ALGONAC, Mich.-
A replica of the Nina, one of the three ships that Christopher Columbus sailed from the Old World to the New in 1492, visits Michigan this week as it continues its 13-year world tour.
Senior Capt. Morgan Sanger is scheduled to dock the 85-foot wooden sailboat from Thursday through Monday at Algonac on the St. Clair River. It opens for the public on Friday.
"We've traveled almost 300,000 miles–pretty amazing since the top speed is 6 to 7 miles per hour," Sanger told The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens. "It's been through the Panama Canal, South American countries, Central America, Alaska twice, and the Great Lakes for eight summers now."
Sanger, 55, lives in the British Virgin Islands but more often than not is busy pursuing his interests in archaeology and exploring.
"It's a hard job to beat," Sanger said from the Nina. "We meet a lot of fascinating people."
The replica Nina was built by hand and without the use of any power tools. It is 85 feet long and needs about 2,000 feet of sails. It has a crew of seven.
Construction of the new Nina began in 1988 in Bahia, Brazil. It was done by the Columbus Foundation, based in the British Virgin Islands.
"There were no authentic pictures of the Pinta, Nina or the Santa Maria, and all of the so-called models, replicas, or reproductions that had been built in the past merely represented what some artist, architect, archaeologist or model ship builder thought what they ought to have looked like," according to the foundation's Web site.
To make the replica as accurate as possible, the foundation spent two years gathering everything it could find about the original, it said.
The ship has toured since 1992 as a sailing museum.
The sailing has not always been smooth, Sanger said.
"We have some storm stories to tell: the Pacific Ocean is anything but calm," he said. "Two of the scariest times there were gale force winds of 50-60 mph for two hours. The waves were taller than the upper deck of the ship. I know the ship can handle it–it's seaworthy and strongly built. But the crew getting panicky and sick–those are my concerns."
Sanger said Nina's renown is on par with that of other one-named celebrities.
"I think it probably is one of the most famous ships in the world," Sanger said. "There are people that have one name: Madonna, Bono, Nina. We went up the Missouri River to South Dakota, and the farmers all came out and knew what was going on."
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