Winds in The Age of Sail - Europeans Eastbound

Europeans Eastbound

Northwest Africa: A European who leaves the Strait of Gibraltar soon hits the Canary current which pushes him southwest down the African coast. He soon reaches the northeast trade winds which also push him southwest. If he leaves in late summer he will hit the trade winds sooner since wind systems move north and south with the seasons. The problem was to get back again. The solution was the volta do mar in which a captain would sail northwest across the winds and currents until he found the westerlies and was blown back to Europe.

The coast of Northwest Africa might be described as the nursery of European imperialism. Experience gained here was the basis for the sudden breakout into all the world's oceans in the 30-year period of 1492-1522. The Canary Islands were known to the ancients. They were reached by Lancelotto Malocello in 1312. Jean de Béthencourt conquered two of them in 1405 but the larger islands were not fully subdued until about 1495. The local Guanches have the distinction of being the first non-European people to be wiped out by European expansion. The volta do mar led to the discovery of uninhabited Madeira in 1419 which soon developed a trade in wine and sugar. A longer volta do mar led to the uninhabited Azores which are over 700 miles from the nearest land. Further south the Cape Verde Islands developed a system of slave-worked sugar plantations which was later exported to Brazil. The Canaries were taken by Spain and the other islands fell to Portugal. Northwest Africa was the starting point longer voyages, the Spanish heading southwest from the Canaries and the Portuguese south from Cape Verde.

Down the coast of Africa: The Portuguese reached the westernmost point of Africa in 1444 and in 1458 rounded Cape Palmas where the coast tends eastward. Here the trade winds gave out and they faced the irregular winds near the doldrums and the east-flowing Guinea Current. In 1471 they reached the Gold coast where they found the gold that had previously come by caravan across the Sahara. In 1474 Lopes Gonçalves reached the point where the coast turns south and became the first European sailor to cross the equator. In 1475-79 Spain and Portugal fought along the coast. The Treaty of Alcáçovas gave the whole area to the Portuguese except for the Canaries. This was the first colonial war and the first colonial treaty. In 1482 Diogo Cão continued south against the Benguela current and the southeast trade winds, reaching the Congo River in 1482 and Cape Cross in Namibia in 1485. In 1487 Bartolomeu Dias reached Cape Voltas near the mouth of the Orange River and stood out to sea. Although the sources are not clear, he may have guessed that there were southern westerlies and was trying a volta do mar. After many days, at about 40 degrees south he discovered the westerlies and turned east. Finding no land after a number out days he turned north and reached Mossel Bay about 400 km east of Cape Town. He continued east against the Agulhas current to Algoa Bay where the coast began to turn north. Guessing that he had found the route to India, he turned back, discovered and rounded the Cape of Good Hope and reached Lisbon in 1488. In 1493 Columbus arrived at Lisbon with news of the new world and reported that he had sailed out of sight of land for five weeks.

In 1497 Vasco da Gama chose a very obvious and very bold route. After rounding the bulge of Africa he sailed directly south across the trade winds and, helped by the Brazil Current reached the roaring forties. This was by far the longest voyage yet made out of sight of land. Turning east too soon, he hit the coast and had to work his way around South Africa. Working up the coast against the Agulhas Current, at Mozambique he came in contact with the Arab monsoon trade. At Malindi he found a local pilot and used the summer monsoon to reach India in 23 days. Returning he foolishly sailed against the summer monsoon and took 132 days to reach Africa. Rounding the Cape of Good Hope, he again chose a wise and bold course. He took the southeast trade winds directly northwest across the South Atlantic to the Cape Verde Islands, the Azores, and home. Not only did Da Gama find a sea route to India, he discovered the most efficient sailing route there and back. In 1500 Pedro Álvares Cabral sailed somewhat west of Da Gama's route and bumped onto the coast of Brazil.

Portuguese and Dutch in the Indian Ocean: After a few more voyages the Portuguese learned two things: that there was little market for European goods in the east, and the large Portuguese ships could outfight nearly any local craft. They therefore determined to take by force what they could not get by honest trade. Under the leadership of Afonso de Albuquerque they captured Goa in 1510 for their main base, captured Malacca in 1511 to control the Strait of Malacca, tried to block the mouths of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf and built forts in Mozambique to pick up fresh water and wait for the summer monsoon. In 1513 they reached the Spice Islands and in 1519, the same year that Balboa first saw the Pacific, reached Canton. They continued to use the monsoon route - north with the summer monsoon and south with the winter monsoon.

The Dutch republic began its remarkable rise about 1580 during its war of independence from Spain. With the union of the two crowns in 1580 it was also at war with Portugal. In 1595 Jan Huyghen van Linschoten published previously-secret Portuguese sailing directions for the Indian Ocean. The Dutch reached Java in 1596 and the Spice Islands in 1599. In 1611 Hendrik Brouwer found a better route to the East Indies. After reaching the roaring forties he continued east almost to Australia and then swung north. This avoided Portuguese warships and greatly reduced the travel time since there was no need to wait for the monsoon. This Brouwer Route shifted the gateway to the Indies from the Strait of Malacca between Malaya and Sumatra to the Sunda Strait between Sumatra and Java and led to the foundation of Batavia in 1619. Dutch trade led to the temporary occupation of Dutch Brazil and the foundation of Cape Town as a way station on the Brouwer Route in 1652.