BAY CITY, MI - A replica of Columbus’ largest ship on his voyage in 1492, the NAO Santa Maria, is giving visitors to Tall Ship Celebration in Bay City an experience in living history.
On-board there is a mini museum showing the history of the original Santa Maria, its trip to America and the engineering and navigation it employed. The display includes navigation instruments, a video and other historical tools.
Construction of the vessel took place in Huelva, Spain, where the Columbus’ voyage began. The ship took 18 months to complete and cost 3 million euros to make.
Much of the historical accuracy was retained in the ship, even as far as employing the same building methods that were used in the 1400′s. However, to meet today’s safety standards the ship includes fiberglass in its build, two diesel engines for propulsion and two bow thrusters to get in and out of the dock.
Crew members come from several different countries and the crew as a whole works together by speaking Spanish, something Florida native and English speaking crew member Carl Gill says isn’t a problem.
“We’re family, we’re honestly family, you can’t afford to fall out with people," he said. “Someone will quickly tell me what the captain said and we work. It doesn’t matter your culture, the camaraderie comes through.”
The Santa Maria is available for deck tours 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
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