NSM students visit the Niña and the Pinta
On Thursday, November 7, 2024, the famous Niña and Pinta Ships docked at Goose Pond Colony Resort in Scottsboro. These two ships serve as a floating museum and travel an average of 8 to 10 months out of the year. They dock at 30 to 40 different locations around the United States: the Gulf Coast, the East Coast, the Great Lakes, and the Midwestern River System.
Students from North Sand Mountain High School were fortunate to visit the Nina and Pinta on a field trip.
The Niña is the most historically accurate Columbus replica ship ever built. The Niña is a replica of the ship on which Columbus sailed across the Atlantic on his three voyages of discovery to the New World beginning in 1492. Columbus sailed the tiny ship over 25,000 miles. That ship was last heard of in 1501, but the new Niña has a different mission. The Nina has a deck length of 65 feet, an 18-foot beam, 7 7-foot draft, a 1919 square foot sail area, and weighs 75 tons.
Life aboard the Niña in 1492 was not for the light-hearted. When the Niña left on any of her three voyages to the New World, her cargo hold was full of provisions, water, and armaments. There were live animals ranging from horses, cows, pigs, and chickens. The four-legged animals were suspended in slings as the rolling motion of the vessel would have easily broken their legs.
Needless to say, there was little room below decks for the 27 or so crew to sleep or cook. Cooking was done in a fire box located on decks in the bow of the ship. Sleeping was on the deck and was always uncomfortable as the ship was so loaded with cargo, her decks were always awash. A lucky few could sleep on the poop deck or find a coil of rope to sleep on to keep them off the deck a foot or so.
Life on board improved dramatically when the Niña reached the New World. New fruits and vegetables were discovered, which helped to eliminate scurvy. Most importantly, the Indians slept in hammocks, which the Spanish crew immediately used in their travels.
Today, life on the Niña is better. We have WWII-style pipe berths to sleep on, an icebox that holds 1000 lbs of ice, and a small propane stove for cooking. Most importantly, we do not have the smells on board of livestock below decks and the associated jobs of cleaning the bilges.
The Pinta was built to accompany Nina on all of her travels. She is a larger version of the archetypal caravel and offers larger deck space for walk-aboard tours. The 40-foot air-conditioned main cabin down below has seating. Pinta is available for private parties and charters.
Both The Niña and Pinta tour together as a new and enhanced ‘sailing museum,’ intended to educate the public and school children on the ‘caravel,’ a Portuguese ship used by Columbus and many early explorers to discover the world.
The Pinta has an 85-foot deck length, a 23-foot beam, a 705-foot draft, a 3800-square-foot sail area, and a weight of 101 tons.
The original Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria used by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage across the Atlantic were common trading vessels. The Nina and Pinta were Caravels, which explorers used during the Age of Discovery.
About Columbus Foundation
In 1986, Captain Morgan P. Sagar founded the Columbus Foundation in the British Virgin Islands to raise money to build the three ships that Christopher Columbus used in his encounter with the New World. With the 500th Anniversary only six years away, it seemed like an opportune time to encourage interest in such a project.
Sanger Ships LLC receives no funds from government agencies or private foundations. They are supported entirely by the fees paid to tour the ships.
