![]() They made use of lateen sails which greatly helped their performance. Sleek and fast, they were skilling at sailing upwind. The smaller caravels were very popular in Columbus’ day, the sports cars of the sea. Each was likely a second hand merchant ship, the best that could be obtained at the time to be fast enough and reliable enough to do the job. None of the three ships were ever explicitly intended for exploration. Sleeping quarters were not included, the crew would have slept on the deck. Each ship carried supplies for their crews. The Nina and the Pinta were known as caravel vessels. The flagship Santa Maria was a carrack that displaced about 100 tons. The Santa Maria’s deck was around 58 feet and was the largest of the three, meant for carrying cargo. The Nina clocked in at about 50 feet of deck length. The Pinta had a deck length of only 56 feet. The Nina and the Pinta were both very small. These were not the mighty seafaring vessels some might have expected them to be. They were la Santa Clara (Niña), la Pinta and la Santa Gallega (Santa Maria). 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. After stops in Minnesota and Wisconsin, the ships will return to Iowa with a planned visit to Davenport.Most schoolchildren learn the tale of Christopher Columbus and his historic voyage across the ocean. The ships will be in Burlington this weekend before setting sail again Monday. He says it’s a fun adventure and he feels like Columbus as there’s something new around every turn. He says they’ve sailed up dozens of rivers while also spending time on both coasts, the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. Frieauf says he slept through history class as a kid and now that he’s older, especially since he’s captaining a historic ship, his interest in history has been rekindled and he’s learning a lot.įrieauf is one of six members of the crew on the Nina while the Pinta has a crew of eight. He’s been with the Columbus Foundation for about six years. The ships are replicas of what Portuguese explorer Christopher Columbus used to sail across the Atlantic Ocean more than 500 years ago.Ĭaptain Kyle Frieauf heads up the Nina, which has been called the most historically accurate replica of a Columbus ship ever built. In their second year sailing together, the Nina and the Pinta docked along the Mississippi River in Burlington Thursday afternoon.
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