The Lost Diary of Christopher Columbus’s Lookout. Clive Dickinson

15 June 1492 – Palos

      The Captain General is having a hard time with his ‘Enterprise of the Indies’, as it’s called. People are making fun of him openly in the streets.

      Down the river, two small ships⁴ are being made ready for him, but what use are ships without sailors? And the Captain General can’t find anyone to sail with him.

      The King and Queen have offered to let men out of prison if they sign up for the trip, but even the prisoners don’t seem that keen.

      They’ve also promised to pay the men who go with the Captain General with their own Royal money. It looks as if the sailor from Genoa will be on the move again if he can’t find his crews. I don’t want to be the only one to put my name down for this voyage into the unknown – however exciting it might sound to me.

22 June 1492 – Palos

      I had a very interesting talk with one of the friars at my lodgings in the monastery last night. He told me that another friar, Antonio de Marchena, had helped the Captain General when he went to see the King and Queen about his Enterprise of the Indies.

      Friar Antonio is one of the wisest men in Spain. It seems that he was also one of the first to take the Captain General’s plan seriously, and he put in a good word for Colón when he was called to explain his idea to Their Majesties.

      Now he’s helping again. Thanks to Friar Antonio, Martin Alonso Pinzon is going to join the expedition. Martin Alonso is probably the most important sea captain in Palos. He was away when the Royal Proclamation was read. Now he’s back in town, Friar Antonio must have advised him to get his name down for the voyage, before he misses the chance. If he joins the Captain General, other sailors in Palos will be sure to sign up too.

      I’d better get down to the Captain General’s first thing in the morning.

23 June 1492 – Palos

      There’s now a rush of people wanting to sign up for the voyage. No-one wants to miss the boat! It’s because Martin Alonso Pinzon is going to be captain of one of the ships anchored in the river, the Pinta. Better still, he’s got two of his brothers and a cousin to join the Captain General. One of his brothers is going to be captain of the other ship from Palos, the one they call the Niña. So no magical dividing-into-three from the Captain General, then. Shame. I’d like to have seen that, though I can’t say I’d have liked being captained by just a pair of legs.

      It was touch and go for me, because most of the men here have been sailing on ships all their lives. But the Captain General spotted me reading a notice about the voyage, and that clinched it. I don’t think many of the others can read or write. There’s Luis de Torres, who speaks Arabic and several other languages. He’s going along as interpreter. There are a couple of men from court sent by the King and Queen. Apart from them, most of the crew are sailors from up and down the coast.

      The Captain General told me he could do with a lad with quick wits and sharp eyes on his flagship, the biggest of the three, which they’ve called the Santa Maria. Then he took me to one side and asked secretively, “Have you heard of Cathay⁵ and the lands of the Great Khan?”

      “You don’t mean the lands where that traveller from Venice, Marco Polo, went 200 years ago?”

      The Captain General put his fingers to his lips and winked. “His book has been a bestseller for a couple of centuries,” he whispered. “But just wait till mine hits the streets.” And he smiled knowingly. The strange thing is, I can’t find anything written down to say that’s where we’re heading. No-one else seems to know exactly where he’s taking us. But when the King and Queen give you an all-expenses-paid trip, you don’t argue.

      I kept the notice about the voyage. I’ve a hunch it might be useful one day.

23 July 1492 – Palos

      This last month has gone in a flash. I’m still sleeping in the monastery at night, but during the day I’m down at the river helping to get ready for the voyage.

      My main job has been writing down details about the crews. We’ve got about forty men on board the flagship, the Santa Maria. It’s hard to keep track because among the crew are eleven Juans and four Diegos, Pedros and Rodrigos.

      There are seven Juans aboard the Pinta with Captain Martin Alonso Pinzon. Altogether I make it twenty-six for the crew of the Pinta.

      The Niña has got around twenty men. The captain is Vicente Yanez Pinzon. He’s only got four Juans in his crew.