Rowing my beloved Wedding Gondola this evening,
I approached the 38th Street bridge.
The tide was just low enough.
The passengers on my cruise were great - adventurous and willing to move to the forward steps known as "trastolini" in order to bring the ferro down just enough so it would clear the bridge.
Once the ferro was in safe territory, I had them return to their seat.
Next, I had to perform some amateur contortions and row like a weirdo to get the tail to pass under without scraping.
I was ready to drop into full bench-press mode,
but we cleared with about an inch to spare.
During my next cruise, I shot the above photo,
as I rounded the corner and headed towards the bridge.
For decades gondoliers in Newport have used the tide measurements on the Newpot Boulevard bridge to determin if they'll clear this smaller bridge in the canals. Tonight I pulled an i-Phone out of my back pocket and read the ShralpTide app on my screen to learn that the tide was on its way out.
I still inched up to the bridge cautiously - gadget or no gadget, I still need to see things with my own two eyes to be sure.
We cleared the 38th Street bridge without incident.
I sang a little Nat King Cole, made sure my couple kissed,
and life was great - punctuated by yet another "perfect moment".
To read more about the 338th Street bridge - click on
For an overview of the gondola route in Newport, check out
And to read an account of a semi-embarrasing episode of mine, check out "Getting to Know the Boat".
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