No Sole Mio

After 17 years of operating on the Charles River in Boston,
Gondola di Venezia is now for sale,
and the boats are not scheduled to be launched this spring.

Here's an article in the Boston Globe about it:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2018/03/30/sole-mio-venetian-gondolas-esplanade-quiet/XiiJ4VvcZUHEqMR1FV8JZI/story.html

 

Gondoliers Become Ganzers

photo by Mark Hunt

I received this from Joe Gibbons at Boston Gondolas today:

Retired gondoliers: "Ganzers"
Has anyone out there heard this term?
Maybe I have misspelled it but I once witnessed an older man hanging out at the basin behind Saint Marks Square, assisting tourist onto gondolas using this unusual stick that looked like a fancy cane. When I asked about him I was told he had rowed gondolas for many years and he was now retired. His entire life was spent on and around the boats that we all love. He opted in retirement to stay close to what he knew so well, by assisting people onto the departing gondolas, he was often rewarded with small tips but more important to him was his association and the camaraderie that he had with fellow gondoliers and probably a few good glasses of wine . They referred to him as the Ganzer!

Over 22 years ago, after visiting Venice with my wife, we became infatuated with everything GONDOLA. Its amazing how much history and information is out there. With a stroke of luck we found out that Tom Price, sent by The Watson Foundation, was in Venice striving to work with the remaining Squeros to protect, preserve and help educate the public about the values in preserving the traditions of gondolas with a rich history going back nearly 1000 years. Tom is a real special guy and we sincerely want to say a big thank you to him for exposing his knowledge, his contacts and his Venetian friendships to us.  Boston Gondolas would not exist without the help and Support we got from Tom.

With nearly 10,000 miles of rowing behind us and countless memories, Steve and I are about to become Ganzers. Our very last tours are now behind us. Sure it is bittersweet, the mind says keep rowing but the body tells us otherwise. No doubt this is a young man's game! It's time for me to spend some time with the grandchildren, maybe fish a little, and indulge into other aspects of my life.

A very special thank you goes out to our staff. Charlie and Tony have been loyal and dependable gondoliers, we could not have continued the past few years without them. Our Musicians are awesome, Pete Bufano, Tara, Justin, Tony, Abbey, Yaeko - you guys helped make Boston Gondolas the first class operation that it is. Thank You!!

There have been countless friends along the way, but there is only one guy that has never missed a beat from the very first day we opened. Steve Bruno, my business partner and good friend . YOU ARE THE BEST. Steve's wife Sue and my wife Camille have put up with our absence now for 17 years during gondola season, now those are good women!!  Thank you girls!

Goodbye to all that have been part of this incredible journey.
We will no doubt miss the daily adventures of rowing gondolas but we are now GANZERS.
               
Ciao,
Joe Gibbons and Steve Bruno

PS:  We are looking for someone with the passion and desire to own and operate Boston Gondolas here in Boston on The Charles River. If you have interest please email or Call Joe:    
joegibbons1@yahoo.com or 617-460-1239

My friend Joe, his wife, and their friends and family built something beautiful - something great for the community, and they had a great run.
The gondola business in the US is better because of it.
I wish Joe and Steve the very best in their future as ganzers.

Gondolas Spotted in Boston

photo by Kathleen Gonzalez

 

Our friend Kathleen Gonzalez, who wrote the book "Free Gondola Ride",

hosts a great blog called "Seductive Venice" - which covers topics on

Casanova, Venice, and all things Venetian.

 

She was recently in Boston and saw the gondolas there.

Take a look at her post "Not Just in Venice Anymore...".

Gondolier candidate in Boston

 

I received this message, along with the above photo from Joe Gibbons in Boston:

Hello Greg, hello Gondolier friends. My grandson is seeking a position at one of our Gondola companies. John Pellegrino  claims he has been rowing for two years.   

Can anybody out there use a little guy on their boat?  hH's not quite ready to open any wine bottles but he's really good on the sippy cup.  Happy Father's Day.

Sweet Sixteen in Boston

This week the "Boys in Boston" opened for their sixteenth season.

It seems like only yesterday they were taking delivery of two beautiful gondolas from Venice (one built by Thom Price, the other restored by him).

The area where they row, known as "the Esplanade" was actually designed originally for gondolas, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that they look perfect there.

Even so, you can't just find a nice place, toss gondolas in the water,

and expect everything to fall into place.

Success requires work, especially in this business.

Joe, Steve, and the staff at Gondola di Venezia are no strangers to hard work, and they certainly know how to run a successful gondola operation.

Happy sixteenth season to my friends in Boston.

I hope this summer will be the best yet!

New England Builders Admire Venetian Gondola

Last week I posted about how the boys in Boston were stripping their
gondola that was built in '94, down to bare wood.

