(20 Feb 2020) LEAD IN: The replicas Niña and Pinta sailed into a Biloxi harbour in Mississippi on Wednesday.
The originals were navigated across the Atlantic by Christopher Columbus during his three voyages of discovery to the New World beginning in 1492.
STORY-LINE:
Spectators line the pier on Mississippi's Gulf Coast, aiming their phones out to the horizon.
They are all hoping to catch the moment the replicas of the Niña and Pinta sail into this harbour in Biloxi.
"A friend of ours sent a message across Facebook that they were on their way and in Biloxi. So, we're waiting for them to come right now. It's so exciting," says resident, Pamela Smejkal.
"Being a replica of history and to see how small they were compared to ships today and manpower to - to bring us here, to make this our home. So, it's pretty exciting. I know there's a lot of bad history, but we're still here because of ships like this," she says.
Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic on the Niña on his three voyages of discovery to the New World beginning in 1492.
Captain of the Niña, Stephen Sanger, explains:
"It's our first port of the season. And for the most part, it's a very pleasant trip. As we come into the dock, it always seems to pick – the wind seems to pick up a little bit. But other than that, it was great. Getting here before the rain."
The original Niña was last heard from in 1501, but the replica, which was finished in 1991, serves as a floating museum.
It was built entirely by hand, without the use of power tools, and is considered to be the most historically accurate Columbus ship replica ever built.
"The Niña is considered by many the most accurate replica ever constructed. She was built down in Brazil by 8th generation Portuguese shipwrights. And these shipwrights learned the techniques of how to build the caravel that were passed down through generations," explains Sanger.
"And it was 20 men took 32 months to build the Nina without the use of any electricity, and at least three years of research went in before the keel was even laid to make sure that we're making her the most accurate as possible."
The shipwrights use traditional methods, by soaking the wood it becomes malleable and can be shaped over a fire.
"All the masts that you see, those are just one single tree that was mature enough to be chopped down and used for the mast. But the Niña was built out of about eight different types of Brazilian hardwood," he explains.
The replica Niña has been touring for 13 years and has made six trips through the Panama Canal - all the way up as far as Vancouver, British Columbia.
Sanger says these trips have been important for, "raising enough money for the Pinta's keel to be laid in 2002."
The Pinta replica was built in Brazil and launched in 2005 to accompany the Niña on travels.
It's a larger version of the archetypal "caravel," the term for a Portuguese ship used by Columbus and many early explorers.
"The Pinta we built actually a little bit larger, almost 50 percent bigger volume-wise. We built her for day sales in the Caribbean before she joined the Niña in 2009 as a more enhanced floating museum," he says.
While in port, the ships will be open for public tours, beginning Thursday.
They are scheduled to leave Biloxi on March 2.
"The same crew that, you know, brought the ships in today, we all work and sleep just like they did back in the day on board, and we travel 10 months out of a year to about 20 to 30 ports on average," explains Sanger.
Find out more about AP Archive:
Twitter:
Facebook:
Google+:
Tumblr:
Instagram:
You can license this story through AP Archive:
0 Comments