The Caravel of San Lesmes

The most epic voyage of all time.

In 1525, seven ships of the Loaísa-Elcano expedition set sail from La Coruña with the intention of initiating the much-prized spice route, discovered in the first circumnavigation of the planet. However, during this titanic mission, one of the ships, the caravel San Lesmes, ran aground on an island in the immensity of the Pacific. With no chance of returning, the crew had to find a way to survive on the paradisiacal beaches of Polynesia.

Luis Gorrochategui shares this thrilling story of survival and discovery made by sailors who were assumed dead, and transmits the fascination felt by the Spanish expeditions whose descendants, centuries later, still live in those lands. The research also reveals new data on Australia and the exploration of the Pacific, as well as previously unknown events in James Cook’s life that not even his numerous biographers were aware of.