As the Nina and Pinta came into view, with a strong wind pushing them up the Ohio River, a crowd of onlookers gathered Tuesday afternoon on the North Shore.
Businessmen, construction workers, small children feeding geese -- they all stopped and stared at the curious sight of two replicas of Christopher Columbus' ships sailing under the West End Bridge and docking.
"Very neat," said Stan Wullschleger, 53, a visitor from Tennessee who was out for an afternoon run but stopped when he saw the ships. "They certainly are impressive, especially with the sails down."
For the next 12 days, the ships will stay at North Shore Riverfront Park between Heinz Field and PNC Park, where crews of six per ship will give tours and answer questions about Columbus' voyages.
They will explain, for example, that the replicas were made entirely by hand with no power tools in Brazil; that although Columbus had no plumbing or electricity, these ships most certainly do; and that there is a big difference between "line" and "rope."
"It's called 'line' when it's in use; 'rope' when it's not," explained 'Miss Ellie' Kaiser, 82, a cook who has spent the past nine years of her retirement sailing on the Nina and Pinta.
The Nina was built in 1988; the Pinta, in 2004. There is no replica of the third ship, the Santa Maria, which ran aground and sank in 1492.
The Nina and Pinta cruise the country's waterways and dock in cities for tours lasting several days. The Nina, Capt. Kyle Friauf said, is the most accurate replica of a Columbus ship ever built. It was used in the film production of "1492." The ships and tours are run by the Columbus Foundation Inc., based in the British Virgin Islands.
"The kids love it," Friauf said. "Of course, they all think we're pirates, but we're not. We're explorers."
Considering the significance of its historic explorations, the Nina is surprisingly small at only 65 feet long and less than 18 feet wide. It weighs 72 tons, but would feel much lighter when tossed about in rough seas, Friauf said.
Still, as Ross brothers Timothy and Benjamin McClelland, ages 8 and 6, ran around the ships yesterday, they insisted that, like Columbus, they could handle a trans-Atlantic voyage.
"We've been on a cruise before," Timothy said, "and we didn't ever get seasick."
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