Columbus’ Never Ending Voyage
Last week, I left Christopher Columbus bobbing around in the Atlantic Ocean in his quest to find a new route to the far East, while I took a side excursion, voicing my opinions regarding Virginia mid-term elections.
But we are back now to rescue Columbus from the doldrums. For those who are not familiar with this nautical term, doldrums are an area around the Equator where sailing ships get stuck in windless water. They can sit for days without going anywhere.
In September 23-24, 1492, the ships encountered flat seas and inconsistent winds. The crew had become discontented with the long voyage and believed they would never get back home to Spain. No doubt, Columbus prayed. He notes in his Log that later the sea “made up considerably without wind, and the crew was astonished. I saw this as a sign from God, and it was very helpful to me. Such a sign has not appeared since Moses led the Jews out of Egypt, and they dared not lay violent hands on him because of the miracle that God had wrought. As with Moses when he led his people out of captivity, my people were humbled by this act of the Almighty.”
A few days later, Columbus confided in his Log, “I am having serious trouble with the crew, despite the signs of land that we have and those given to us by Almighty God. In fact, the more God shows the men manifest signs that we are near land, the more their impatience and inconstancy increases and the more indignant they become against me.”
Columbus has found out that a few of the crew were talking about helping him have a “mishap” and fall overboard while taking night sky readings. To encourage and calm the crew, Columbus offered a substantial reward to the first one who sighted land.
Sea and land birds had started to appear, and some of the tension lifted on September 25th when one of the sailors from the Pinta claimed he saw land. Columbus wrote “I fell to my knees to give thanks to Our Lord and others sang Gloria in excelsis Deo.” The crews climbed the masts to get a better look – but by morning, they realized it was low squall clouds and not land.
By October 3rd, Columbus had sailed 2,379 miles but didn’t share the exact calculations with his crew because they would become frightened at being that far from home.
On October 7th, someone on the Nina thought they saw land, but “joy turned to dismay as the day progressed, for by evening we had found no land and had to face the reality that it was only an illusion,” wrote Columbus in his Log. “God did offer us, however, a small token of comfort: many large flocks of birds flew over…they were more varied in kind than any seen before and they were land birds. I know that most of the islands discovered by the Portuguese have been found because of birds.”
Columbus commented in his Log that special vespers were said in the late afternoon of October 11th, and a special thanksgiving was offered to God for giving them renewed hope through the many signs of land He has provided.
At this point, the three ships had been sailing westward, out of sight of land, for over nine weeks. Undoubtedly, the crew was weary, fearful and concerned they would never get back home.
Next week…finally, LAND !