A modest crowd braved the cold weather to tour a replica of the Pinta, a Portuguese caravel used by Christopher Columbus in his exploration of the Americas, on its first day in Chattanooga.
The replica Pinta, a floating museum owned by the Columbus Foundation, was completed in 2005 after three years of construction by 20 eighth-generation shipwrights in Brazil using the same building methods and tools as would have been used in Columbus’ time, according to Pinta Capt. Stephen Sanger in a phone interview.
Since 2010, the Pinta has visited more than 200 cities traveling along the Great Loop, a 6,000-mile nautical route comprised of waterways encompassing the Eastern part of the U.S. The ship’s first day in Chattanooga was Friday.
(READ MORE: Riverboat cruises grow with Chattanooga stops)
The replica was built slightly larger than scale to accommodate more people aboard, Sanger said. Whereas the original Pinta was 70 feet long by 18 feet wide, the replica is 85 feet long by 24 feet wide. The replica maintains the original ship’s 7-foot draft, the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull, allowing it to maneuver the shallower depths of inland waterways, Sanger said.
Aboard the ship, there are informational placards and artifacts for visitors to view, so they can learn more about the ship, its mechanics and its history as well as the history of Columbus, his crew, their explorations, their methods of navigation and their way of life aboard the ship. While most tours are self-guided, the ship’s crew members are available to answer questions, provide demonstrations and discuss their own experience of living aboard the Pinta.
Columbus occupies a contentious place in American history due to “his treatment of the indigenous communities he encountered and for his role in the violent colonization at their expense,” according to a report by CNN. While the Pinta is a floating museum with a particular focus on Columbus’ history, it doesn’t seek to glorify the explorer, Sanger said.
“At the end of day, it’s history, and you can’t … just erase it,” Sanger said. “If anything, you learn from it, but we’re in no shape or form celebrating Columbus. This is the ship, the caravel, that he used like many other early explorers to open up trade routes all over the world … so, it’s a very important part of history.”
Aboard the deck of the Pinta on Friday morning, children and adults alike took interest in the ship and the history they gleaned from it. Amber Weaver traveled from Rome, Georgia, with her children’s home school group to tour the ship; Melody Harris did the same with her grandchildren. Some individuals involved with the Head of the Hooch, a rowing regatta taking place this weekend, took a break from the event to step aboard and tour the ship.
The opportunity to see the Pinta in person enhanced Weaver’s children’s educational experience after they had learned about the ship in their studies, she said in an interview.
“We’ve read a lot of books and seen a lot of pictures, and even seen videos, but I think something about them getting to step onto something and being able to touch things with their hands and see it just kind of brings it to life for them,” Weaver said.
For Harris, touring the replica caravel was just as interesting and educational for the adults as it was for the children, she said in an interview. Being aboard the ship helped people relate to the past, she said.
The Pinta’s stop in Chattanooga will be the last of the year before the ship and its crew begin wintering in Alabama, Sanger said. The ship will be open daily for tours, rain or shine, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. through Nov. 19. No reservations are required to tour the ship except for groups of 15 or more who would like a guided tour.
Tickets cost $8 for adults, $7 for military members and seniors 65 and older and $6 for children ages 5-16; children 4 and under get in free. Tickets are sold on-site only. For more information, visit ninapinta.org.
Contact Sam Still at sstill@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6579.