Wednesday, Sep. 02, 2009

'What the heck's that?' The Nina and Pinta sail into Grafton

People along the Grafton riverfront were doing double takes on Tuesday as replicas of two ships in the 1492 fleet of Christopher Columbus sailed past barges and motorboats on the Illinois River.

Sharon and Ed Lyons pulled into a parking lot near Grafton Harbor and jumped out of their car to get a better look.

"We see a lot of strange things in Grafton, but nothing like this," said Sharon Lyons, 56, who lives in the city of about 700 people. "It's pretty cool. I think they should come over here and pick me up."

Jan Dye stopped to take a picture of The Nina and Pinta with her cell phone while walking her white schnauzer, Sadie.

"I thought, 'What the heck's that?" said Dye, 58, who's visiting from Parkersburg, W.Va. "It looks like a Spanish galleon."

Paul Stoecklin, John Buehlman and Dave Lovell hopped off their bicycles and walked down to the river bank when they saw the ships.

"To think that (Columbus and his crew) crossed the ocean in those things," Stoecklin, 62, of Godfrey, said. "It's just amazing. They didn't know when hurricane seasons were back then. They didn't even know the earth was round. It was just a crapshoot."

The Nina and Pinta are owned by the nonprofit Columbus Foundation, based in the British Virgin Islands. They'll be docked next to the Loading Dock Bar and Grill in Grafton and open for self-guided tours today through Sunday.

The ships were supposed to dock at Alton Marina, but flood-prevention measures taken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last weekend caused the water to be too shallow.

"We don't wish Alton any ill will, but I just found out today that (the ships) were going to stay here, and I'm thrilled," Grafton Mayor Tom Thompson said. "Not only because of what it will do for tourism, but I'm a retired educator, and it's a great opportunity for young people in town to learn about history."

The Grafton visitors center will be open extra hours, and the city will operate an information tent next to the Loading Dock.

"We're ecstatic," said Pete Allen, co-owner of the outdoor bar and grill. "It's the perfect place. We've got plenty of parking. We've got a restaurant instead of just a landing, and it's Labor Day weekend. It's just great."

Allen hopes to come up with some cleverly named drink specials related to Columbus.

The Nina is a "caravel," a highly maneuverable ship created by the Portuguese. The replica has a 65-foot-long deck and weighs 75 tons. Craftsman made it of Brazilian hardwoods using no power tools and waterproofed it with pine tar.

"We don't have a steering wheel," said Capt. Kyle Friauf, 50, of St. Petersburg, Fla. "That didn't come along for almost 100 years. These ships are steered with a tiller."

Pinta also is a caravel. It has an 85-foot-long deck and weighs 101 tons.

The ship looks authentic, but the hardwood exterior conceals a fiberglass insert, and it has other modern safety features that would be necessary if the foundation ever wanted to legally carry passengers.

Both ships have diesel engines that can be used in poor sailing conditions.

"We can go up and down the river," Friauf said. "We can dock unassisted. We travel far and wide. We spent last year on the West Coast. I've been through the Panama Canal three times with The Nina."

Columbus sailed from Europe to the Americas on the Santa Maria in 1492, but it ran onto a reef, so he returned on The Nina.

Only the captains on each ship had beds in the sterns.

"All the crew members worked, ate and slept on the main decks," Friauf said. "There was no room below. It was all cargo, spare parts, food and supplies. They had to feed 27 people on The Nina (and 33 on Pinta) for a year. Imagine how much stuff they had to take."