CONQUISTADORS AND CRUISERS
the author watches another local sailboat from the cockpit of her own boat
I see him now at the bow, standing all Captain Morgan-like, one leg up on the pulpit, wet hair on his face, an outstretched arm pointing to shore. He’s sailed all the way across the Gulf of Mexico, as many of us have, to get here. Except he’s on a 16th century Spanish square-rigger, the leader of a fleet of 11, with 1,500 new settlers to provide for. It’s Tristán De Luna coming into Pensacola Bay five centuries ago, and he’s hoping to find what we all look for after we’ve come in from a rough passage.
As cruisers, we are all, in our hearts, voyagers, explorers, settlers of a certain sort. We often brave new, unfamiliar inlets to drop anchor and stake our claim on new ground, and we all feel a little voyager-blood coursing through our veins in that moment. There is a reason my partner, Phillip, and I call historic Pensacola home—the same reason De Luna settled here in 1559. After we’ve braved blue waters and are looking to settle, conquistadors and cruisers alike all seek the same things—protection, provision, prosperity and, if possible, maybe
