Thursday, March 13, 2008

Training in Naples, Florida


This morning we made our way from Miami, across the peninsula that is the state of Florida, and arrived in Naples. What a beautiful place. I've spent a fair amount of time on the west coast of Florida, and this has quickly become one of my favorte spots.
We made our way to The Village, an upscale shopping and dining location to train and visit with some folks I sold a gondola to recently.

My trainee today was a local captain named Kevin, who took to it handily; his boating and canoe skills giving him a bit of a boost in the training process.


The remo and forcola are Venice-built. I'm not sure of the remo, but I suspect it was carved by Paolo Brandolisio. The forcola is brand new, and came from Franco Furlanetto. The gondola is not Venice-built, but rather, a 32' fiberglass version, asymmetric, with an optional motor mounted in the front. My goal, however, is to train gondoliers to do everything without the motor, because then they do not depend on it. Furthermore, I know that most gondoliers who operate boats like this, end up rowing without the motor almost all the time.


The gondola has a rather pronounced asymmetry. Her designer, Jack Fesenmeyer was a big fan of the off-center design of Venetian boats, and worked it into his molds, which we now own and use to produce these gondolas.


1 comment:

Unknown said...

Venice has been listed in many publications as being the "Shark's Tooth Capital of the World"
Venice Fl