The Discovery of the "Amerigos"
(Vespucci) by Columbus is in the Top Ten of
"Life Millennium: 100 Most
Important Events and People of the Past 1000 Years"
Christopher
Columbus is "THE" Most Important Italian American Icons,
and
yet our Italian American Organizations have dedicated little Resources
toward "preserving, promoting, and defending" his legacy, in print, on
line, or symbols, such as replicas of the Columbus Ships.
Is it because our limited resources are being diverted to "general" charities??
The replica "Niña" after completing its tour will be docked in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico.
Puerta Vallarta ???? Certainly there is a major US City, with a prominent Italian American population that can see this as a major tourist attraction, and a source of pride!!!!!
Are
there ANY Columbus replica ships docked in the US???
I
know the answer, but do you?
And
are we starting to prepare for the "Columbus Day" barrage from those who
would disparage Columbus as a "symbol" of decadent Western Civilization,
and call themselves "Native Americans" are in reality also "immigrants"
but, from across the Bering Bridge?
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SHIP
REPLICA EVOKES COLUMBUS TRIP
Orlando
Sentinel
By
Kristin Barrett
Sentinel
Staff Writer
April
18, 2004
DAYTONA BEACH -- At 94 feet long, the wooden ship docked in Halifax Harbor is comparable in size to the houseboats around it.
It's hard to imagine an identical ship surviving the trip across the Atlantic Ocean with Christopher Columbus more than 500 years ago.
A replica of Columbus' ship the Niña docked Wednesday at Halifax Harbor for six days during its final tour through the United States. After making at least 450 stops in the past 12 years, it will make a permanent dock in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico, in November.
Brazilian shipmakers spent three years building the replica by hand, without power tools. When it was finished in 1991, in time for the 500th anniversary of Columbus' 1492 trip, an article in Archaeology magazine described it as the most historically accurate replica of one of Columbus' ships ever built.
"It's a piece of history," said Niña staffer Matt Sadler, 27, of Chicago. "This is as exact as you can get."
The ship has 100 to 600 visitors a day, he said.Visitors said they are amazed a ship the size of the Niña, which has a 66-foot-long and 18-foot-wide main deck, could make it across the ocean with as many as 27 sailors.
"It's really small, and there's nowhere to go," said Jacob Peterson, 11, of DeLand, who was visiting the ship with his family. The newest crew member, Noneen Ziemba, joined at the Niña's last stop, Titusville. The 43-year-old software writer from Indian Harbour Beach has a unique connection to the ship.
She was supposed to be born on Columbus Day, and her father intended to name her Nina after Columbus' favorite ship. When she was born a day late, he decided she should be called Noneen.
The chance to join the crew of her near-namesake was irresistible.
"It fits me," said Ziemba. The Niña takes patience and planning to move since sailing it often involves moving large items, such as the 12-foot tiller that steers the boat.
"It's slower paced," she said. "Everything is bigger and you have to think ahead a lot. Just the feel is so much more at peace than being on a racing boat."
The ship will be open to the public for self-guided tours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Monday at Halifax Harbor, 450 Basin St. in Daytona Beach.
To
learn more about the Niña, go to << www.thenina.com >>
The
Nina - Columbus Foundation British Virgin Islands
or
call the Columbus Foundation at 284-495-4618.
Kristin Barrett can be reached at kbarrett@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7935.
OrlandoSentinel.com:
Volusia County News
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/volusia/
orl-locnina18041804apr18,1,1018777.story?coll=orl-home-headlines
===========================================
The
Santa Maria in Columbus Ohio
The
Santa Maria Columbus, Ohio USA http://www.santamaria.org/index.php
===========================================
The
Columbus Foundation
In 1986, a small group of history buffs in the British Virgin Islands formed the Columbus Foundation to raise money to build replicas of Columbus' three original ships, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria.
The foundation hoped to have the three vessels ready by 1992, for the 500th anniversary of Columbus' maiden voyage to the New World.
It soon became evident that time and cost constraints would prevent the construction of all three ships, so the group settled on building just the Nina. The ship was Columbus' favorite of the fleet, because of its maneuverability, speed and shallow draught. The Nina was the only ship of the original three to accompany Columbus on all three of his voyages to the New World.
All told, the Nina logged more than 25,000 miles under the command of Columbus. Construction on the replica began in 1988 under the direction of American engineer and maritime historian John Patrick Sarsfield. Sarsfield decided the ship would be built in Valenca, Brazil, a location where shipbuilders could use techniques nearly identical to those used by the builders of the 1400s. The shipbuilders also used only traditional tools to construct the vessel.
Ships of the Age of Discovery were built from the mind of a shipwright, instead of blueprints. Shipbuilders had to match the specifications of the designer. More details for the modern Nina's design were provided when discoveries of sail specifications were made from 15th and 16th century Spanish shipwrecks in the Caribbean.
Since its maiden voyage in 1992, the Nina has been on a continuous tour, visiting more than 400 ports along the Great Lakes and the Tennessee and Ohio rivers, as well as the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North, Central and South America
Naples
Daily News: Eagle (Naples, FL)
http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/ma_eagle/
article/0,2071,NPDN_14916_2591820,00.html
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A
replica of the "Santa Maria" is docked in Columbus Ohio.
A
replica of the"Santa Maria" was in formerly in Barcelona Spain, but
attempts
to locate it online has been unsuccessful.
Replicas
of all three, "Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria" are apparantly in Corpus Christi,
TX