Betty Maher and her son Scott Maher of Toledo gaze at a  full scale replica of the Pinta as the Niña sits docked behind them at the Toledo Skyway Marina. Both ships are owned and built by the British Virgin Islands based Columbus Foundation which tours ports along the Eastern seaboard and the Great Lakes. (Photo: Enoch Wu/The Sentinel-Tribune)

TOLEDO - History is on the water in the city with the arrival of two ships replicating Christopher Columbus' famous sailing vessels.
The Nina and Pinta arrived at the Skyway Marina in east Toledo Thursday afternoon and will remain for tours by the public until the early morning of Aug. 3.
Part of the Columbus' Foundation, headquartered in the British Virgin Islands, the ships are on a mission of education about the sailing life of the 15th century.
"These are the only 15th-century ships in the world," said Senior Captain Morgan Sanger, who is overseeing the ships on their travels.
The 65-foot Nina and 85-foot Pinta recreate two of the three ships (the other, well-known to schoolchildren, is the Santa Maria) taken by Christopher Columbus on his famous 1492 expedition to the New World. The historical Nina (which is actually a nickname - the ship was officially called the Santa Clara) sailed 25,000 miles over three trips with Columbus to North America before disappearing from history in 1501. Both ships are, specifically, Portuguese caravels in design, important technology for their day.
"We call them the space shuttles of the 15th century," Sanger commented. These ships were used by explorers of the period to sail from Europe and begin the age of colonization.
Today's Nina, which last visited Toledo about eight years ago, was constructed in 1991 without the use of power tools. The Pinta was constructed approximately three years ago in Brazil. That second ship, the larger of the pair, is not without modern amenities: it has a 40-foot cabin with air conditioning below.
Sanger noted that the ships have traveled more than 300,000 miles and visited 800 ports, traveling through the Panama Canal 10 times. The longest voyage for the Nina was in 1996, when it traveled 5,200 miles in 38 days from Texas to San Diego.
Each of the ships travels with a complement of about six crewmen and a captain.
Kyle Friauf, captain of the Nina, who originally hails from St. Petersburg, Fla., has been with the ship for six years. A delivery captain by trade, he had a chance to serve on the crew "and just kind of fell into it."
"It was a good fit," he said.
While the ships can use their sails to travel, each is equipped with a motor, which is useful for traveling upriver and in situations when the wind is uncooperative.
"It's the bane of sailboats everywhere," Friauf said of the wind.
"We sail when we can, we motor when we have to."
He said that the ships' volunteer crews come from all walks of life, from college students out of class for the summer, to retirees, to vacationers, to the unemployed.
Some are on the crew for brief periods, others have served for years, Sanger explained.
"We get all kinds. And that's what makes it fun," said Friauf.
Among the diverse crew complement is John Paul Gramelis of the Pinta crew. A native of Connecticut, he has been with the ship for just over three weeks.
The ships came into Bridgeport, he said, and his father told him of their arrival. He spoke to the staff, "and hopped on 4:30 the next morning."
Gramelis is no stranger to wanderlust: a recent graduate of the University of Vermont with a degree in English and Environmental Science, he has served on other ships before, and was also employed as a carney.
"It's a chance to live a rambling lifestyle, I suppose," he said of what draws him to ships.
"And I just like the history of it."
Gramelis said that most of the crew take on many jobs while aboard; he himself was ship's cook on the Pinta for a time. They "all do everything."
"The food's pretty good," he said.
"We eat well, surprisingly. Much better than Columbus' men would have, certainly."
The Nina and Pinta are making 18 stops around the country this year. Having come into Toledo from a five-day stop at Tonawanda Island, N.Y., the ships will next set sail to ports of call in Michigan and Wisconsin before ending the year in Baton Rouge, La.

Open to public through Aug. 3

The ships will be available for self-guided tours each day until Aug. 3 at the Skyway Marina, 1701 Front St., Toledo.
Admission is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors, and $6 for students ages 5 to 16. Children 4 and under are free.
The ships are open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Groups wishing guided tours with a crew member may call 1-787-672-2152; minimum of 15 at $4 per person.