It was a lot of work, but well worth it.
After that they prepped and painted her again.
Here we see the gondola "Firenza" with her fresh paint - all shiny and black.

She looks like a brand new gondola.

 

On Monday night, Firenza was the subject of a great game of show-and-tell

with a room full of New England boat builders.

These folks were not your run-of-the-mill fiberglass guys.

They're classic wooden boat craftsmen.

 

Joe Gibbons of Gondola di Venezia was honored to show off his gondola to a group of people who appreciate such artistry.

 

Joe writes:
The showing of the Venetian gondola was a big hit.  
Some of the boatbuilders showed up from Essex, Mass. - America's wooden boat shipbuilding Capital for many generations.

The photo I have attached is Mr. Burnham himself with his grandson.  This family's been building wooden boats in Essex mass for 11 generations. His son Harold is the current boat builder and I urge everybody to check out their blog. 
Also check out the Thomas Lannon this is a pretty impressive wooden ship that the Burnhams built about 20 years ago.   
I get to see the Thomas Lannon almost on a daily basis all summer long at Rockport, Mass.  

It was a very nice feeling to be around these wooden boat builders. As they awed at the Venetian Gondola in Tom Perkins' squero at Wise Marine.
Thom Price should be proud there was considerable conversation about him and his accomplishments in Venice.

A lot of gondola operators don't realize just how unique their boats are,
not only in appearance, but in the way they're built and maintained.

Even the most traditional wooden boat experts find gondolas fascinating.

Thanks for the report, Joe.
We look forward to seeing Firenza afloat on the Charles River soon.

-----------------------------------

The Burnham blog can be found at:  http://boatbuildingwithburnham.blogspot.com/

Wise Marine's website is:
http://www.wisemarine.com

and the schooner Thomas Lannon is at:
www.schooner.org

Naked Gondola

Joe Gibbons just sent me these photos from Boston.

 

Warning: these photos show graphic gondola nudity.

Joe included this message to explain the details:

Hello Greg and all our gondola friends.

It's that time year here in Boston - maintenance has started. 

 

She's Naked.   

 

Since Firenza's birth in 1994, we estimated that she

had at least 17 coats of paint. 

It was time to give her a facelift and take care of lots

of little problems that we all know exist under that paint.

With a little bit of luck she'll be back in the water in early May. Looking forward to the start of a 16th season here in Boston. 

Winter has passed - all signs of snow and ice are gone.

I love seeing the photos that come in this time of year.
Spring is here and several gondola owners are ramped-up and running,
full steam ahead to get their boats ready for launch.

Here's a close-up of the tail.

I love that stainless steel trim.

 

As gondoliers, we always talk about how gondolas are

"made of eight different types of wood",

and yet it's hard to tell when it's all painted black.

 

Take a closer look at the above photo and the difference is obvious.

You can easily tell the difference between the hull planks and the tail stem.

 

When you strip away all that paint, and get down to bare lumber,

you can really appreciate the good stock the guys in the squero use.

 

The folks at Gondola di Venezia in Boston have my respect:

They've chosen to do something that most talk about doing...but never

actually go through with.

 

Having stripped away all the paint and primer,

they can now see everything, and take measures to fix problems...

...both present and future.

 

So I say bravo to the boys in Boston!

I hope your work is both successful and enjoyable.

 

Oh, and...nice shop!

 

Christmas Cheer from Boston

I received this photo from Joe Gibbons in Boston:

Hello Greg and the Gondola blog.

The girls are fast asleep in the tents, no chimney for Santa.

But we left them with a little holiday spirit.

Merry Christmas to all our gondola friends  

                                    -Joe and Steve

Just the Photo - Boston Charlie in Newport

Four Feet of Cypress in Boston

I received this correspondence from Boston yesterday:

Hi Greg. I thought the guys might find these photos interesting. 

A friend of ours from Essex Massachusetts - the wooden boat building capital, has jumped into help with a few repairs of the season. After several patches over the last 15 seasons at starboard stern below the forcola.  We decided to remove a full four foot section of planking. Our friend Tom Perkins from Wise Marine of Essex Massachusetts used Cypress wood.  For this repair, he was actually able to get some curvature by saturating the planks with wet towels. The outcome looks quite nice.  We have chosen to start using cotton now, instead of the Oakum that we have been using for years.  With a little bit of luck and a sore back from painting, Maria should be in the water in about 10 days. Ciao to all our gondolier friends.  Joe and Steve

Here we see the area of concern, with planking removed.

 

 And here we see her, freshly re-planked.

My best wishes to Joe and Steve in Boston.
Have a great launching, and an even greater season!

The Report from Boston

We are enduring yet another year of drought here in California.
Meanwhile, our friends on the East Coast have had a banner year
in terms of snow.

