The Columbus Foundation presents the Nina and Pinta this summer

The Columbus Foundation has made floating museums of replicas of caravels (Portuguese trading vessels), used on Christopher Columbus’ first voyage to the “New World” in 1492. I had the opportunity to see them when the ships were at the Beaufort Harbor in SC.  I went with our kids in addition to my parents and my sister’s family. A total of six kids were with us at ages 2, 4, 6, 9, 11 & 13.

In 1988, John Patrick Sarsfield was hired by The Columbus Foundation to build and design the Niña. John was schooled in what was likely the original process of constructing the caravels called Mediterranean Whole Moulding. The Niña was constructed in Valenca, Brazil, and was finished in 1990. The Niña is so accurately created that  it was used in the Gerard Depardieu film 1492.

The volunteers are incredible. Since we had so many kids (and both of ours are preschool and under) I figured they would be irritated, but they were very welcoming. Volunteers are required to give a minimum one-month commitment on a contract-to-hire basis…and it shows. They can answer an incredible amount of questions and not get distracted by toddlers touching things or talking over them.

I remember going to museums as a kid and being bored out of my mind (now keep in mind I wasn’t able to board a ship for the museum!) but in this case the interest of the elementary and middle school kids that we had with us was off the charts. They loved seeing all of the original handiwork and imagining that the ship looked just the same way in 1492. I would highly recommend checking both of the caravels out at their next stop.

The Nina and the Pinta will be spending the rest of 2014 up the east coast in Maryland, Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, Maine and Michigan.  Check out their schedule for the rest of the summer for some fun-education this summer.  The ships are also open to school or group tours of more than 15 people.   You can also follow their journey on Facebook with some of their amazing photographs.