![]() ![]() The only known clues to where Columbus first landed come from a thirdhand version of the log. He probably sold it, as he did most of the family's possessions, to finance his extravagant lifestyle, which eventually landed him in prison for having three wives simultaneously. It is thought to have remained in the Columbus family until the explorer's ne'er-do-well grandson Luis inherited it. Unfortunately, the Barcelona copy is also missing. She had a scribe in Barcelona make a copy for Columbus and nobody knows what happened to the original. Columbus presented it to Isabela on his return. The loss of the original log is a major historical disappointment. It is one of the few unmistakable points of contact between the real world and the abstract of the log.Īnd it is from this part of Columbus's voyage, experts agree, that historians must reckon backwards to find Guanahani, site of the historic first step into the New World. His descriptions make it clear this is the Cuba of today. Island five he named for Prince Juan, but in the log Columbus often called it by its Indian name - Cuba. ![]() Working his way down a hierarchy of names, Columbus dubbed the third island for King Ferdinand of Spain and the fourth for Queen Isabela. And again he wrote only sketchy descriptions of the island and the path he sailed. He called that one Santa Maria, but it too, like all the others he would visit, was goldless. And, although he gave it Spanish Christendom's most sacred name - San Salvador - he stayed there just three days and never returned.Ĭolumbus's mission was, of course, to find gold and once he satisfied himself that there was none on Guanahani, the abstract says he sailed to another island that the "Indians," as he called them, assured him had gold. Unfortunately, Columbus never bothered to say exactly where the island was or to describe it in detail. An "abstract" made by a 16th-century Spanish friar is thought to be a fairly accurate copy of the key parts, and it says the explorer's first landfall was a small island that the inhabitants called Guanahani. Nobody, however, knows for sure exactly where he found it.Ĭolumbus's log, which might be expected to answer the question, has been lost for centuries. The ships travel ten months of the year with only a short break in dry dock for repairs.Everybody knows that Christopher Columbus "discovered" America on this day exactly 500 years ago. The ships sail on what is called “The Great Loop” up the East Coast, through the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi River and through the Gulf of Mexico. ![]() The two ships continue to sail to new ports and the Niña is the only touring maritime museum of its kind. She is a larger version of the typical caravel and has more expansive deck space for walk-aboard tours. The ship was bound for Costa Rica, where it was filmed in the Ridley Scott production of “1492.” The Pinta, the foundation’s second Columbus discovery ship, was built to accompany the Niña on all of her travels. In December 1991, the Niña set sail from its shipyard in Brazil with a crew of eleven. Several important design details, such as the number of masts and the rigging specifics, were clarified by data from discoveries of 15 th and 16 th century Spanish shipwrecks in the Caribbean. Using traditional tools, construction methods and wood sourced locally near the construction site, the new Niña slowly began to take shape. Because there were no plans to follow, the shipwrights used “mental templates” basing the dimensions of the ship on a set of proportions. He learned the secrets of shipwrights that were fundamental in the re-creation of the Niña. This was a technique used by master ship builders during the 15 th century and was the probable method used to build the Niña and Pinta, both of which were constructed decades before their original journeys to the New World. ![]() Sarsfield needed to learn the centuries-old ship building process called Mediterranean Whole Molding. In 1988, the Foundation hired John Patrick Sarsfield, an American engineer, maritime historian and expert on Portuguese caravels, to design and construct a replica of the Niña. The Niña, Columbus’ personal favorite, was the first to be completed and represents the most historically accurate replica of a Columbus ship ever built. Smaller replicas are displayed in museums worldwide, but a number of years ago, two full-size ships were built to fulfill a unique mission.ĭecades ago, the Columbus Foundation of the British Virgin Islands, was organized with the objective of raising money to fund the construction of the three ships to recreate the most famous trio of sailing ships in the world. Replicas of the ships constructed over the years help us envision the remarkable journey of Columbus and his sailors as they crossed the vast ocean in three small ships. The Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria are synonymous with the first voyage of Columbus. ![]()
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