My dear friend Joe Gibbons in Boston sent me this message:

Its been a long snowy winter here in New England.

To put it in perspective, the photo attached is the door

to my garage.  

 

The window screen distracts the view there, but if you look past it,

you'll recognize footprints to a door...with snow banks on either side,

that are as high as the door.

 

Joe further writes:

we got our seasonal maintenance under way yesterday the girls (gondolas) whethered the season ok. Steve spent many hours this past winter removing the snow from the tents. 
The ice on the river is beginning to melt a month late but for sure a good sign.  About 5 weeks of maintenance...before we row our first tour for a 16th season.  
Ciao,
Joe and Steve

And here's the ice-on-river shot:

 

Many thanks to our friends in Boston.

I hope you have an easy and successful maintenance phase this year,

and that it's followed by a great season on the water.

The Carvings of Maria

Here's a photo taken in Boston this past fall.
The gondolas were out of the water, enjoying a few more days of sunshine before winter.
Joe, Steve, and the staff of Gondola di Venezia made sure to get both gondolas into their winter shelter before the snow began to fall.
This is the reverse angle of the photo in my post "Boston Beauties"

The gondola in the foreground is the "Maria" - one of the only Wedding Gondolas in the US, built in the Squero Bonaldo by Thom Price.
I've always loved those carvings, and the way they catch the eye.
Behind her is the "Firenze".  Both boats were shipped in from Venezia and have been expertly cared for in Boston.

Boston Beauties

After the US Gondola Nationals in 2014, my wife and I drove up to Boston
and visited with Joe Gibbons. 
He showed us around, pointed out all the interesting places,
brought us in to see his boats, and made us feel welcome and at-home.

For having just been hauled out after a busy summer,
the Boston gondolas were in great shape.
A few days later the gondolas were moved into an enclosure for winter.

At the end of our visit, we stopped in the Little Italy neighborhood,
had some phenomenal pizza, enjoyed a pitcher of Narragansett,
and shared lots of stories and memories.

The gondoliers in Boston have an enviable location and an exemplary operation. The fleet is well-kept and of manageable size.

Many thanks to Joe for his hospitality,
and for showing his beautiful boats to us.

Upward Angle of a Boston Tail

The tail section of a gondola in Boston, set against a clear blue sky.

Each year, the folks at Gondola di Venezia haul out their two beautiful Venice-built boats for winter.
They spend most of the cold season in an enclosure, but I was able to visit them after haul-out, and before they were moved into their winter home.

Normally it would only be possible to get a shot from this angle by standing
(or swimming) in the water, but I had lucky timing.

Welcome to New England

We pulled off the highway into the sleepy little town of Norwood.

It was 8:45pm and I was in dire need of a cup of coffee.

Last night I'd gotten two hours of sleep in the comfort of my own bed before being unceremoniously awakened by the alarm that signaled the beginning of a "travel day".

Loading luggage,

fighting freeway traffic,

finding longterm parking,

navigating the madness that is LAX. 

Then a flight to Boston during which I scored a whopping 45 minutes of sleep.

Landing, luggage, shuttle, rent-a-car.

Destination: Providence, Rhode Island for the U.S. Gondola Nationals.

Struggling to figure my way out of Boston in the rain on roads I'd never driven before. 

Out on the highway, it all caught up with me.

So when I walked through the door of the Dunkin' Donuts in Norwood, Massachusetts, I didn't just want coffee, I needed it. 

Living in Southern California, I don't often see a Dunkin' Donuts, 

so knowing how iconic the place is in the North-East, I figured I ought to have the full experience, and get something to wash down with my coffee.

I stepped up to the counter and announced that I'd come all the way from California to have some of their legendary donuts and coffee.

The lady behind the counter was amused. 

I placed my order, including a breakfast sandwich

for my wife who was in the car.

I paid, chatted a bit with the Dunkin' staff and a nice woman behind me in line who was a "regular" 

(the woman at the counter knew her order when she walked in the door).

I stepped away to wash my hands in the bathroom, and upon returning, watched the "regular" pick out two donuts that were frosted as jack-o-lanterns.

I said "oh, those are fun!" and asked if they were for someone at home.

She gave a knowing smile, then, when the bag was handed to her...she gave it to me, and said "these are for you, welcome to New England" like an old friend.

It really hit me. I was totally taken aback.

A small gesture, but one that changed my whole state of mind at the moment.

We drove on through the dark countryside in the rain.

I sipped my coffee and munched on the donut that I had ordered. 

My wife enjoyed her breakfast sandwich.

We checked into our hotel and crashed out for the night.

This morning, while l look out my window at the beautiful city of Providence, complete with fall colors, I enjoy another cup of coffee, 

and a jack-o-lantern donut. 

"Welcome to New England" - I sure feel welcome here.