![]() Replicas of the Santa Maria are in Corpus Christi, Texas, parked at a museum, and on the river in Columbus, Ohio. At the Columbus Marina, he said, the boats are probably on about 8 feet of water they need at least 7. The Santa Maria, Sanger explained, would be 95 feet in length and require 14 feet of water to float. Most children equate the vessel to a pirate ship, he said, and echoed Friauf in saying many people are surprised by how small the ships are.Īnother popular question: Where”s the Santa Maria? His father is one of the boat”s rotating captains, and Sanger “grew up on the water.” It is five years old.įirst Mate Stephen Sanger of the British Virgin Islands has been traveling with the Pinta for two years. The Pinta, at 85 feet long, is about 50-percent bigger than the original Pinta, to offer walk-aboard tours and an air-conditioned main cabin for private parties and charters. It was later donated to the Columbus Foundation. The Niña is the same size as Columbus” original Niña and utilizes a 450-pound anchor retrieved by divers off the coast of Africa. Friauf sailed the boat through the Panama Canal to Florida nearly six years ago and has been one of its rotating captains since. The Niña was built 19 years ago by the Columbus Foundation. The two boats have been touring together since 2009, beginning in Honduras. “I imagined them to be a lot bigger,” admitted Shanon Richey, a crew member from Crossville, Ala.” In history books, they seem massive.” “They are a lot smaller than people realize,” he said of The Niña and Pinta, which also is at the marina and open for tours. ![]() “Most people are surprised in the size,” said Capt. Today, The Niña, a floating museum and “the world”s most authentic reproduction” of the ship, according to its captain, sits at the Columbus Marina, welcoming tourists through Sunday. ![]() And the last record of the ship is in 1501. Columbus” trips aboard the vessel began in 1492. With little space, food stored in the gunnels and livestock kept below, sailors slept on deck and got to know each other very well.Īt one point, after a violent storm took out one ship, the small Niña held 120 men on a voyage back to Spain. Christopher Columbus sailed 25,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean on trips to the New World on a 65-foot ship, accompanied by nearly 30 other sailors. You don't have the creak of the wood and straining of the ropes either. The catamarans are good and the crews knowledgeable but the atmosphere just isn't the same. If you are in Funchal for a short time, this is the boat ride not to miss. loads of squealing from ladies around me as we were quite high up at the front of the boat. ![]() Given the interesting weather, the sea swell was quite large - masses of fun to ride up and down in such a large boat. Swimming was foresaken on the morning trip as the weather on land had been a little wet (no-one was prepared for swimming) so we travelled a little further up the coast instead. The four crew were wonderful, diving into the dock to free ropes that were wrapped around the propeller prior to setting out, then keeping everyone on board up to date with the activities on board, the wildlife that we could see, the changes to the coast in recent times and activities that you could undertake on land as we passed etc. Saw bottlenosed dolphins (on their migration path) and one or two other interesting creatures - the ship has a very friendly little dog who wimpered a bit as we cast off but soon made lots of new friends and was spoiled by all the passengers - he / she was so excited to get back into port and be pampered by the staff at the dock, standing on side of the boat and wagging his / her tail furiously. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |