Winter Cocoons in Minnesota

photos by John Kerschbaum

Another gondola season has come to a close in Stillwater, Minnesota.

John and his staff at Gondola Romantica hauled out the boats onto trailers and John parked them both on his property. 

After that the unique "Kerschbaum tenting process" began. 

He's got it down to quite a science now. 

First, the A-frame of lumber,

Gotta make sure it will hold as the snow loads up through winter.

then the plastic sheeting, and a whole lot of tethering with ropes.

After all that, John wraps clothesline cord around and around each boat.
This keeps the plastic from ballooning out when the winter winds try to blow open the sheeting - which puts stress on all the anchor points.

It's all about getting those precious gondolas wrapped up tight in their cocoons for winter.  
Bonus points if it’s all done before the first dusting of snow.

Last Cruise of 2019 in Stillwater

photos by John Kerschbaum

I was honored to row once again with my friend John Kerschbaum at the U.S. Gondola Nationals.  We "got the band back together" and rowed tandem in the Distance Pupparin event, bringing back all kinds of great memories of the different Nationals races we teamed up for and all the expedition rowing we've done.

After A big breakfast on Monday morning, I dropped John off at the airport and he flew back home to Minnesota.  Today he sent me a few photos of the last cruise of the year there in Stillwater.

John wrote:

Last Cruise of the season. It was 32 degrees with a 15 mile an hour wind. First year wedding anniversary. A good time was had by all.

 
After that, John and Michael rowed the gondola to the ramp.

 Michael Serge presses the oar forward 

with Stillwater's iconic Lift Bridge in the background.

Meanwhile, someone from the Dock Cafe - a restaurant on the water - posted this photo of the final voyage of the year.

Then it was time to trailer...

...and remarkably, Michael seemed to be superglued to the deck of the boat.

I've gotta say, he does have good balance.
 

In the days to come, John and the Gondola Romantica staff will position their two gondolas on his property, prepare them for winter storage, and erect shelters over each boat - hopefully before the snow comes down.

As our dear friends in Minnesota tuck their boats (and their business) in for winter, I wish them success in the process, and plenty of firewood to keep warm til spring.

Umbrellas

photo by C. Wilson Photography

Wow.
Where do I begin?

For 25+ years I've been telling people that Valentine's Day is the "Superbowl of gondola cruises".  We start preparing for it in the fall and expect to row as many cruises as we physically can.
It's the busiest day of the year, surrounded by the busiest week of the year.

This year...not so much.

We were hoping that the break in the rain would hold until the 14th had passed, but it wasn't meant to be.

This Valentine's Day the gondoliers in southern California will likely see something like the above photo.

Umbrellas can mean all the difference.
And this year we've got a whole box of them - waiting to be used by any of our clients who are determined to get out on the water.

In the words of my Minnesota friend John Kerschbaum:
"If you're crazy enough to go out in this...
Then I'm crazy enough to row the boat."

Minnesota Returns

Each year around this time, my friend John Kerschbaum makes his way from his servizio in Stillwater Minnesota down to California where he rows with us before, during, and after Valentine's Day. 
This evening I caught him as he was returning to dock with happy passengers at the end of a cruise.

A tale of Two Journals

photo by Michael Czerwonka

On Monday the Wall Street Journal featured a great piece on gondolier Michael Angelo Ruffino, and his athletic workout regimen.  

It was a fun spotlight on something I've never seen anyone report on.

There were quotes from John Kerschbaum in Minnesota and Marcello in Providence.
But a reporter at the Providence Journal saw the article and decided to answer it with a report of his own - from the shores of the river in Providence.

photo by Bob Breidenbach

And so a press rivalry,
pointed out a rowing rivalry,
which is similar to a certain World Series rivalry
(which, as a Dodger fan, I don't really want to talk about right now).

The US Gondola Nationals revolves around racing,
but it's not ALL about winning races and getting medals.
The brotherhood and camaraderie is, for almost everybody, 
the most important aspect of this unique annual happening.

Even so, we are all happy to see our yearly races getting some good press coverage.  Maybe this year we'll end up in the Sports Page again.

To read the articles, see...
Wall Street Journal: 
"A Model Gondolier With a Reletless Regimen"
and Providence Journal: 
"Providence gondoliers training to compete - and host U.S. Nationals"

Kerschbaum on Contessa

photo by Isabella Mohr

 
Valentine's Day, 2018.
John Kerschbaum from Minnesota rows a happy couple 
on the pupparin known as "Contessa", 
as the lady reads the message-in-a-bottle 
that she just retrieved from the water.

Minnesota Repairs

Spring is in the air once again,
even in Minnesota.
John at Gondola Romantica wasn't sure it would come at all this year.
He told me they got eight inches of snow on a day when he usually has his boats uncovered and prepared for launch.

To make things more challenging, he discovered some soft areas on one of the gondolas, and he knew it couldn't be left until the end of the season.

That beautiful shot above is after the repair.
Here's a shot during the project.

The spot is towards the bow along the starboard side of the passenger area.

I told him he should put plexiglass there, 
and start marketing "glass-bottom boat tours", 
but he was smarter than that, and didn't follow my direction.

The work is all done now, and soon the freshly repaired gondola will launch for what we all hope will be a great season in Stillwater, Minnesota.