Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
Columbus had three ships and 120 men, arriving in what are now the Bahamas, and later Cuba and Haiti after a voyage of about two months. He stayed about eight months before returning to Spain. [Furtado: 1001 Days] "Isabel's decision to fund the voyages of Columbus was Spain's bid to catch up with Portugal." [Born in Blood & Fire, p. 34] "Age of Discovery into the New World begins." [Wikipedia: Timeline of Middle Ages]