"Following the light of the Sun, we left the Old World" - Christopher Columbus

Columbus began his first Voyage to reach the Indies at the west by navigating through the east. He started his Voyage with three ships.There is some myth prevailing about the crew selected, because at that time, sailors feared to undertake voyages to unknown places.

Nevertheless, Columbus left on August 3, 1492. The Nina, owned by Juan Nino, was a lateen-rigged caravel, was captained by Martin Alonzo Pinzon. The Pinta, owned by Cristobal Quintero, was a square-rigged caravel captained by Pinzon's brother, Vicente Yanez. The Santa Maria, a nao, was Columbus' flagship. The nao was large and had a round hull compared to the lightly built caravels with narrow hulls. The Santa Maria was slow and unwieldy during the long ocean voyage. She had a huge square sail on her main mast, a smaller one on the foremast, and a lateen-rigged sail on the mizzen mast on the high poop at the stern. These ships were fitted out at Palos on the Tinto river, located in southern Spain. It cannot be said for sure, but there is some evidence advocate that the Nina and the Pinta were nearly 21 to 24 metres long, weighing 54 metric tonnes each, while Santa Maria weighed 80 metric tonnes. The three ships together carried 104 men with equipment for repairing ships, and supplies. They reached the Canary Islands by travelling from the northwest African land, rather than sailing through west of the Azores, Columbus had the Nina converted to square sails because it was lagging behind. The crews loaded fresh water and fruit aboard. On September 6, 1492, from San Sebastin de la Gomerce, the ships got underway, sailing into uncharted seas, out of sight of land.

Columbus' ships covered approximately 150 miles a day. His seafaring instincts were extraordinary. His crews used a compass for direction and a chip log (a knotted line with a wooden weight attached at the end) to measure speed. A sailor counted how many knots were let off the reel in the time allotted. Multiplying the average rate of a ship's speed by a fixed amount of time gave a rough estimate of the distance traveled. Columbus, however, relied on dead reckoning, meaning he used his experience, intuition, observations, and guesswork to determine his ships' positions.}

On October 12, one of the crew on Pinta shouted Tierra ! Tierra ! (Land ! Land !). Columbus had declared a reward of 10,000 Maravedis per year to anyone who first sighted land. The land sighted by the crew of Pinta was San Salvador, but not that which Columbus had aimed for. So after spending a little time there, they moved towards Cipango. After sailing for a few months, he turned his ships towards the southeast. On their way, the fleet faced devastating winds, which carried them to Haiti (Hispaniola). There he found gold and gems in abundance. He carried the wealth along with him. From there, he took the help of the Taino Indian chief, Guacanagari, to set his ships at the northern coast of the Island, which he named, La Navidad. In La Navidad, he assigned 40 men to take care of his wealth, while he proceeded further.

In January 1493 he set out for Spain. After reaching Spain, he met the King and Queen in Barcelona. He exhibited the gold and gems, which were in the form of coins, masks, and ornaments. This adventure earned him the title of "Admiral of the Ocean" and he was rewarded 1000 Doubloons or 345,000 Maravedis.

THE SECOND VOYAGE

After the success of the First Voyage, he faced little trouble in acquiring permission for the Second Voyage from the king and the queen. The fleet left Cadiz on September 25, 1493. They sailed via Gomera in the Canaries, taking the southern route. This time the time taken for the journey was 21 days. They reached Dominica first, then the Leeward Islands, touching the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico before eventually reaching Hispaniola, approximately in the last week of November. One shipmate named Cuneo said, "Since Genoa was Genoa, there was never born a man so well equipped and expert in navigation as the said Lord Admiral". As soon as Columbus reached Hispaniola, he found all his men whom he had left behind dead and the fort destroyed. The Spanish crew had mistreated the Indians, and the natives retaliated with violence. Columbus established the first colony of Santo Domingo and became the governor of the island.

He ordered his subordinate to leave the place with all the wealth. He posted Alonso de Ojeda and Pedro Margarit to protect his other belongings. In March, Columbus arrived in Cuba and constructed the fortress of St Thomas there. He also went to Jamaica for a few days and then returned to Cuba. On leaving Cuba, he found the southern coast to be dotted with shoals and small islands, which made their voyage difficult. Then they had to face a very powerful headwind. On August 20, 1494 they sailed eastward, during which Columbus fell ill. By March 1495 they returned to Spain, with two ships. They arrived at Portugal in June, thus completing their Second Voyage.

THE FOURTH VOYAGE

In prison, Columbus wrote a letter to the King and the Queen of Spain. He defended himself against the charges laid on him and explained his views on the strong actions taken. In response, the Spanish Monarch excused his mistakes and freed him from prison. On May 11, 1502 he started the Fourth Voyage with four ships and 140 men from the Port of Cadiz. Columbus’s brother Bartholomew and his son Fernando joined him in his Fourth Voyage. He arrived at Santo Domingo on June 29,1502. He camped for a few days on the port and then left for the Honduras coast. After crossing Panama, he returned to Rio Belen (western Panama) and established his headquarters there for exploration. As he made preparations to return to Spain, a large force of Indians attacked his garrison. All three of his ships were badly damaged by the Indians, however, he dared to take those ships in waters. They faced another storm, off the coast of Cuba, which damaged their ships. Finally Columbus anchored the sinking ship in St Anne’s Bay of Jamaica. Columbus finished his Fourth Voyage on November 7, 1504 and returned to Spain. After two years, he fell ill and died on May 20, 1506 at Valladolid. His remains were later interred to Seville, then transferred to Santo Domingo, moved to Havana, Cuba, and finally returned to Seville in 1899. Though some historians do think that the bones removed from Santo Domingo were not his, his remains may still be there.

Wherever Columbus rests, modern research has considerably diminished the heroic reputation he had gained by the 19^th century, although his maritime skills continue to be celebrated.