Zenk waited until the waves' movement created an opening on one side of the Niña and successfully dropped the anchor through the gap into the water below. If we dropped the anchor off the ship without looking, it wouldn’t hit the water.” We had a boat on one side and the dock was still tied to us on the other side. “We had to drop the anchor,” Zenk remembered. “She said that the corner dock, where they were, was starting to break loose, and a catamaran had already drifted out of the marina,” he said.Ī northwestern current was pulling the Niña toward a rock jetty at the base of a seawall located at the shoreline on the outside edge of the peninsula that holds Community Maritime Park. The crew had the choice to get off the ship if they wanted to and run to shore.”Īt 5:30 a.m., Sanger got a second phone call from a crew member. “Obviously, they would help the crew get off the ship, if they needed to. “The Guard said, ‘We can’t come out now in the eye of a hurricane,’” Sanger said. Coast Guard to see what the best case scenario would be if the ship’s dock were to break and send the ship to the mercy of the storm, Sanger said. It was about a 7-foot ride up and down on the thing while trying to hold the lines.” The dock was articulated, so they bent and everything, but the boards were pitching from the ship’s cover board up to its cap rail. “Put in the storm surge and the wind, the waves were breaking over the seawall out there. “I was down on the dock trying to keep all of our lines secured to cleats,” Zenk said. (Closed major holidays).With its captain miles away in Alabama, it was up to the crew members still aboard and the ship’s first mate, David Zenk, to save the vessel.

Hillforest open NOW…Tuesday - Friday, 11 AM - 3 PM (last tour begins at 2:15 PM) and Saturday and Sunday, 1 - 5 PM (last tour begins at 4:15 PM). The site has been operating as a historic house museum since 1956 and is one of 11 National Historic Landmarks in southern Indiana. Its unique shape is said to be inspired by steamboats of the 19th century. Overlooking the Ohio River in Aurora, the beautiful Hillforest Victorian House Museum was built in 1855 for industrialist Thomas Graff. Hillforest opens for tours today and hosts many special events throughout the season. They will be on display and open for tours at 301 Riverboat Row in Newport, Kentucky from Thursday, August 30 through Sunday, September 16. The foundation says the Niña is the most historically accurate Columbus replica ship ever built. The Niña and Pinta replicas are operated by The Columbus Foundation. That means they’ll be navigating the Ohio River through Eagle Country. The ships will be traveling to their next stop in Cincinnati over the next couple days. Known as caravels, such Portuguese ships were used by Columbus and many early explorers to discover the new world. Replicas of two of 1400’s-era explorer Christopher Columbus’ ships – the Niña and the Pinta – have been on display in Louisville for the past couple weeks. (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) - If you look to the Ohio River this week, you may see a couple of iconic ships. The Columbus Foundation's Niña and Pinta replica ships are voyaging up the Ohio River from Louisville to Cincinnati this week. Watch the Ohio River this week to catch a glimpse of the Niña and Pinta.