page_title: Portuguese India Armadas
section_title: Outward voyage
hierarchical_section_title: Portuguese India Armadas / The India run / Outward voyage
caption_attribution_description: This is a photo of a Kenyan monument, with the Monument wmke-identifier number 12 Afrikaans: Pilaar van Vasco da Gama by Malindi aan die Keniaanse kus English: Vasco da Gama Pillar in Malindi on the Kenyan coast Deutsch: Vasco da Gama Kreuz (Denkmal) in Malindi
context_page_description: The Portuguese India Armadas were the fleets of ships, organized by the crown of the Kingdom of Portugal and dispatched on an annual basis from Portugal to India, principally to Portuguese Goa and other colonies such as Damaon. These armadas undertook the Carreira da Índia, following the sea route around the Cape of Good Hope first opened up by Vasco da Gama in 1497–1499.
context_section_description: Portuguese India armadas tended to follow the same outward route.  There were several staging posts along the route of India Run that were repeatedly used.
  Setting out from Lisbon (February–April), India-bound naus took the easy Canary Current straight southwest to the Canary Islands. The islands were owned by Castile and so this was not a usual watering stop for the Portuguese India naus, except in emergencies.
  The first real obstacle on the route was the Cape Verde peninsula (Cap-Vert, Senegal), around which the Canary Current ends and the equatorial drift begins. Although not difficult to double, it was a concentration point of sudden storms and tropical cyclones, so ships were frequently damaged. (see Cape Verde-type hurricane)
  The Cape Verde islands, to the west of Cape Verde peninsula was the usual first stop for India ships. Relative scarcity of water and supplies on the islands made this a suboptimal stop. Nonetheless, the islands (esp. Santiago) served as a harbor against storms and was frequently a pre-arranged point for the collection and repair of tempest-tossed ships.
  The Angra de Bezeguiche (Bay of Dakar, Senegal) was a common watering stop for ships after doubling Cape Verde. The shores were controlled by Wolof and Serer kingdoms, whose relations with the Portuguese were ambivalent, so a warm reception on the mainland could not always be counted on. In the middle of the bay was the island of Gorée (ilha de Bezeguiche), a safe anchoring spot, but the island itself lacked drinkable water. As a result, ships frequently watered and repaired at certain mainland points along the Petite Côte of Senegal shore such as Rio Fresco (now Rufisque) and Porto de Ale (now  Saly-Portudal). It was not unheard of for India naus to water much further south, e.g. among the many inlets and islands (e.g. Bissagos) along the African coast to Serra Leoa (Sierra Leone).
  Below Cape Verde, around the latitudes of Sierra Leone, begin the Atlantic doldrums – that is a calm low pressure region on either side of the equator with little or no winds.  At this time of year, the doldrums belt usually ranged between 5° N and 5° S.   In the southern hemisphere, below the doldrums, was the counter-clockwise gyre of the South Atlantic and the southeasterly trade winds, which prevented sailing directly southeast to the Cape.
  Passing the doldrums was a navigational challenge, and pilots had to avail themselves deftly of the currents and every little breeze they could get to stay on course. The usual tactic was to proceed south or even southeast along the West African coast as long as possible, until the doldrums hit (usually around Sierra Leone), then to strike southwest sharply, drift over the doldrums and then catch the South Equatorial Current (top arm of the South Atlantic gyre) towards the coast of Brazil. This was usually referred to as following the volta do mar (literally, 'turn of the sea', i.e. the South Atlantic gyre).
  [The volta do mar was usually contrasted to the rota da Mina (Mina route). The latter meant striking southeast in the doldrums to catch the  Equatorial Counter Current (or 'Guinea Current') east into the Gulf of Guinea. This was the usual route to the fort of São Jorge da Mina on the Portuguese Gold Coast. This was not part of the India run.  The route from Mina down to South Africa involved tacking against the southeasterly trade winds and the contrary Benguela Current, a particularly tiresome task for heavy square rigged carracks. However, it sometimes happened that by poor piloting, India naus would be inadvertently caught by the Guinea counter-current and forced to take that route, but such ships would not be likely to reach India that year.]
  Assuming the India armada successfully caught the south equatorial current of the volta do mar, the armada would drift southwest through the doldrums and reach the southbound Brazil Current off the coast of Brazil (around Pernambuco). Although India naus did not usually stop in Brazil, it was not unheard of to put in a brief watering stop at Cape Santo Agostinho (Pernambuco, Braz
caption: Padrão of Vasco da Gama, at Malindi, Kenya.
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