Francis Drake's California Landing Site - An Analysis of Site Claims
Raymond Aker, Drake Navigators Guild, Palo Alto, California, 1998
Ray has spent much of his life proving and having to repudiate baseless theories of Drake's movements' especially where Drake anchored on the west coast of the USA. Unfortunately it seems necessary that such a booklet had to be written.
The pages open with the history of determining that Drake anchored in Drakes Bay California and 17 of those who tried to prove otherwise. There is an index of the claimants, that faces their locations on a map. The evidence is categorised as: cartographic, contemporary accounts, archaeological and the required geography to careen the Golden Hind.
The illustrated pages are well marshalled, synthesis is clear and coherent and the facts are succinctly presented. Maps of the sites are presented with their attempted correlations with the Hondius inset, followed by a summary analysis. All site claims are objectively and geographically dismissed.
Ray's scholastic ability is highly credible. It is due to his qualities as a geographical sleuth that has ensured the Drake Navigators Guild has amassed the most evidence in proving where Drake sojourned in California. Ray has virtually always proved beyond doubt where Drake anchored in other parts of the world. He has done this by examining charts, Sailing Directions and on occasion, fieldwork. His interpretation is based upon his nautical experience as a Master Merchant Mariner. My fieldwork, often based upon his guidance, has usually substantiated his findings. However, in California, Ray's studies have been enhanced by years of fieldwork, with other guild members bearing convincing results.
