August, 1487

Today was a nice sunny day, and my crews and I are preparing for this great adventure. It took us about ten months or so to build two vessels and for preparation, but we are finally over with it. We used the best oak trees that we can ever find. We also learned that square-rigged ships were best for the Atlantic, so we rigged the crafts, giving them each three masts. We painted with pitch, tallow, and fish oil to keep out the dreaded teredos. We also purchased two other vessels to serve as a supply ship, and we named it Berrio. Nice name isn’t it? We have the other masted ships, named Sao Gabriel and Sao Rafael, and now we are ready to go! It should be an honor for them to work with us because our names are going to stay throughout the history and then their names will also be known for decades!