love coming into the new ports as there is always such a great welcome,” Arnau said. “The race was great fun and I learnt how important it is to be part of the team and that I can cope under stressful situations.”

The young man also said he’d love to take part in next year’s Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge as it would be, “a huge adventure and the ships visit two ports in Spain which would be really good fun.”

Arnau has been sailing on the Spanish vessel Far Barcelona which has returned to Norway after some 130 years. The vessel was built in Norway in 1874 in the same shipyard as the Norwegian vessel Loyal and yesterday the two vessels made a dramatic return to Bergen.

At 1900 hours the official opening ceremony will take place to be followed by the traditional captains’ dinner, to be held at the town hall. Later this evening will see a grand firework display over the harbour which is guaranteed to draw huge crowds.

A number of vessels still have berths available for the second race from Bergen to Den Helder which starts on Tuesday 12 August. These vessels include Kaliakra (Bulgaria), Pelican (UK) and Willliwaw (Belgium). Anyone interested should go along to the vessels in Bergen to find out more details.

August 9, 2008 | admin

Tall Ships

Charleston, South Carolina, completes port roster for the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009

Charleston, South Carolina, is the seventh and final port to sign up to host the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009 and completes the course for this spectacular odyssey for sail training Tall Ships.The Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge is a 7,000 nautical mile race series around the North Atlantic will follow the traditional route taken by sailing ships of yesteryear. An international fleet and trainee crews from around the world are expected to compete in the Challenge series, organised by Sail Training International in collaboration with the American Sail Training Association.

“We are delighted to be joining in with what we know will be a memorable event for all concerned”, says Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. “The city is very used to hosting Tall Ships, so our community will ensure a warm Southern welcome for the crews when they sail into port.”The Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge will start in Vigo, Spain, (30 April – 3 May). The fleet will race to Tenerife in the Canary Islands (14 – 17 May), then across the Atlantic to Bermuda (12 -15 June) where they will form the centrepiece of year-long celebrations to mark the 400th anniversary of permanent settlement on the island. From Bermuda the fleet will race west to Charleston, SC, (25 – 29 June), then up the US east coast to Boston, Mass (8 – 13 July) and onwards to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (16 – 20 July). From there the fleet will race back across the North Atlantic to Belfast, UK (13 – 16 August) for the final prize-giving celebrations.

For more details go to: www.tallshipsraces.com/atlanticchallenge

Download Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge brochure.

May 12, 2008 | admin

Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe

By Laurence Bergreen

Ferdinand Magellan’s daring circumnavigation of the globe in the sixteenth century was a three-year odyssey filled with sex, violence, and amazing adventure. Now in Over the Edge of the World, acclaimed author Laurence Bergreen, interweaving a variety of candid, first-person accounts, some previously unavailable in English, brings to life this groundbreaking and majestic tale of discovery that changed many long-held views about the world and the way explorers would henceforth navigate its oceans.

In 1519 Magellan and his fleet set sail from Seville, Spain, to find a water route to the Spice Islands in Indonesia, where the most sought-after commodities — cloves, pepper, and nutmeg — flourished. Most important, they were looking for a passageway, a strait, through the great landmass of the Americas that would lead them to these fabled islands. Laurence Bergreen takes readers on board with Magellan and his crew as they explore, navigate, mutiny, suffer, and die across the seas. He also recounts the many unusual sexual practices the crew experienced, from orgies in Brazil to bizarre customs in the South Pacific. With a fleet of five ships and more than two hundred men, they had set out in search of the Spice Islands. Three years later they returned with an abundance of spices from their intended destination, but with just one ship carrying eighteen emaciated men. They suffered starvation, disease, and torture, and many died, including Magellan, who was violently killed in a fierce battle.

A man of great tenacity, cunning, and courage, Magellan was full of contradictions. He was both heroic and foolish, insightful yet blind, a visionary whose instincts outran his ideals. Ambitious to a fault and not above using torture and murder to maintain control of his ships and sailors, he survived innumerable natural hazards in addition to several violent mutinies aboard his own fleet — and it took no less than the massed forces of fifteen hundred men to kill him.

