Holiday or Not?
Since 1937 Columbus Day has been one of eleven federal holidays. Today, with all of the recent controversy, how it is recognized differs between states. According to CalendarDate.com, California and Texas still recognize the day but it is not an official holiday where government workers get paid time off.
Instead of focusing on whether or not to call it “Columbus Day”, I want to talk a little bit about the remarkable journey itself.
The Ships
Columbus set sail with three vessels and 86 sailors to find a shorter trade route to China and India. What they found was a new land that no one had expected to be there. They were at sea for 70 days, August 3 to October 12, 1492.
In his BoatSafe.com blog post, The Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, Chris Riley provides more insight into the vessels. The two smaller vessels, the Nina and the Pinta are thought to be caravels that were very popular in Columbus’ day — the sports cars of the sea. The Nina (20 sailors, 50 feet deck length) and the Pinta (26 sailors, 56 feet deck length) carried supplies for their crews (food, animals, water, etc.). Their largest vessel, the Santa Maria was a carrack meant for carrying cargo, and its deck was around 58 feet in length. That’s like the size of a small modern yacht.
Life On Board
The vessels were much different than anything you’d find today. Sleeping quarters were not included, the crew would have slept on the deck. Few, if any, crew members were able to read or write. That meant keeping a log of what happened on a given shift was all but impossible. Instead, the crew used a peg board system to indicate things like wind direction, estimated speed, and bearing
Piloting the ship was unusual as well. From the tiller, you would be unable to see where you were going. As such, another crew member needed to be positioned at the bow or in the crow’s nest as a lookout. They would relay messages to the one operating the tiller if any course corrections were needed.
A watch shift would last for four hours. An hour glass was used to mark the time. Another crew member, the youngest on board, would be tasked with watching the glass. He’d call it out when it was done, and then turn the glass to start it again.
Columbus kept a detailed diary during his first voyage. Christopher Columbus’s journal was written between August 3, 1492, and November 6, 1492 and mentions everything from the wildlife he encountered, like dolphins and birds, to the weather, to the moods of his crew.
Replicas
Replicas of vessels was built by Spain in 1990 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the Americas. According to Caller-Times articles from 1993, Spanish carpenters built the replicas using the same techniques and materials as the original vessels. The hulls were constructed of oak and pine from Spanish forests and hand-forged nails were modeled after nails recovered from a 16th century shipwreck.
In 1992, the quincentenary of Columbus’ first voyage, replicas of his ships arrived in Corpus Christi, Texas after sailing from Spain and touring the US East Coast. Corpus Christi was selected as the permanent home for the replicas after the celebration tour. For a while they were an active tourist attraction.
With deteriorating conditions, the Santa Maria and the Pinta were dismantled in 2014. The Niña remained afloat at a dock behind behind Joe’s Crab Shack in Corpus Christi.
Or at least she was afloat until Aug 2017 when Hurricane Harvey came calling, when the Niña began taking on water and sank.
