SOUTH PORTLAND – Crew members of the “Nina” and “Pinta” replica ships that docked in South Portland on July 2 say that the 11-month tour on the high seas has been an eye-opening experience they will always remember.

Both ships, modern-day versions of the ships used by Christopher Columbus during the Age of Discovery, are scheduled to depart from South Port Marine in South Portland early Friday morning.

A few members, who stood on deck on both ships last Thursday in gusty winds and rain to answer questions from a few equally salty visitors, said had they not joined the crew, they would have regretted it.

“You get a real feel for what it was like way back when,” said 21-year-old Ryan Lynch from Jensen Beach, Fla., who left his part-time jobs as a guitar instructor and waiter to join the crew. Lynch has been living and working on the Pinta for the past four months.

“I knew if I didn’t get on it, I’d regret it,” said Lynch.

In 1988, an American engineer and maritime historian, John Patrick Sarsfield, and a group of master builders in Brazil, began to construct the Nina with naturally shaped timbers and without the use of power tools. The Columbus Foundation considers the Nina as the first historically accurate replica of a 15th century caravel. The three-masted ships were known for their maneuverability and distinct shape.

According to the Columbus Foundation, British maritime historian and researcher for the project, Jonathan Nance, produced a sail plan for the Nina that represents the ship during the eight years of its life following departure from the Canary Islands in September 1492.

Sixteen years later, the same shipwrights in Brazil built the Pinta to accompany the Nina during its travels to various ports throughout the western hemisphere.

Aboard each ship, referred to by the foundation as floating museums, visitors are whisked back in time. Each ship has exhibits highlighting the history of the Age of Discovery, navigation of the era and how the ships were built. Those who view the replicas are given a taste of what life was like 500 years ago.

“It’s nice that people are paying attention to the history,” said Scarborough resident Robert Hall, who on Thursday scoped out the Nina and Pinta at the South Port Marine. He also said the ships appeared to be much smaller than he thought.

“When one reads an entry in a history book noting the voyage with a small picture of the ships,” said Hall, “we cannot truly realize what was involved in the original trip (which includes) a small leaky ship trying to complete a slow, month-long voyage with people jammed together with limited food and water, no privacy, rudimentary sanitation and only guided by primitive navigational skills.

“By walking through the ship one can partially visualize the risk these people were taking,” said Hall.

Christopher Columbus used the original Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria as common trading vessels on his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to discover the New World. But because of the Santa Maria’s vast size – and because it never returned to Europe – the Columbus Foundation has no plans to build a replica of the Santa Maria, said former history teacher, Dave Zenk, a crewmember from Hudson, Wis.

The Nina, the smaller of the two ships, measures 65 feet in length, while the Pinta measures 85 feet in length. According to Zenk, Columbus’ crew in 1492 ate and slept on the upper deck of the ship in order to store their supplies below.

While the Nina is an exact replica, the Pinta was built with different techniques to be a “day-sailing charter vessel in the Caribbean. She has been sailing with us as our sister ship since 2005,” Zenk said.

The Nina, he said, was “built specifically to commemorate and celebrate the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage. We have been sailing since 1992,” Zenk said.

According to Zenk, the Nina has traveled more than 300,000 miles since it first set sail. Because the ships are touring up and down the Atlantic for 11 months out of the year, they do not have a home port, he said.

“Slowly but surely we are now making our way back to the Gulf coast,” Zenk said. During its recent tour, the ships are traveling the Great Loop, which circumnavigates the Eastern United States by way of the Gulf Coast, the East Coast, the Great Lakes and the Midwestern river system.

While the original Nina and Pinta had 24-26 crewmembers, today’s crew fluctuates between 5-6 on the Nina and 6-8 on the Pinta, Zenk said.

“We are always underway, except for one month where we do maintenance on the ship,” said Lynch.

Lynch said during the past few months on the ship he’s learned how to operate the ship, clean it and maintain it, and he hasn’t regretted a single day. For Lynch, every day is a learning experience, and some days, it can be pretty “intense.”

He enjoys talking with people that come aboard the ship about Columbus’ history and history in general, he said.

“The ship leaks a lot so you get exposed to all the elements,” said Lynch. “We are constantly moving and there is always something to do.” As far as the weather goes, “anything can happen,” he said.

“Sailing today is drastically different than they did it 522 years ago,” he said. Other than history, Lynch said those who join the crew learn many life lessons, visit and explore different ports and learn to really care about what they are doing.

“It’s a big thing to get off the bucket list if you want to see the world,” Lynch said.

Nineteen-year-old Lauren Sulock, from Morehead City, N.C., who has been a crew member for two months, agrees.

“I’ve learned a lot about Columbus that I didn’t think I’d ever know,” she said.

For example, she said, “I never knew they had livestock down below (the ship) and I learned about how young the crew was,” which included 6- to 19-year-olds. “A lot of people are shocked by how small the ships are,” Sulock added.

“You really learn how to get along with people,” Sulock said. She said the crew has become almost like her “second family.”

When asked about the weather, Sulock said the biggest waves she’s experienced in her two months aboard the Pinta was when the ship approached South Portland on July 2, during Hurricane Arthur.

“It was really wet, and pretty rocky,” she said.

“I’ve learned that I am going to be looking forward to a long life on the sea,” said another crew member, Kaley Sowd, 22, from Sarasota, Fla., who was struck by lightning while on the Pinta in Morehead City but was not injured.

“I’ve learned how to work hard and to not let things get to me. My skin has definitely grown an extra layer,” said Sowd, who has been on the ship for three months. “The experience makes you pretty tough.”

According to Sulock, she became a crew member when she was looking for a summer job after she graduated with an associate’s degree in science. She submitted an application to join the Columbus Foundation crew when the Nina and Pinta were docked in her hometown this spring.

She recommends others her age to try out the tour for at least a month.

“I got hired the same day and set sail the next. It was very spur-of-the-moment, but it’s been a lot of fun,” Sulock said. “If I could do this again, I would.”

The Nina and the Pinta were docked in South Portland from July 2-11.  Lauren Sulock, left, 19, from Morehead City, N.C., and Kaley Sowd, 22, from Sarasota, Fla., are crew members of the replica Pinta, which was launched in 2005 in Valenca, Brazil.