This is the first time in nearly half a century that anyone has attempted to narrate the complete story of Magellan’s unprecedented circumnavigation of the globe — to tell this truly gripping and profoundly important story of heroism, discovery, and disaster. A voyage into history, a tour of the world emerging from the Middle Ages into the Renaissance, an anthropological account of tribes, languages, and customs unknown to Europeans, and a chronicle of a desperate grab for commercial and political power, Over the Edge of the World is a captivating tale that rivals the most exciting thriller fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Journalist Bergreen, who has penned biographies of James Agee, Louis Armstrong, Irving Berlin and Al Capone, superbly recreates Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan’s obsessive 16th-century quest, an ill-fated journey that altered Europe’s perception of the planet: “It was a dream as old as the imagination: a voyage to the ends of the earth…. Mariners feared they could literally sail over the edge of the world.” In 2001, Bergreen traveled the South American strait that bears Magellan’s name, and he adds to that firsthand knowledge satellite images of Magellan’s route plus international archival research. His day-by-day account incorporates the testimony of sailors, Francisco Albo’s pilot’s log and the eyewitness accounts of Venetian scholar Antonio Pigafetta, who was on the journey. Magellan’s mission for Spain was to find a water route to the fabled Spice Islands, and in 1519, the Armada de Molucca (five ships and some 260 sailors) sailed into the pages of history. Many misfortunes befell the expedition, including the brutal killing of Magellan in the Philippines. Three years later, one weather-beaten ship, “a vessel of desolation and anguish,” returned to Spain with a skeleton crew of 18, yet “what a story those few survivors had to tell-a tale of mutiny, of orgies on distant shores, and of the exploration of the entire globe,” providing proof that the world was round. Illuminating the Age of Discovery, Bergreen writes this powerful tale of adventure with a strong presence and rich detail. Maps, 16-page color photo insert.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Audiofile
Adventure tales are even more exciting if they’re true, as this narrative is. The text, based on the diary of Venetian scholar Antonio Pigafetta and the pilot’s log of Francisco Albo, gives a day-by-day account of the hardships, misfortunes, and triumphs of life on the sea in the sixteenth century as Magellan and his crew sought a water route to the fabled Spice Islands. Tim Jerome reads the harrowing events with the voice of a historian–calm yet not dull. He inserts precise accents when speaking as the voice of Pigafetta and when reading the names contained in the narrative. His voice rolls like the ships rolled in the waves as he navigates this sea tale to its completion. J.F.M. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine– Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From booklist
Ferdinand Magellan’s ship was the first to circumnavigate the globe. While the accomplishment is recognized as a historic milestone, less known are the details of that voyage around the world. Magellan spent years trying to win the favor of the king of Portugal, and failing that he swore loyalty to the Spanish crown. After finally receiving Spain’s backing for a trip to the Spice Islands, the king imposed numerous stipulations that would affect Magellan’s crew and his authority over them. Once his fleet finally embarked, he had to contend with violent storms, mutinous crewmembers, and hostile natives. Bergreen tells a well-rounded story of Magellan, not just that of the romanticized hero but also that of the explorer’s darker side. He also puts the voyage into its historical context, going into detail about what was known of the world at the time (and what was still uncharted), the rivalry between Portugal and Spain, and the church’s attempt to divide up the New World between them. Fascinating reading for history buffs, and a great story that rivals any seagoing adventure. Gavin Quinn
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

A Very Impressive Read
I’m really glad historians are beginning to write for people who aren’t preparing for a test and simply want a book that’s as informative as it is enjoyable. This is one of my favorite books of all time. It’s really unforgettable. Some reviewers obviously didn’t like this, but that’s life. As for me, I couldn’t put it down and was wanting more at the end. Here you’ll see Magellan, warts and all–plenty of warts, yet so much a man of principle even when he was misguided. What’s so amazing to me is that Bergreen shows Magellan realistically standing alone for what he believes all the while facing challenges (natural and personal) that would make the most steel-hearted man alive flinch in a second. This is a portrait of bravery and dedication to purpose like I’ve never seen before in a man who is most certainly not without his faults. Read it and enjoy.

As exhilarating as the voyage itself
This book makes Columbus and even Cook seem like mere amateurs in comparison. Magellan is the main man! Bergreen knows how to write the story of the great explorer with the hand of a novelist. It makes a fantastic read.
As a follow-up I suggest you read the book “1492 – The year China discovered America”. It puts things in perspective, like how did Magellan know about the strait from the atlantic to the pacific that would later bear his name?

