Friday, March 2, 2018

Batela from Above

photo by Mark Schooling

On Saturday the 17th of February, Mark of Gondola Paradiso in Oxnard 
was able to snap this photo of gondolier Josh Sopp - rowing the only batela west of the Atlantic.

Josh rowed for many years at the Gondola Company of Newport.
He was actually one of the guys who trained Mark Schooling so many years ago.  Josh moved into another career category, but always missed rowing.
We all got a surprise visit from Josh when he showed up at the most recent US Gondola Nationals in Huntington Harbour.
During that re-connection, he and Mark got to talking about rowing.

Next thing you know, Josh is back on a boat.
He got to pilot several cruises on both Valentine's Day and the Saturday that followed.
Here are a few more shots:

Look at those crisp white pants on V-Day.
Looking good, Josh!

 One more time under the bridge.

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