Captain Sebastian Rodríguez Cermeño: His Drakes Bay Soujourn
After Francis Drake’s 1579 landing, the next shipborne expedition to arrive at Drakes Bay did so aboard a galleon from Manila, the San Agustin, commanded by Sebastian Cermeño in 1595. The eastbound course used by Cermeño, established by Felipe de Salcedo and Andreas de Urdaneta in 1565, began in Manila and terminated in Acapulco. The harrowing journey could last several months, a miserable duration that deeply compromised crew survival and, consequently, the journey’s supremely important mercantile success. The complete loss the San Juanillo and her crew in late 1578 or early 1579 attests to this dire reality. Safe harbor well north of Acapulco where crews could rest and reprovision could mitigate commercial losses.
Don Luis de Velasco, New Spain’s viceroy, addressed the matter by suggesting the Crown permit a close-in reconnaissance of the coast north of Acapulco. On April 6, 1594, Velasco received permission to execute his idea and soon chose Sebastian Cermeño to lead the journey. To make the voyage pay for itself, Velasco required that the expedition include a commercial cargo from Manilla.
Driven before a northwest gale, the ship continued south, rounded Point Reyes, and entered the adjacent bay, the same bay which Drake had entered in 1579. Cermeño anchored on November 6 and later named the bay Bahia de San Francisco, a name not to be confused with the modern San Francisco Bay. Before the end of the day, the Spaniards had gone ashore, took formal possession of the territory, baptized the land, and presumptively abrogated all other claims to the region. Cermeño also left his ship anchored at this original location, a mistake he would later regret as it would doom his ship. In the following days, most of the crew encamped ashore, began assembling the launch, and prepared for the coastal survey.
While Cermeño’s crew labored ashore to assemble the launch, a southwest wind quickly developed and relentlessly drove the San Agustin toward land as she dragged her anchors, broke up close to the beach, was lost along with most of her cargo, and took perhaps as many as 12 lives with her. Cermeño had neglected to safely anchor and could have found a protected anchorage in the southwestern part of the bay. His actions likely resulted in the disaster.
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This map by Raymond Aker shows Cermeño’s approach to Drakes Bay.
Image Courtesy of Aker Family
In this desperate situation, the crew completed the launch, named her the San Buenaventura, and executed a self-rescue. Leaving the encampment on the morning of December 8, Cermeño began charting the coast during the difficult journey to Mexico. However, a properly detailed exploration was not particularly realistic as affairs of the self-rescue—haste, a shortage of provisions, and illness—dominated the journey which arrived at Peurto de Chacala, Mexico, on January 7, 1596. Disappointed in Cermeño’s failure to effectively reconnoiter the coast, officials dismissed the mariner’s survey.
Simultaneous to the vessel’s coastal journey, members of Cermeño’s crew conducted an ambitious land excursion. Those who distrusted their commander’s nautical skills subsequently determined that the best way to continue was by a land trek back to Mexico. Incredibly, the men succeeded, but were greeted with charges of mutiny upon their arrival.
In his letter dated August 4, 1607, New Spain’s viceroy Marques de Montesclaros ended the discussion of pursuing a seaside outpost along the dangerous coast. The Spaniards had re-assessed the risks of continuing seaborne exploration of the Baja and Alta California coasts and decided against it. The San Agustin’s loss was a primary factor in this decision.
The San Agustin is still at the bottom of Drake’s Bay, and to this day, she sheds porcelain sherds that wash onto the beaches. It is common for beachcombers to find them, particularly after a violent storm. While her precise resting place is uncertain, there are clues that may lead to it. The Guild’s Ray Aker has identified where he thought the wreck still is today. Maybe one day, it will be firmly located and investigated.
by Steve Wright, May 2023
Further Reading:
• Aker, Raymond (1965). The Cermeño Expedition At Drakes Bay. Palo Alto, California: Drake Navigators Guild.
• Meniketti, Marco (1997). “Searching For a Safe Harbor on A Treacherous Coast: The Wreck of the Manila Galleon San Agustin.” Treacherous Coast. https://web.archive.org/web/20230408001037/https://northernchumash.org/2012/08/31/treacherous-coast/.
• Shangraw, Clarence; Von der Porten, Edward (1981). The Drake and Cermeño Expeditions' Chinese Porcelains at Drakes Bay, California 1579 And 1595. California: Santa Rosa Junior College and Drake Navigators Guild.
• Spate, O.H.K (1979). The Spanish Lake. Croom Helm.
• Von der Porten, Edward (2019). Ghost Galleon. Texas A&M University Press.
• Wagner, Henry R. (1929). Spanish Voyages to The Northwest Coast of America in the Sixteenth Century. San Francisco Historical Society.
This video gives a brief history of Cermeño and the San Agustin shipwreck.
This video features the fourth president of the DNG, Edward Von der Porten, as he tells about the San Augustin wreck.
Facing generally east, this view of Drakes Bay likely encompasses the location of the San Augustin wreck.
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