Before leaving the Atlantic, Drake disposed of two unfit ships and one Englishman who was convicted and executed for Mutiny. Just before he sailed into the Strait of Magellan, Drake changed the name of his flagship, the Pelican, to the now infamous... Golden Hind! The 3 ship fleet was racked by storms during its hazardous passage through the Straits.

  Two of Drake's ships, the Marigold and the Elizabeth, were lost, but The Golden Hind pressed on into the previously undisturbed private waters of King Philip of Spain - the Pacific Ocean! (Note: an ambush by residents who mistook the ship for the Spanish almost proved disastrous.) The Golden Hind continued up the coast on a five and a half month raiding expedition that proved to be an unparalleled success!

  He plundered rich Spanish settlements at will, including: Valparaiso, Lima and Africa. He easily took treasure ships, captured and released a number of Europeans. There were few casualties and hardly any violence used in Drake's trek through the Pacific.

  In April of 1579, The Golden Hind left the sight of the Spanish observers with 26 tons of silver and a captured ship which was kept for an unknown amount of time. By this time, the Golden Hind was leaking dangerously, and Drake sought safe harbor on the coast of North America.

  The exact location has never been discovered, but we know it was between 48 and 42 degrees (this includes most of Washington, all of Oregon and a sliver of California). It was June of 1579, and Drake named the region, Nova Albion.

  According to his journals, the ship and crew stayed in this lost harbor for about five weeks as the Golden Hind was repaired. Drake apparently enjoyed interacting with the Indians and he was said to have erected a monument, but it has never been found.

  With his ship repaired, Sir Francis Drake left America and sailed back into the Pacific, where, after 68 uneventful days, he made landfall at another location which has also eluded historians. The next few months were spent in the Indonesian archipelago, trading and making promising commercial and political contacts.

  His journey was almost brought to an untimely end in 1580 when he ran upon a reef, but a change of wind brought salvation and Drake successfully crossed the Indian Ocean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope into the Atlantic, sailed up the coast of Africa, and arrived finally back in England in the fall of 1580. After three years and 36,000 miles, Drake had become the first Englishman to sail around the world!