[Edit] On the Nina with The Vero Beach Power Squadron
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Provided by: Robert Scully
Contributed by: Robert Scully on 4/16/2009
At the Vero Beach Power Squadron General Meeting we discussed among many topics the Tuesday plan to have lunch at Wahoo's restaurant and then meet and greet the Nina and Santa Clara at Harborage Yacht Club and Marina in Stuart.
On Tuesday, Pete picked me up and we headed to Stuart at about 11 arriving at the marina at about 12, just in time for lunch. My plan was to take a few pictures and write a short story about the day. Afew photos are posted here. More photos are posted on flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/vbps/
Wahoo's restaurant is in the middle of a new development, which includes a new condominium complex complete with a fabulous 3-story clubhouse overlooking the water. It is bordered by the railroad tracks, the water and the intracostal bridge which links US1 over the waterway. After we finished with the boats we took a short tour of the Harborage development, which included the clubhouse and a few 2 and 3 bedroom condominiums for sale. That's part of another story "Harborage in Stuart".
There were lots of people at Wahoo's having lunch waiting for the arrival of the 2 vintage replicas. While eating lunch the vessels arrived and docked and the restaurant crowd started to head out onto the pier. Our timing was just about perfect, as we had just finished eating when they docked so we paid our tab and ventured forth to take in the treat.
The Niña is a replica of the ship on which Columbus sailed across the Atlantic on his three voyages of discovery to the new world beginning in 1492. Columbus sailed the tiny ship over 25,000 miles. That ship was last heard of in 1501, but the new Niña has a different mission. They are a floating museum, and visit ports all over the Western Hemisphere.
The Santa Clara (Pinta), was recently built in Brazil to accompany the Nina on all of her travels. She is a larger version of the archetypal caravel and offers larger deck space for walk-aboard tours and has a 40 ft air-conditioned main cabin down below with seating. Visitors can watch a video on the building of the ship in Brazil. The Santa Clara is available for private parties while in port. The Columbus Foundation, British Virgin Islands owns the vessels and more information about the group is available at http://www.thenina.com/
This was a Special event scheduled for the members of the USPS District 8, which consists of many Squadrons up and down the coast of Florida, and the press. The Vero Beach Power Squadron, which is part of the Vero Beach community, was present.
There was a ceremony welcoming the crews and captains to the port. During the proceedings the wind picked up and rumors of a tornado watch spread throughout. The crew of the Santa Clara took out about 6 extra lines to secure the boat to the dock as a precaution.
The members of District 8 presented numerous squadron burgees to the captains and spoke of many things that were lost to the wind, as the clouds started to roll in. Our Commander Bill Heimbaugh, presented our Burgee. I took pictures.
The spectators left and headed back along the dock towards the restaurant speaking about the ships, the weather and the days of old when men were men and women sailed wooden ships like the Nina and Pinta, with little knowledge about what they would encounter during the journey. It makes you wonder how it was possible to do what they did back in the days of old.
The pictures presented are for your enjoyment. I would recommend going to look at the vessels. They will be here for the next week.
If you like boating, water activity, want to get Boat Smart and live in Vero Beach, please consider joining us. We do have Safe Boating Classes throughout the year, we are very active in the community and we always want new members. Our website is www.verobeachps.com and we are located at 301 Acacia Road just over the Barber Bridge. We have a Friday Night Social from 5:30 to 7:30 and encourage you to attend. Tell them you saw a story Bob wrote and he invited you.
Regards,
Bob Scully
Vero Beach Power Squadron Public Relation
