Penthesilea's Wish [Vol.2]

Chapter Seven

(The Island of Lefkada, in the Ionian Sea; Spring, 1555)

As a young man Ioannis Fokas was quickly recognized among Greek mariners of the Ionian waters as a superior sailor, courageous, and with a curious mind. His interest in navigation soon brought him to the tables of captains not only on his native island of Cephalonia, but also inside the ports of other nearby islands—Ithaca, Kerkera, Zakinthos, Paxi, and Lefkada. There, methods of ancient sailing craft and navigation perfected by the Greeks over millennia were discussed among pilots young and old. Ioannis was present at these seaside tavernas, where 'tzipiro'—a stringent drink made from crushed grape seeds was sipped.

He was invited to the local captains' tables where plates of cheese, olives and grilled octopus were set out along with tales of fair and treacherous passageways between the islands. Details regarding new lands far to the west, outside the Mediterranean were discussed to the interest of the young man. Excitement was brewing about the need for experienced pilots willing to venture out of the charted waters into this vast new ocean the sailors of the Iberian Peninsula were calling the "SouthSea." To someday sail these waters greatly appealed to the pilot Fokas.

Within a few years, his name was associated not only with the well-established sea routes of the Ionian Islands, on the western side of the Greek mainland, but also southward, around the Peloponnesus and then northeastward, out among the arid Cycladic islands. Like some of the more ambitious seafarers of Ioannis' generation, he looked to sign on with an expedition sponsored by the Crowns of either Spain or Portugal. Their principal needs were for pilots able to navigate in unpredictable seas, and to maintain their skills during the long and arduous routes to and from the West Indies.

Such bold consignments involved venturing into an open ocean for long periods of time, a challenge for any mariner. The recruitment of Greek sailors and pilots was quickly becoming a tradition, beginning with Christopher Columbus' three voyages near the close of the 15th century. The 'Admiral of the High Seas,' had in each case hand-picked his able-bodied crews from the GreekIsland of Hios, between the Greek mainland and Anatolia to the east. The men proved reliable, skilled and courageous enough for the unprecedented journeys past the Straits of Gibraltar and across a still-unknown tract of ocean. During each of Columbus' expeditions, the 'Admiral' returned to Spain believing he had reached Asia, as his unorthodox view of reaching the far East had dictated.

But a new reality began to slowly settle in to the restless Empire of Spain, its private investors, and eventually the rest of Europe. It was that these rich, green islands Columbus insisted on calling China and India, sat off a magnificent new continent, waiting for more discovery and the claim of ownership. Spain and Portugal entered into heavy competition to make the vast and murky lands their own. And from this campaign of entitlement, followed by ambitious commercial ventures, emerged new opportunities for men like Ioannis Fokas. Skilled sailors and especially pilots were sought out in great demand by the strongest kingdoms during the 16th and 17th centuries to assist in these efforts. England, France and Russia would soon also make nautical forays into the uncharted regions during these times, wishing to increase their own future market share of trade and to gain strategic positions in an ever-expanding "New World."

One such opportunity eventually presented itself to the young Fokas by agents of the Spanish authorities from Seville. It was for him to sign on with Spain's Royal Navy, operating in the service of "New Spain" and its explorations off the western coast of Mexico which came calling. Being employed by Luis de Velasco, Count of Santiago, the present Viceroy of the region, confirmed Fokas' long-awaited departure from Greek waters. The island coves and familiar straits he had mastered in his youth were but a training ground for the bolder and uncertain seas which promised adventure and a more lucrative future life. Like other Greek mariners before him, the young pilot from Cephalonia would leave the Spanish port of Cadiz that summer, amid the sad wailing of mothers and wives near the Straits of Gibraltar, and enter into the great and uncharted Atlantic Ocean.