![]() The Story of Christopher Columbus’ ShipsĬolumbus set sail with three vessels. They found a new land that no one had expected to be there. He realized right away that they hadn’t found the Orient. The problem was he thought it was a lot smaller than it truly is and that it would be a shortcut to China and India. The reason Columbus headed West was because everyone knew the world was round. Keep in mind, the popular story many people hear was that either Columbus thought the world was flat or that he thought he found China. The voyage was funded by the crown but it still must have seemed daunting at best to a crew who had never heard of anyone doing what they were about to do. ![]() He took three ships and a crew of 86 sailors. It was August of 1492 when Columbus set sail. Just how did Columbus make the journey that only a handful of Vikings had ever made before? When Columbus Sailed for the Americas ![]() But there’s one part of the story that not enough people pay attention to and that’s the ships themselves. Gone are they days when people thought Columbus thought the world was flat. The story has evolved over time to take a more realistic and practical view of the trip. Then up the Mississippi to the Great Lakes next year.Most schoolchildren learn the tale of Christopher Columbus and his historic voyage across the ocean. Sanger-“We head to Biloxi for Christmas and New Year’s. Pat-“So, what’re your next destination after Demopolis?” Down below was just cargo, live animal, and fresh water that was usually rancid.” Columbus went through two hurricanes and survived it. They had to sleep on the decks in all weather. Sanger-“Our facilities and comfort level is much higher. Pat-“So, the stories about conditions and discipline on the boat, how much do you go into that?” Sanger-“Overall, the length of the Pinta is one hundred and five feet, and the Nina is eighty five feet.” But compared to modern vessels they look small.” But, nowadays you look at the Titanic, it was big, but it didn’t make it either. Sanger -“Well, back then they were considered large vessels. Pat-“I don’t want to see to be casting aspersions-but, I’ve heard the observation that ships like these are a little on the small side.” ![]() Folks can stay on as long as they like and dream of being at sea.” We have a film on the construction on the ships. Sanger-“Well, we have a lot of things on board to view. Pat-“So, when people come aboard what kind of experience do they get? What do they see?” They were great ships that could take a beating at sea, and get the crew home safe.” All the famous explorers used them, Ferdinand Magellan, Columbus, Vasco De Gama. But, they did the job the explorers wanted to do. Sanger-“Well, they’re not as sleek and fast as those types of vessels. Pat-“So, for people who are used to seeing “America’s Cup” schooners. So, they’re beautiful and the rigging is fantastic." We’re been up the rivers all year, so we won’t be in the Gulf until Christmas when we head to Biloxi. They’re all hand built, very sleek looking, very fast. Sanger-“Well, we’re aboard the Pinta right now.tied up to barges along the Tennessee-Tombigbee (rivers). Pat-“Since we’re on radio, and nobody can see the ships…paint a picture, what they do they look like? And the Nina and Pinta, being “caravels” which was different kind of ship from the Santa Maria, were much faster, and more handy for getting in and out of ports.” It was slow, it was dreadful ship, it couldn’t maintain a good course. Sanger-“He compared it to sailing a barrel at sea. But, Columbus hated the Santa Maria, so we never built one.” Sanger-“We have a model of the Santa Maria on aboard that’s very accurate. Pat-“Any sticklers out there saying ‘where’s the Santa Maria?’” Pat-“So, we have the Nina and Pinta, right?” ![]() But, better than being in Spain and the Old World where all this oppression was going on.” Sanger-“Well, that was a few hundred years earlier, so things were even worse, scurvy, running out of food and water. What kind of hair raising stories do you tell about the days of Columbus?” Constitution (“Old Ironsides”) when I was up in Boston once, and conditions and discipline aboard that wooden sailing vessel were brutal. Pat Duggins-“Well, I went aboard the U.S.S. Morgan Sanger-“Well, it’s an educational exhibit we’ve been doing for twenty years now, and we go to school groups, and families-showing them what life was like five hundred years ago, and how good they have it now.” I spoke with Captain Morgan Sanger who was aboard the Pinta. Replicas of two of his vessels, the "Nina" and the "Pinta" are docked along the Tennessee/Tombigbee River in Demopolis. Between now and Monday, fans of Christopher Columbus can get a taste of what life was like during his 1492 voyage of discovery to the New World. ![]()
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