Vogalonga 2011 - First Look

photo by Kathleen Gonzalez

As luck would have it, my friend Kathleen found herself in Venice during Vogalonga.  And while she didn't row, she managed to get a good perspective on things.

She writes:
We had a lot of fun. We found a spot near Tre Archi and arrived just as the first boats came in.

While I'm still in the process of figuring out how the heck to use Flickr
(I'm not as tech-savvy as some of you might think),
here's one shot taken of the Canale di Cannaregio as some of the boats made their way into the city. 

Here we see a prime example of the difference between the boats where you stand, facing forward, and the boats where you sit, facing backward.

As the big "desona" moves easily forward with her rowers enjoying the view, members of the crew on the smaller boat struggle to see where they're going and try to keep their boat moving while craning their necks.

I have to congratulate everyone in this photo - because they are nearing the end of an epic row (no matter what position they chose to row from).
I know the English-style boats tend to move faster, but I must admit some bias, because I would rather be standing, facing forward, and enjoying a higher vantage point, than sitting and craning my neck.

I noticed a curious little addition to the sides of the smaller boat:
it looks like they have spread plastic wrap along both rails.  My guess is it's there to help minimize the splashing of water into the boat - not a real concern in calm waters, but then Vogalonga isn't known for it's calm waters.

A heartfelt thanks go to Kathleen Gonzalez for sharing her experience with us. If her name sounds familiar, it's probably because she's the author of "Free Gondola Ride", which I talked about in my post from October of '07.

Thanks Kathy,
we hope to see more of your photos soon.