Off The Wall!

 

When we travel as a family, I'm pretty easygoing about where we stay,

and a lot of other details of the trip.  But my wife (who is a travel agent)

knows to consult me on every detail when we go to Venice.

Such was the case when we were planning our visit this past September.

One of the most important choices was:

Which apartment to stay in?

 

We chose one that was just behind the La Fenice opera house, on the

regular route of the gondoliers of the traghetto at Santa Maria del Giglio.

 

At any given time I could step out the door,

       peer out a window,

              or even climb out on to the windowsill,

                    and watch an endless procession of gondolas passing by.

 

I quickly noticed that almost every gondolier who passed by,

planted his left foot on the wall in one or more of the same spots.

 

Here's a collection of shots I snapped of the famous "Venetian foot-plant".

This guy has legs about as short as mine!

But he manages to plant that left foot perfectly.

 

 The guy behind him does it...while on the phone.

And then he does it again!

 

He had to hang up for this one.

 

This guy makes it look more athletic.

 

The subtle and lesser-known "toe plant".

 

This guy plants twice as well.

here's the first...

 

...and here's the second. 

Lastly, Mister Mohawk plants it like he's at the top of a halfpipe.

I watched these guys day in and day out - executing this move,
and the ensuing turn that followed, perfectly.
The first "gondolas" in Venice were shorter and simpler
than the ones there today.

Over the years the boat has grown, both in length and complexity.
I've heard it said that the progression of length in the gondola stopped
quite simply because anything longer than 11 meters wouldn't be able to fit through some of these passages and tight turns.
After watching the gondoliers beneath our window, I tend to believe that.

What's amazing is how well they handle it.
I suppose planting the foot might help.

Tug of War - Dragon Boat Style

Don't let the dragon boat part fool you.

I know that some of my Venetian rowing friends view dragon boat racing

as a "simple sport". 

 

Admittedly, It is a bit more entry level.

If you can sit and paddle, then you can probably pull it off.

I'm guessing that many of my crew rowing friends have similar sentiments.

 

We've all seen these wide-body canoes jammed full of first-time-paddlers spastically splashing at the water in their corporate team-building events.

 

But not all who climb into dragon boats are soft-handed wimps who work in office cubicles under florescent lights.

 

There are lots of folks who choose dragon boating in favor of joining a gym or taking up Tae Kwon Do.  It's a very social activity.

If I hadn't stumbled my way into the gondola world,

I probably would have ended up dragon boating.

After all, I did get the canoeing merit badge in Boy Scouts.

And you all know how great it is to be out on the water.
It's no surprise that dragon boating has caught on with such fervor.

 

As with any sport, there are the hardcore athletes.

The guys in these videos remind me of some of the outrigger canoe racers we regularly see in Newport - blasting by like it's nothing.

 

Regular contests (in any type of boat racing) 

usually involve boats racing against each other,

or teams taking turn on the same boat in a time-trial format.

 

But these guys, well, they've come up with a whole new approach.

It's like a tug of war, but instead of pulling away from each other,

the two teams are pushing towards each other.

 

Oh, and then there's the fact that both teams are in the same boat!

 

Take a look:

 

The above video clip can also be found on YouTube under the title
"Polish Dragon Boat Rowing: Tug of Oar edition"

Yes, the guys paddling are Polish, and...
No, it has nothing to do with Polish jokes.

It seems that this isn't the only place they do this
two-teams-on-the-same-boat thing.

Here's another couple contests from a get-together in Hong Kong:

 

 

 

And in Australia - here's a contest in a pool:

 

With the US Gondola Nationals coming up in October,

I'm sure this gives some of you food-for-thought. 

I've thought about it myself.

It's important to remember that with dragon boats,

you just need a place to sit and a paddle.

There's no oarlock involved.

 

We would need to come up with a way to mount forcole

on both ends of the same boat to achieve the same goal.

 

Anybody got a boat that we could use?

 

Best Seats in the House - Gig Harbor

Last weekend there was a whole lot of paddling going on
up in Gig Harbor, Washington.
It was the 5th Annual Gig Harbor Paddlers Cup.

John Synco and his trusty gondola "Nellie" were on hand
to give spectators the best seats in the house.

This shot popped up and I had to post it.
She's not in perfect focus,
but there's our favorite Pacific Northwest gondola.

Check out John's website at gigharborgondola.com

Two of a Kind

I spotted these two beauties next to the Rialto Bridge
in Venezia last September.

It was one of those stop-what-you're-doing moments.

Gondolas like this deserve reverent admiration.
Both were wedding gondolas (with carved decks).
Both had tapestry cloth seating,
and both were nicely appointed and well cared for.

 

I noticed that the deck carvings were of very different style.

 

I'm sure that the gondoliers who row these boats do well with such a key location.

It's important to mention, though, that while all of Venice's gondoliers

are skilled and capable of getting out of trouble, the ones who row

in this spot work in what might best be described as a

"maritime bottleneck on a freeway".

 

These gondoliers have to be the best of the best to work here,

because the vaporetto traffic is fierce near the Rialto.

 

And yet they do it in such a way that it looks easy.

