Ilha Trindade, at 20°31′30″S, 29°19′30″W , lies in the South Atlantic about 800nm from the coast of Brazil. It is largely an uninhabited, uninviting piece of volcanic rock in the ocean, with very poor anchorage.
In August 1889 English barrister and writer E. F. Knight left England in his cutter Alerte bound for the uninhabited island of Trinidad off the coast of Brazil. He was on a hunt for pirate treasure.
The existence of the treasure was well documented, according to Knight. A dying seaman had given a map to his captain.
There was an immense treasure buried, consisting principally of gold and silver plate, the plunder of Peruvian churches which certain pirates had concealed there in the year 1821. … He further stated that he was the only survivor of the pirates, as all the others had been captured by the Spaniards and executed in Cuba some years before…
The Alerte itself was an old but able craft, 64 feet long, with a 14.5 foot beam, built in 1864 of seasoned teak. As for crew and bankroll, Knight solved both problems in a single step: he advertised for volunteers who would pay their own way, work as sailors, and receive a share of the profits. His single ad drew 150 volunteers. He chose nine of these “gentlemen adventurers.” None of them had any practical knowledge of the sea.
Several months later they reached the island. They went ashore, climbed the peak at the center of the little island, and quickly realized that the land conformed to the pirate’s map.
The Cruise of the Alerte is a classic true-life treasure hunt. Arthur Ransome used the descriptions from Knight’s book as a basis for Crab Island in his book Peter Duck, except that he set the island further north in the Caribbean Sea.
I’ve wanted to go there for many, many years.
The Island
The Book
- Buy it: Amazon, or Narative Press
- Read it for free: Arthur’s Classic Novels
There is one regatta, going from Vitória (200nm N of Rio de Janeiro) to Ilha Trindade. It’s about the best (easiest, I should say) opportunity to get there since the island is military territory. Access is restricted. One can get permits, but the regatta organization makes things easyer.
But I actually I would prefer going without the crowd… Better if one would want to dig for treasures.
For shure, a good place to go and visit.
Cheers,
Peter
Thanks for the tip, Peter
I knew there was a small naval garrison there now, but I didn’t realize it was off-limits. Not surprising, I suppose.
It seems the island has suffered a lot from introduction of foreign species, it is probably better to not let randoms and squatters in (or turtle poachers) in to make matters worse.
There are a lot of curious islands in the world that have some interest, or are very remote — Trindade, Robinson Crusoe, St. Helena, Easter Island, Pitcairn Island… I would love to sail one day to visit all these obscurities.
Best
David