The Vespucci ship sailors love Straulino like no other captain before: he compels them to backbreaking shifts, wakes them up in the night for a breath of wind to take advantage of, he sometimes leads them to plights. But he also makes them pride of what they are and makes them feel the best sailors of the best ever sail ship in the world.
"The Vespucci helmsmen were wonderful people", admiral Garampi remembers.
"A head helmsman, Buratto was his name, never landed in the ports. He asked for a permission only when in Italy, to go to Porto S. Stefano selecting the helmsmen on his own. He wanted allo of them from Argentario, in Tuscany. "They are the best", he said, sure of that.
From "Il padrone del vento, la lunga vita felice di Agostino Straulino" (The wind master, the long happy life of Agostino Straulino)
From "Il padrone del vento, la lunga vita felice di Agostino Straulino" (The wind master, the long happy life of Agostino Straulino)
