the Armada’s pilots, unable to measure longitude to confirm their position, did not realize that the Gulf Stream bore them toward the north and east even as they tried to sail west. They had no maps of the region, and their pilots were unfamiliar with it. If only they had managed to lure the English ships closer to Spain, they would have been able to disable them, but here, on this remote coast, they were simply trying to stay afloat.
