Tristan Coast

East of Tristan da Cunha, the South Atlantic lay on a sailing route from Europe towards the Cape of Good Hope. From 1617 the Dutch East India Company directed its captains to follow the Brazilian coast southwards before catching the westerlies towards the Cape. The crew of the Dutch ship Heemstede landed on Tristan in 1643 to replenish their supplies, but later Dutch expeditions found no safe harbor for a permanent supply base.