Minnesota Launchings - Photos from Edina

photos by Barbara Fedor

With images provided by John Kerschbaum and his staff in the Minneapolis area, we can recreate the spring launching which played out just eleven days ago.

Here's the gondola:And here's the waterway: As the launch begins, one of the guys stays on the trailer to make sure she doesn't leak too much. Gently, but with determination, the guys guide, and lift (when needed), as the gondola slides into the water.
(in the shot - Alex, K.C., and John)
As you can see, it's a tight-quarters launch ramp. I'd guess the folks who developed it never expected a 36-foot gondola to be launched there.
As the gondola floats free from her trailer, Peter holds on to the ferro while John Kerschbaum stands on the shore, hands in pockets, breathing a sigh of relief and taking in all that this moment means.
If you've ever been point-man in the process of getting a gondola ready for launch, you know how John feels in this photo.
His body language says it all.

A beautiful Venetian gondola, afloat for the first time after a long winter. That's a beautiful thing!