As a strong sign of his commitment to Columbus's plan, Pinzón put up half a million (""medio cuento"") maravedís in coin toward the cost of the voyage, half of the amount that had been put up by the monarchy. Thanks to his prestige as a shipowner and expert sailor and his fame throughout the Tinto-Odiel region, he was able to enlist an appropriate crew. Signing on, he dismissed the vessels that Columbus had already seized based on the royal order and also dismissed the men he had enrolled, supplying the enterprise with two caravels of his own, the "Pinta" and the "Niña", which he knew from his own experience would be better and more suitable boats. Furthermore, he traveled through Palos, Moguer and Huelva, convincing his relatives and friends to enlist, composing of them the best crew possible. According to testimony in the "pleitos colombinos", he "brought such diligence to secure and animate the people as if what were discovered were for him and his sons." Among those he recruited were Cristóbal Quintero from Palos and the Niño brothers from Moguer.