Tyson's "Close Encounter" with a Big-Eyed-Boat

Tyson at Sunset Gondola told me about an experience he had at a previous Vogalonga and I asked him to send it to me so I could post it.

I originally thought I had a photo of the large boat from Brenta, but it appears that I don't.
If you do, please send it so I can post it for our readers.
You'll know it when you see it - it's huge and has eyes painted on either side of the hull near the bow.

Here's Tyson's story:

Rowing the Vogalonga is one of the most inspiring things I've done in my life.

My first year I was rowing pope and Domenic Petrcone was rowing prua. A thousand boats or more, all man-powered, line up to hear the 9am cannon shot - and in an instant people from countries around the world are off on a 33km journey. Domenic and I were rowing a mascareta on loan from Diadora. We zipped off quickly and took a commanding lead (even though it's not a race, it was good to be out in the front), however once we reached the halfway point or so, we heared a familiar sound, just with much more depth, girth or whatever. This sound was a topo or sanpierota, anyway something very large, painted red with eyes on the prow, and was rowed by maybe 12 oars. They were coming up on us with a great deal of speed, and I mean right up on us. In this case, as anyone with a brain would do, we moved over and let them pass. The boat from the La Brenta rowing club finished nearly an hour ahead of us, and that's why I'm really glad it's not a race.

Great story. As some of you know, Tyson has his own blog as well and it's worth a visit. A few days ago he posted a great story about a swan that participated in a proposal. Check it out at:

http://www.gondolavsgondolier.blogspot.com/