JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A bit of floating Spanish and American history is in downtown Jacksonville this weekend.
The Nao Santa Maria tall ship is docked by the Hyatt Regency Hotel. It's a replica of one of Christopher Columbus' ships that crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1492.
“We are in Nao Santa Maria. It is a replica of Columbus’ ship. It’s a replica because of course there’s nothing left from the original. It sank the same year that it got in America," Marga Feliu said.
The Santa Maria replica has a crew that works and lives on the ship. They're mostly from Spain, including crew member Marga Feliu.
“There’s five decks. There’s four decks that the public can visit," Feliu said. "There’s this main deck, then there’s the hull, which has an exhibition about all the history and a video about the construction of the vessel.”
The replica was built using the journals of Columbus' travel, and it has details of what life was like on the ship.
You can learn the history of what it was like on the Santa Maria more than 500 years ago. For example, steering wheels hadn't been invented, so a long stick known as a whip-staff was used for navigation. You can also visit the captain's chambers and see a replica bed, as well a chest where nautical charts were stored.
“We do have as well many QR codes that explain many things about the history, the vessel, many interesting parts, many interesting things, and the crew members who can explain many exciting stories," Feliu said.
You can go on a tour of the replica ship this weekend from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Ticket prices are $15 for adults, $5 for kids, and children four and under are free.