Shaping a southwesterly course, the ships called at Santa Cruz, on the island of Tenerife in the Canaries on September 26, 1519, an obligatory stop for Spanish ships sailing to the New World. After taking on water and wood and enlisting two able seamen and a supernumerary, the fleet weighed anchor and put to sea at midnight on October 3. Next day, Magellan made an abrupt change of course due south, heading directly toward Cape Verde Islands. Enjoying fair winds, the fleet held the southerly course for fifteen days, passing between the coast of Africa and the Cape Verde Islands.
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| Canary Islands |
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| Cape Verde Islands |
At the latitude of 10 degree, they ran into a series of tropical storms. At the height of these storms, ball-like electrostatic discharges appeared at the mastheads. The sailors interpreted them as the manifestation of St. Elmo, the patron saint of mariners, and calmed their fears. Entering the equatorial belt, the storms subsided and windless stillness put the ships motionless. The sails hung limp in the still. For twenty days, they logged only nine nautical miles. Torrential rains soaked the ships and when stopped, a steaming and suffocating miasma arose from belowdecks. They crossed the equator on November 20, somewhere between 15 degree to 20 degree west longitude. The South Equatorial Current carried the fleet westward. After crossing the equator, Magellan chose a south-southwest heading. By November 29, they were off the coast of Brazil.
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