Short and Simple
If not the best book i have ever read……..For sure in the top three!!!!!!!!!

February 18, 2008 | admin

Maritime Books

Cadiz: The Three Thousand Year Old City

Cádiz, the oldest existing city in western Europe, is home to many beautiful and historic monuments and attractions. Its peculiar location at the end of a narrow peninsula lends added charm to this ancient city.

Cadiz is located on a narrow peninsula streching out into a bay and it’s almost entirely surrounded by water. The Phoenicians founded it in 1104 BC as a trading post with Tartessos, under the name of Gadir. Around 500 BCE, the city was controlled by the Carthaginians, until the city fell to Roman forces under Scipio Africanus in 206 BC. The city was renamed Gades and flourished as a Roman naval base.

The 5th century overthrow of Roman power in Spain by the Visigoths saw the destruction of the original city, of which there remain few remnants today. Betweeen 711 and 1262 it was ruled by the Moors, the city was called Qādis from which the modern Spanish name, Cádiz, was derived.

Iin the early 16th century the city experienced a renaissance attaining great splendour as a launching point for the journey to the newly discovered lands of America. Christopher Columbus sailed from Cádiz on his second and fourth voyages. The city later became the home port of the Spanish treasure fleet and as a result of this, a major target of Spain’s enemies. A raid by Sir Francis Drake, was repulsed outside the city in April 1587.

In the 18th century, the sand bars of the river Guadalquivir forced the Spanish government to transfer the port monopolizing trade with Spanish America from upriver Seville to Cádiz on the Atlantic coast. During this time, the city experienced a golden age during which three-quarters of all Spanish trade was with the Americas. It became one of Spain’s greatest and most cosmopolitan cities and home to trading communities from many countries, among whom the richest was the Irish community. Many of today’s historic buildings in the Old City date from this era.

During Napoleon‘s conquest of Europe, Cádiz was one of the few cities in Spain that was able to resist the French invasion.

Cádiz was also the seat of the liberal Cortes (parliament) that fought against Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte in the Peninsular War and where the Spanish Constitution of 1812 was proclaimed. The citizens again revolted in 1820 to secure a renewal of this constitution; the revolution spread across Spain, leading to the imprisonment of King Ferdinand VII in the city of Cádiz.

Some of the city’s 18th century walls still stand, such as the Landward Gate (Puerta Tierra). The old, central quarter (casco antiguo) of Cadiz is famous for its picturesque charm, and many of the buildings reflect the city’s overseas links. In recent years, the city has undergone much reconstruction. Many monuments, cathedrals, and landmarks have been cleaned and restored, adding to the considerable charm of this ancient city.

February 12, 2008 | admin

Travel and Cruising

TALL SHIPS ATLANTIC CHALLENGE, APRIL – AUGUST 2009

Notice of Race (PDF file 188kb)

Entry Form (PDF file 220kb)

Download Brochure

The Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009 will start in Vigo, Spain from where the fleet will race to Tenerife in the Canary Islands, en route to Bermuda. The fleet will then voyage to Boston, USA for a series of races and cruises-in-company north to Halifax, Canada. From there the fleet will race back across the North Atlantic to Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Fishing Boats in Harbour at Vigo, One…

Maxwell Duncan

Vigo, Spain	Thu 30 April – Sun 3 May
Tenerife, Canary Islands	Thu 14 – Sun 17 May
Bermuda	Fri 12 – Mon 15 June
Boston, USA	Wed 8 – Mon 13 July
Halifax, Canada	Thu 16 – Sun 19 July
Belfast, UK	Thu 13 – Sun 16 August

Ports in the USA are currently being finalised for this phase of the event. We are evaluating the possibility of a gathering port in the Channel or Western Approaches and will consult with the fleet in due course.

A Notice of Race is available to download above, with a more detailed event brochure due out towards the end of 2007. The Race Entry Form will be issued during the course of the winter.

For further information please contact the Race Director, Paul Bishop by phone (+44 239258 6367) or email: Paul Bishop

A specific website for the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge, www.tallshipsraces.com/atlanticchallenge, is being developed and will be live in mid November.

Sail Training International

February 10, 2008 | admin

Tall Ships