JULY 13, 2016
WHITE BEAR/VADNAIS HEIGHTS PRESS www.presspubs.com
7B
Niña and Pinta sail into Hudson harbor
SARA MARIE MOORE | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
The Pinta’s sails are lowered upon arrival in the Hudson harbor July 7. The Niña is in the foreground. BY SARA MARIE MOORE VADNAIS HEIGHTS EDITOR
HUDSON — Dave Zenk sailed into his hometown of Hudson aboard a replica of the Niña July 7. Zenk has been a crew member on the Niña for four summers and has toured all across America with the Niña and Pinta replicas. In the winter, he is a substitute teacher in Hudson and River Falls. Zenk said when he first started giving group tours of the replicas, the tours lasted 90 minutes. Then his coworkers told him they were supposed to be 30 minutes. Once he received a $150 tip from a couple to whom he gave a long and detailed tour, because it was the wife's birthday. The volunteer crew members split all the tips and get free room and board — aboard the ship. Some volunteers stay on the ship yearround. The ships make quite a scene when they arrive in each harbor. “We have people pointing and jaws dropping, thinking we are lost,” said Zenk. The ships have traveled the East Coast, West Coast, Great Lakes and
SARA MARIE MOORE | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Dave Zenk of Hudson has been sailing on the Niña replica for four summers. The Niña arrived in his hometown for a two-week stay July 7.
multiple riverways. Usually, the crew stays on board while in harbor. Sometimes they get hotel rooms and take turns staying there instead of their ship bunks. But in Hudson, Zenk will stay at home. He plans to invite the crew to his house as well. Once Zenk was caught in a bad storm in Chesapeake Bay while he was aboard the Niña. Up to 50-knot winds buried the ship's bow beneath the water. “That was exhilarating,” said Zenk. “I was on the helm steering via rope on the raised deck. I was just having a blast. Thirty-eight hours later, I was looking [for] any place to get off the ship. It was the only time I was sick.” Zenk enjoys sharing the history of the ships. “They were the spaceships of the day,” said Zenk. “These ships opened up the world to exploration.” The Niña replica was built in 1991 for the 500th anniversary of Columbus' arrival to the Americas in 1492. The size of the 65-foot-long ship is historically accurate, as well as most details of the ship. The lifeboat canister and modern
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navigational equipment are the main differences. A 450-pound decorative anchor rests on the ship's side, and dates to the same era as Columbus. The Niña replica was built in Brazil by shipbuilders with sailing ship expertise. One of them was an eighth-generation descendent of shipbuilders in Portugal. In 2005, a replica of the Pinta was built. But it was made 15 feet longer (85 feet) and 6 feet wider than the actual sized Pinta so it could hold passengers. In 2008, it joined the Niña in its tours of the Americas. The Niña was reportedly Columbus' favorite ship, said Zenk. He used it on three of his four voyages and sold it to finance his fourth and final voyage. There were 24 crew members aboard the Niña in Columbus' time. Their average age was 15-19. Columbus began sailing when he was 12 years old. Crew members often slept on the deck. The Niña carried two anchors on its bow
and 10 below its deck, due to the fact that some would be lost to the sea. The Niña carried 20 tons of ballast stone in its hull “to keep the ship in the water,” said Zenk. Eventually, unneeded ballast stone was used to pave many of the cobblestone streets on the East Coast. The Niña and Pinta replicas' last stop was in Winona. Hudson is their most northerly stop before heading back south on the St. Croix River. The ship makes 30 to 40 stops a year. The replica Niña and Pinta will be docked in Hudson until early in the morning July 20. The ships are open to the public 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day. Cost is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors and $6 for youth age 5 to 15. Children 4 and under are free. To schedule a 30-minute guided group tour, call 787-672-2152 or visit www.ninapinta.org. Guided tours are for groups of 15 or more and are $5 per person.
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