 

Feeling Nostalgic - Day Four

photo by Nereo Zane

I suppose I could package this under a "Throwback Thursday" theme,
but the truth is that I spotted this photo,
sat and stared at it for a long time,
and decided to post it.

After all that, I realized it was Thursday.
The truth is, I'm just feeling nostalgic.

This image takes me back to one of my very favorite times.
It was taken in October of 2007 during an expedition down the Hudson River.
It was a six day expedition, covering 150 miles, from Albany to Manhattan.
We covered 25 miles per day.
This shot was taken on Day Four.
The gondola: my boat The Phoenix - built by Thom Price in Squero Bonaldo.

There were six team members in all - four rowing at a time.
Here we see, from bow to stern:
Bepi Suste - Venetian rowing champion,
Enzo Liszka - expedition rowing expert from Venice,
John Kerschbaum - gondola owner and operator from Minnesota,
and captaining the boat, the famous Vittorio Orio.
The three Venetians are legendary rowers.
Vittorio and Enzo have completed several gondola expeditions,
including the first ever crossing of the English Channel by gondola.

Nereo Zane (our staff photographer - among other things) took the photo,
while Chris Harrison of Texas drove the chase boat.
I probably had my head in a map at the time,
as I was the planner and navigator.

More complete bios (as of the time of the 2007 expedition)
can be found in my post:
The Team

If you've been following the Gondola Blog for a long time,
then most of this isn't news.
It was this expedition, after all, that prompted me to start the blog.

It was a huge honor to be part of the team on this expedition,
and I will always have fond memories of that week in the fall
on the Hudson River in New York.

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

To learn more about the expedition, just click back to the beginning of the Gondola Blog, or use the search bar with the word "Hudson".

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

Just the Photo - The Remo that Snapper Snapped

photo by Isabella Mohr

Gondola Sighting–NYC

Our friend Kathleen Gonzalez (author and dedicated "Casanovist")
hosts her own blog "Seductive Venice".
She posted today from New York City with some fresh photos.
Looks like the gondola there is back in the water and ready for passengers.

Here's a link to the post:

https://seductivevenice.wordpress.com/2016/04/03/gondola-sighting-nyc/

Gondola Greg Launches "Salton Sea Gondola Cruises"

photos by Mark Mohr

 

It's been under wraps for some time, but now, with all of the arrangements in place, Gondola Greg is officially announcing Southern California's newest servizio:

Salton Sea Gondola Cruises

 

"Real estate is key out here in the desert" , says Greg.

"You gotta secure an office - a headquarters - for your operation,

so I scored this sweet desert domicile to build my fortune-making gondola business here on the Salton Sea.  I'm totally stoked!"

 

Dressed and ready!

 

The Salton Sea is an unusual body of water.

It's the largest lake in California, but it started as an accident.

Water was diverted from the Colorado River in 1905 when work was being done to build irrigation canals for agriculture in the basin.

After water had spilled into a salt flat for two years, the Salton Sea was born.

Canal engineers finally caught the overflow leak and brought the flow of fresh water to an end.

 

The water was already salty from previous deposits, but the Salton Sea has continued to increase in salinity by one percentage point each year.

Currently it has a higher salinity than the Pacific Ocean, but not as much as the Great Salt Lake in Utah.

 

In its heyday, the Salton Sea was wildly popular - the Lake Tahoe of Southern California.  People flocked to her shores to sun and picnic.

Boating and waterskiing was huge, and the fishing was great.

 

Unfortunately the combination of increasing salinity, no drainage, and much of the water flowing into the basin coming from agricultural runoff - the water quality has gotten increasingly worse.

 

But Gondola Greg doesn't care.

He sees that as a welcome challenge.

"Fish are dying? Hey, cool. It's the circle of life, man.

I see each dead floating fish as a teachable moment.

Smells like an old tuna can?  Makes me hungry.  I think I'll make a sandwich."

 

Winds that top 30mph at peak cruising time also don't seem to deter him.

He claims to be ready for the challenge.

 

Currently there are no boats offering passenger cruises,

so naturally Greg sees this as a fantastic opportunity

to have a corner on the market.

 

The current "fishing fleet".

With summer temps topping 120 degrees Fahrenheit, Gondola Greg welcomes the opportunity to lose weight (or die trying). 
He's also going to work on a wicked low-sock-tan.
His positivity is unflappable...and downright annoying.

"Headquarters"

Sometime in the early 70's, after two hurricanes pushed the corrosive lake water up and into the towns on the shore,

Sonny Bono and members of The Beach Boys pulled out,

leaving the inland Riviera with no more star power.

 

Gondola Greg has the solution:
"I'm gonna bring out a bunch of last year's reality show stars, along with some failed former political candidates,
and we'll make a new reality show - maybe about fishing."

"Opportunity, baby.  I'm livin' the dream out here!"

The office headquarters is in place, and a fleet of twenty-six gondolas is being launched at this very moment.
These special boats are made of recycled styrofoam and all-natural hemp fiber, pressed together and popped out of fiberglass molds. 
Each gondola will be 39 feet long (because bigger is better, right?).

Sign up for your cruise right away, because the season is short:
Opening day - April 1st, 2016
Closing day - April 1st, 2016