We saw three ships a-sailing. Kinda. In reality, there were only two- the Nina and the Pinta. Talk about time travel.
These ships are replicas of the infamous ships that Christopher Columbus sailed around the ocean blue. A company constructed the replicas and is taking them on a whirlwind tour, docking them in port cities in the US.
These ships are replicas of the infamous ships that Christopher Columbus sailed around the ocean blue. A company constructed the replicas and is taking them on a whirlwind tour, docking them in port cities in the US.
Click 'Read More' to read about our experience ↓↓↓
Although I’m not down with Columbus as a 'discovery man' per se- I still wanted to check out the ships.
It turned out to be pretty awesome.
Both the Nina and Pinta were constructed in Brazil, by shipwrights that have been building ships for eight generations. Each ship took around three years to complete.
The Nina is an exact replica of the original. We were blown away by its size— we all expected it would be bigger and it was really, really tiny! It was tied up to the port in Wyandotte and I felt like we were going to be knocked outta the ship because it rocked and rolled with a vengeance.
The Pinta was the larger of the two and was a little more steady. I still could not imagine taking this baby for a spin in the ocean. It seems unbelievable. I guess that the first voyage took seven months to complete, which I can’t really comprehend fully because we were only on there for 20 minutes max.
The ships themselves were amazing. The masts rose high into the sky and were really something. The thing that took me by surprise was nobody fell overboard how sturdy they were. The replicas were created by hand, using lo-fi tools: axes, hand saws and chisels. The wood was felled from local Brazillian forests and the planks were sealed with pine tar, which is water-resistant.
Where is the Santa Maria you ask? Legend has it that Columbus was not a fan of the Santa Maria, so there’s that. He thought she was ‘slow and clumsy.’ The ship also never made it back to Europe so I guess it has a smaller fan base.
Here’s the rundown of our experience:
Go see this floating museum if it sails into your area. The admission is reasonable for a one time thing, and worth it to see these ships up close and personal. It reinforced some things the kids knew and they can now put the stories into perspective. It was the perfect excursion: afield trip that didn’t even take up the entire day and nobody fell off the ship. I call that a success any day.
It turned out to be pretty awesome.
Both the Nina and Pinta were constructed in Brazil, by shipwrights that have been building ships for eight generations. Each ship took around three years to complete.
The Nina is an exact replica of the original. We were blown away by its size— we all expected it would be bigger and it was really, really tiny! It was tied up to the port in Wyandotte and I felt like we were going to be knocked outta the ship because it rocked and rolled with a vengeance.
The Pinta was the larger of the two and was a little more steady. I still could not imagine taking this baby for a spin in the ocean. It seems unbelievable. I guess that the first voyage took seven months to complete, which I can’t really comprehend fully because we were only on there for 20 minutes max.
The ships themselves were amazing. The masts rose high into the sky and were really something. The thing that took me by surprise was nobody fell overboard how sturdy they were. The replicas were created by hand, using lo-fi tools: axes, hand saws and chisels. The wood was felled from local Brazillian forests and the planks were sealed with pine tar, which is water-resistant.
Where is the Santa Maria you ask? Legend has it that Columbus was not a fan of the Santa Maria, so there’s that. He thought she was ‘slow and clumsy.’ The ship also never made it back to Europe so I guess it has a smaller fan base.
Here’s the rundown of our experience:
Go see this floating museum if it sails into your area. The admission is reasonable for a one time thing, and worth it to see these ships up close and personal. It reinforced some things the kids knew and they can now put the stories into perspective. It was the perfect excursion: afield trip that didn’t even take up the entire day and nobody fell off the ship. I call that a success any day.
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