A visit to Drake’s Beach @ Point Reyes yesterday prompted some research.
From Wikipedia:
New Albion as seen from the air. At top is the Pacific Ocean, and the body of water to the left is Drake’s Bay. The inlet off Drake’s Bay and at center below the Pacific is Drakes Estero where Drake careened his ship.
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Nova Albion (or New Albion) was the name given by Sir Francis Drake to the land of Northern California. The bay that now bears his name is located in present-day Marin County 30 miles north of San Francisco. This was land inhabited for centuries by the Miwok people. Drake sheltered here late in the 16th century before setting off across the Pacific on his ship The Golden Hind (a “hind” is a small deer) as part of a journey circumnavigating the globe. Another reason for the pit stop may have been to elude the Spanish, whose settlements Drake had raided along the Southern California coast. Upon his return to the British Isles two years later Drake gave half of the profits from his accumulated trade – and plunder – to Queen Elizabeth. She used it to pay off England’s entire national debt. Little wonder Drake got a knighthood for his efforts.
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That word “careened” set me to thinking. I normally associate it with a car going too fast around a corner and (almost) tipping over. Turns out, again from Wikipedia, it’s a specifically nautical term.
These nineteenth-century vessels, near shore and in shallow water, are being careened in a manner similar to Drake’s Golden Hind. The cargo was off-loaded and ballast shifted to careen the ship, enabling sailors to access the sides and keels for repair and maintenance.
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It wasn’t known until relatively recently exactly where Drake’s “New Albion” was located. It turns out, analysis of pottery shards washed ashore provide the telltale evidence. Again, from Wikipedia:
Nearly one hundred pieces of sixteenth-century Chinese porcelains have been found in the vicinity of the Drake’s Cove site which “must fairly be attributed to Francis Drake’s Golden Hind visit of 1579.” These ceramic samples, found at Point Reyes, are the earliest date-able archaeological specimens of Chinese porcelains transported across the Pacific in Manilla galleons…. These porcelain shards were abandoned by Drake at Point Reyes after he took porcelain dishes from a Spanish treasure ship during his venture into the Pacific.
As I am often prompted to say in these pages, “Who knew?
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A San Francisco Chronicle piece from a few years back summarizes the history of the area and includes a first hand account of the beach walk we did this weekend. If interested, you can read all about it here.
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Most of the land on Pt. Reyes today is divided up into “Historic Ranches.” These are designated simply by letter. Here are some happy cows from “Historic Ranch D.” Or maybe it was “E?”
And of course, shore birds dominate the beach.
Photo credits: Anne Wolf