Monday - November 16: Thanks to a heads up relayed from The Wiz we were able to capture some Old World - New World history as it passed by the ville on Monday. Almost missed it. They were bookin' on down the Ohio. Did get a couple of shots on Riverside between 11th & 12th Streets. They are the top two pictures you see in the collage above. The rest of the pictures were taken from the observation deck at the New Cumberland Locks at Stratton.
The subject of all this patter is the replica ships of the Nina and Pinta that Christopher Columbus sailed when discovering the New World. Sponsored by the Columbus Foundation the two replicas were built in Brazil for the 500 Year Anniversary of that epic voyage Columbus made in 1492. They have been in our area since October. They were in Steubenville in October and from there they spent nearly two weeks in Pittsburgh. They passed through here going to the 'burgh on November 2. Yesterday they "set sail" at 0600 from Pittsburgh heading south. I was told they don't use the sails when navigating the river for safety reasons. According to ship's journals kept by Columbus the Nina was his favorite and that is the one that he sailed on. The flag ship was the Santa Maria which was the largest of the three. However, Columbus didn't like it writing it was too large and awkward for discovery voyages.
The Pinta is 85 feet in length and the Nina is a sporty 65 footer. The ships were built in Brazil because it was discovered that present day ship builders in that country use the same ship construction technique used in Columbus's time in the Old World. The Nina replica was built completely by hand without using any type of power tools. Both ships are caravels, a common trading vessel in the 15th Century. No one is entirely sure what the original ships looked like. There are no pictures or drawings of them. The replicas are what artists think they would have looked like based on other ships from that era.
At the locks there was a lady that is a Steubenville resident. Her 22 year old daughter is a volunteer crew member on the Nina. She signed on when she saw a help wanted poster when the ships were in Steubenville. Mom told me her daughter put in her two weeks notice and will be a crew member until January 4.
After going through the locks the ships were heading for the next dam down the river before calling it a day. Their next stop for tourist is in Gallipolis in southern Ohio. They're scheduled to be there Thursday. From there they are going to Maysville, KY, for another stop. After Maysville they're going on to Pensacola, FL. Mom said they are going to wind up in Mexico for the rest of the winter. Her daughter will leave the ship in Florida.
The crews stay with the ships and have living quarters below deck. It was an adventure just chasing them down the river. Imagine what it would be like to be part of the crew. Although they are exact replicas there's some modern gizmos like the radar and radio antennas. Any 21st Century equipment is there because it's required by government regulations.
Thanks for the heads up Wiz. We would have missed it all otherwise.
"In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
He had three ships and left from Spain,
He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain."
ole nib
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