As we sailed so calmly through the Straits of Magellan this morning, loving our first day on our beautiful bark, remember Ferdinand Magellan who sailed from Spain in September 1519 with instructions to find a western route to the Indies.

As we sailed so calmly through the Straits of Magellan this morning, loving our first day on our beautiful bark, remember Ferdinand Magellan who sailed from Spain in September 1519 with instructions to find a western route to the Indies.
He seemed to have known about the Strait's existence. Magellan's account of his voyage describes it thus: "This strait was a circular place surrounded by mountains, and to most of those in our ships (there were 5 ships in his fleet) it seemed as if there was no way out to enter the Pacific Sea. But my captain-general said there was another strait which led out, saying he knew it well and had seen it in a marine chart from a great sailor called Martin of Bohemia, kept by the king of Portugal."
Magellan sailed through to the Pacific in some terrifying weather. He continued across the Pacific but was killed in 1521 on Mactan island by Phillipino natives. His ship Victoria eventually made it back to Spain exactly 3 years later, September 1522, with a threadbare broken crew, this completing the first navigation of the World. What a story!
Birds seen by 10am today: Black browed albatross, Magellanic penguins, white chinned Petrel, Antarctic tern and a few others that defeated this amateur.