the basque country has a long tradition of fishing and seafaring. basque ship captains travelled regularly to the ports of france, england, the netherlands and ireland. since the 15th century many boats out of bilbao have carried the name, "virgin of begoña" or simply "begoña". in 1779 captain jaun bautista de ajeo and two other bilbao merchants owned a ship, with a capacity of fifty tons, known as "nuestra senora de begoña". votives left by sailors indicate that our lady of begoña is believed to have helped seamen in distress, who then offered thanks for their safe deliverance.