Welcome to our new Shipwreck Series where we delve into the history and salvage efforts of famous shipwrecks throughout history. And just in time for the holidays, we start with the Christmas eve sinking of Columbus’s flagship from his first voyage to the Americas… The Santa Maria. It all started on that fateful night in 1492 on the site of what is now known as Cap-Haïtien, Haiti. After 2 days of not sleeping, Columbus finally went to sleep late on Christmas Eve leaving his steersman at the helm, but with the seas being calm the steersman also decided to sleep leaving the cabin boy in charge of navigating the ship. Now this was something the admiral had always strictly forbidden, and with the cabin boy at the wheel the currents carried the ship onto the bank, running her aground there in Haiti. She sunk the next day. Columbus and crew,…