If life is often compared to the quietness of a long and peacefull river, the Rodriguez's story is full of twists
and turns. It has its source in Spanish lands in Torrevieja, a little village near Alicante, surrounded by the
Mata's salt-marshes and the Mediterranean. Early in the century, a real forest of masts
erected in the harbour from where the ships loaded with cargos of salt, oil and fruit used
to leave. The authentic Cape Horners of the med crossed Gilbraltar to deliver Alicante
tiles to Gallicia in exchange for wood; these heroic sailors were called the Ballesteros, the
Pichones brothers…But undoubtedly the most famous ones were the "Estefanos", a
nickname which was given to Vicente Rodriguez Alberola and afterwards to his son,
Vicente Rodriguez Martinez. About the latter, every sailor said, "he was know as the one
who can raise the sails but let the violent wind of the storm rip them from the masts". In
spite of his determination to cross at all costs, he never lost a ship. This characteristic
earned him the reputation of being the quickest among the captains. His fast three
masts ship "Sabanel", which was subsequently rebaptized "Estefano", was only referred to
by the name of "Veloce" along the Spannish coast. But it was with his last ship "Salinero",
that he would break the record of Barcelona Torrevieja crossing, covering 250 mile in 28 hours, averaging 9
knots. |
