STUDENTS GLIMPSE AT HOW COLUMBUS TRAVELED

The junior high students squeezed under the poop deck of the Nina on Wednesday had been asked to think about what Columbus' sailers would do for fun on long ocean voyages.

"Sleep?" "Fish?" "Read" "Play Nintendo?"

Their comments were answered when their tour guide Thomas Hastay began to play a tiny flute-like instrument hanging from a leather strap around his neck. The chatty students immediately quieted as Hastay played a tune on the occrine to demonstrate how sailors could make music in the days before boom boxes and CD players.

"I like to make history come alive for these students," Hastay said as the students from Cape Central Junior High explored the ship on its first day offering tours in Cape Girardeau. "Whether it's telling them about the romance of the sea, the music they played or what sailors thought about, I try to get them to imagine what it was like, to see that history is more than just words in a book."

Until Oct. 11, history is a ship docked at Riverfront Park.

The Nina, a replica of the ship Columbus sailed from Spain to the New World in 1492, pulled into the dock in downtown Cape Girardeau Tuesday and will be open daily until it sets sail down the Mississippi on Oct. 11.

The ship was built by the Columbus Foundation as a floating museum and has sailed on oceans, lakes and rivers, docking in cities in the United States and Central and South America. Years of research went into making it as authentic as possible and it was built by workmen in Brazil using the same techniques used by 15th century ship builders.

The students from Central Junior High were amazed, as are most people, Hastay said, at the small size of the Nina. The deck is only about 66 feet long and with its masts and rigging, feels even smaller.

"I thought it would be bigger because they put so many people on board," said Amber Seabaugh.

On Columbus' first voyage, the Nina had a crew of 27, which Seabaugh thought must have been packed tightly on such a small ship.

"But you have to remember most of the crewmen were about his size," Hastay said pointing to Mathew Mageau, a thin eight-grader about five feet tall.

Mageau said he liked hearing about how the sailors lived. Sailors had to sleep on deck because the hold was full of supplies. They were often wet, had to work hard and had to create their own entertainment.

"It's very different from the way we live now," Mageau said.

Eight-grader David Randolph had expected a large wheel to steer the boat, as might be seen in pirate movies. But Hastay pointed out that the steering wheel wouldn't be invented for about another hundred years.

Instead the Nina has a large wooden tiller attached to a rudder.

Another area of interest for the students was the windlass, a devise used to raise the anchor.

"It took like six hours to get the anchor up," said eight-grader Jerrell Steward.

Brass plaques on the boat offer explanations of the ships features like the windlass, the hold and Columbus' cabin, which was just a tiny crawl space with a ceiling less than four feet high.

But Hastay explained Columbus preferred it to the more roomy cabin on the Santa Maria, the largest of the three ships on the 1492 voyage.

"The Nina was like a sports car, fast and maneuverable," Hastay said.

Crew members like Hastay are aboard to answer questions such as why they call it a poop deck. Poop is an English mispronunciation for the Portuguese word for the deck built over the steering area.

Pictures show how the boat was built, and there are displays that tell of Columbus' voyage and what life was like aboard ships of that era.

Hastay tries to get people to imagine what it was like on such a ship, sailing across uncharted seas.

Seabaugh imagined it, then decided she wouldn't like it.

"I get seasick" she said as she headed for dry land.

The Nina is open for self-guided tours each day from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is $3.50 for adults, $3 for senior citizens, $2.50 for students, free for ages 4 and younger.

Groups of 15 or more can schedule a 30-minute guided tour by calling the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau at 335-1631. Such tours cost $2.50 per person.