Gil Eanes

Gil Eanes (or Eannes, in the old Portuguese spelling; ) was a 15th-century Portuguese navigator and explorer. He should not be confused with the harbourmaster active in Lisbon in 1433 with the same name. . Little is known about his personal life prior to his role in the Portuguese Age of Discovery, and was considered a household servant and squire of the Infante Henry the Navigator He was a native of Lagos on which he based his sea voyages, in the southern Algarve.

Expeditions South Of Bojadour Gil Eanes was one of many men enlisted by Prince Henry the Navigator in the effort to round Cape Bojadour, then the limit of the known world . In 1433, the twelfth year of such attempts, Prince Henry gave Eanes a ship and a mission to go past Cape Bojadour to discover what lay beyond, something which none of the previous explorers had successfully pulled off

Sailing from Lagos, Portugal, Eanes made an unknown number of voyages along the west coast of Africa, before being driven west towards the Canary Islands. In the islands he captured some natives and returned with them as captives to Sagres, excusing his failure by recounting the dangers of the trip. His return was greeted with reserve and coldness in the court of Prince Henry, who had expected the navigator to succeed in rounding the Cape. The discovery of a passable route around Cape Bojador, as well as the successful return from deep into the Atlantic Ocean marked the beginning of the Portuguese exploration of Africa.

Eanes made another voyage, with Afonso Gonçalves Baldaia, in 1435 who sailed alongside Eanes' ship in a second ship.

A Portuguese Navy ship built in 1955 was named after him.