At 73, Elenore Kaiser had spent her life making military moves with her husband, raising three children and being a secretary in her Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. Just a few years into retirement, her husband died, and life was lonely for Elenore. "We did everything together," she says.

By then her youngest son Doc had spent a couple of years sailing and encouraged his Mom to join the crew of his boat. "I'd never done anything like this in my life, but I decided to try it in the summer of 2000," says Kaiser. After two summers working a five-mouth stint, she loves the adventure, and she loves her ship, the Niña.

The Niña is a replica of the ship on which Columbus sailed across the Atlantic on his three voyages of discovery to the new world beginning in 1492. Columbus sailed the tiny ship over 25,000 miles and purchased a half share in the vessel. That ship was last heard of in 1501, but the new Niña has a different mission.

"We are a floating museum, and we visit ports all over," says Miss Ellie, as she is affectionately known on board." My job is to cook, sell admission tickets, and run the gift shop," she says during a brief break on a busy day, Once docked, Miss Ellie sets up a long metal table and awning on shore and puts out a selection of T-shirts, postcards, pictures, coloring books, hats, mugs, and magnets. She checks the cash register and is ready for the hundreds of school children and curious adults who will visit the ship. " Our publicity people at the Columbus Foundation (www.thenina.com) notify the schools and the newspapers that we will be coming," she says.

The varied- aged, seven- person crew works 10-hour days, six on and one off. While life on a ship is unique, there are some real adjustment to be made. "We all live and sleep in one room that is the forward hold, with four bench bunks and four hanging bunks right above them a head (bathroom stool), and a small galley (kitchen) with a 1,000-pound ice chest for anyone with an attitude."

The group rents motel rooms near the dock for shower facilities so that each person can enjoy a conventional bed for one night off. "We have either to rent a car or rely on kind people to lend us an automobile to buy our supplies every 10 days or so," she says. "Unfortunately we don't get a chance to do sightseeing when we stop." While Miss Ellie is minding the store, the other crew members are lending tours of the ship and answering dozen of questions on history, sailing, and life aboard ship.

Cooking is a very big part of Miss Ellie's job, "When we are in port I make breakfast, everyone helps themselves to sandwiches for lunch, and then I cook dinner," Miss Ellie says while looking through the icebox and storage under the built-in table for supplies. While she has a propane gas stove, a sink, and an amazing amount of storage for such a small space, it requires a lot of planning to accomplish her task. "I have to plan ahead and make shopping lists to buy supplies for a week to 10 days," she says. "Sometimes we are on the water for three or four days at a time,"

While the modern ship includes an engine and generator for safety and to adhere to maritime regulations, whenever practical, the Niña utilizes wind power. When that happens the crew has to tend to normal sailing duties, including hoisting and lowering 1,900 square feet of sails, stowing lines, oiling the wood, navigating, and cleaning the ship.

The Nina has visited over 425 ports since 1991. She has sailed the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes. She has also extensively toured the inland rivers including the Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Illinois, and Mississippi. During the winter months the Niña berths in Mexico taking passengers for day trips. It is the only touring maritime museum of its kind. "I particularly enjoyed trips in Canada and Detroit, where we saw other tall ships there was a very early morning trip through Chicago before anyone else was there. The buildings were beautiful," Miss Ellie says. Sometimes, like in Chicago, the Nina's massive masts have to be removed for low bridges. When that happens, an age-old tradition is observed. " We put a coin under the mast before it is replaced. I've put several coins down there now," she says.

When fall arrives, Miss Ellie returns to her home in Alamogordo, New Mexico. During the winter she travels a lot, visits friends and relatives, and does a little of the knitting and crocheting she enjoys. But when spring is in the air, she is ready to get back on her sea legs and rejoin her ship for more new discoveries.