The Nina (left) and the Pinta, the most historically accurate Columbus replica ships ever built, serve as a floating museum. The ships are in Wyandotte’s Bishop Park through Aug. 13, with 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. tours. For more information, go to ninapinta.org.
Wyandotte hosts historically accurate replica ships
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE – The Nina and the Pinta, billed as the most historically accurate Columbus replica ships ever built, dock at Wyandotte’s Bishop Park through Sunday before sailing to Traverse City.
Tours run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with $8.50 adult admission, $7 for seniors and $6 for students. Children 4 and under are free.
The Nina, the smaller of the two ships, is 65 feet long, with 1,919 square feet of sail, while the Pinta is 85 feet long, with 3,800 square feet of sail. The ships serve as floating museums, visiting ports in the Western Hemisphere.
Columbus, who made three trips across the Atlantic beginning in 1492, sailed the Nina more than 25,000 miles.
Marianne Coates of Wyandotte brought her grandsons Anthony, 9, and Isaac Sawicki, 6, of Trenton to Bishop Park Wednesday to see the ships. She said Anthony is a true history buff and loves researching historical topics online.
She said the ships are much smaller than one would imagine for ocean-going vessels.
“I can’t imagine being in the Atlantic in that in a storm,” she said.
Anthony Sawicki decided to enhance the trip to the ships by creating a Revolutionary-era costume for himself. While the ships pre-date that era by about 275 years, the excitement of the historic ships filled him and other visitors with wonder and curiosity, and he said they were the first sea-going sailing ships he had ever seen up close.
“I like the flags on it,” he said. “I like almost everything on it.”
For more information, go to ninapinta.org.
(Sue Suchyta can be reached at [email protected].)