As I was wandering around downtown Columbus, Ohio last week, I ran across this life-size replica of the Christopher’s ship, the Santa Maria.

Notice how bluff the bow is … this ship would have had a lot of fun (NOT) sailing dead-on into seas of any significant size at all. I wonder if it would have made forward progress at all!

Not to be outdone by the bow, the stern is also extremely vertical and flat.

The amazing thing is that people sailed a boat this size (it’s almost too small to be dignified with the honorific ship) halfway around the world, especially in tempestuous waters such as the Atlantic Ocean.