Re: Plywood Gondola?
Sam,
A gondola's oarlock is called a forcola, and yes, it lets the rower
use leverage in many directions. Much is made of the
gondolier's art, but frankly it doesn't look that difficult. The racers
often row in pairs, one aft and one forward, and they really get
stretched out on the power stroke. That's a big advantage of this
design over other kinds of rowing, by the way: you can get the
whole weight of your body into the lever that moves the vessel
forward. (Modern gondolas have asymmetrical hulls to make it
easy for a single oarsman to go straight in the canals. The older
ones, which ventured out across the lagoon, were symmetrical).
There are lots of other boats at work in Venice, and it's
remarkable how much they resemble Bolger designs. Your
basic Venetian truck equivalent is a shoal-draft wooden boat
with narrow beam, straight sides, and no flare, for efficient canal
work. They use tillers, not steering wheels, because tiller
response is so much faster. Don't know about their shapes
underneath, but from the waterline up they look like nothing so
much as an overgrown Diablo. These are the boats that do all
the municipal work, delivering goods, picking up trash, etc.
Funny what happens when boats evolve over many years for
maximum efficiency.
--- Inbolger@yahoogroups.com, Sam Glasscock
<glasscocklanding@y...> wrote:
A gondola's oarlock is called a forcola, and yes, it lets the rower
use leverage in many directions. Much is made of the
gondolier's art, but frankly it doesn't look that difficult. The racers
often row in pairs, one aft and one forward, and they really get
stretched out on the power stroke. That's a big advantage of this
design over other kinds of rowing, by the way: you can get the
whole weight of your body into the lever that moves the vessel
forward. (Modern gondolas have asymmetrical hulls to make it
easy for a single oarsman to go straight in the canals. The older
ones, which ventured out across the lagoon, were symmetrical).
There are lots of other boats at work in Venice, and it's
remarkable how much they resemble Bolger designs. Your
basic Venetian truck equivalent is a shoal-draft wooden boat
with narrow beam, straight sides, and no flare, for efficient canal
work. They use tillers, not steering wheels, because tiller
response is so much faster. Don't know about their shapes
underneath, but from the waterline up they look like nothing so
much as an overgrown Diablo. These are the boats that do all
the municipal work, delivering goods, picking up trash, etc.
Funny what happens when boats evolve over many years for
maximum efficiency.
--- Inbolger@yahoogroups.com, Sam Glasscock
<glasscocklanding@y...> wrote:
> The neat thing about Gondolas to me is not the hull
> (too much fret work for my tastes) but the locomotion;
> that specialized sculling. When you were there, did
> you get an understanding of how the boatman drives the
> thing?
>
The neat thing about Gondolas to me is not the hull
(too much fret work for my tastes) but the locomotion;
that specialized sculling. When you were there, did
you get an understanding of how the boatman drives the
thing? My (extremely sketchy) understnding is that
there is a kind of stob or crook which comes up out of
the deck and forms a pivot, with a nuber of different
angles and hollows which allow different strokes and
sweeps to steer the boat. I wonder how it compares in
difficulty and efficiancy with a yuloh or Bahamian
scull? I sure would look quaint in a kerchief and
beret, pushig against a white-oak stump mounted in a
Delaware bateau, singing "O sole mio" or some such.
Sam
--- "timk_smith <timk_smith@...>"
<timk_smith@...> wrote:
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day
http://shopping.yahoo.com
(too much fret work for my tastes) but the locomotion;
that specialized sculling. When you were there, did
you get an understanding of how the boatman drives the
thing? My (extremely sketchy) understnding is that
there is a kind of stob or crook which comes up out of
the deck and forms a pivot, with a nuber of different
angles and hollows which allow different strokes and
sweeps to steer the boat. I wonder how it compares in
difficulty and efficiancy with a yuloh or Bahamian
scull? I sure would look quaint in a kerchief and
beret, pushig against a white-oak stump mounted in a
Delaware bateau, singing "O sole mio" or some such.
Sam
--- "timk_smith <timk_smith@...>"
<timk_smith@...> wrote:
>__________________________________________________
> There may be, in Venice. An American fellow there
> named
> Thom Price is building gondolas the traditional way.
> When I
> dropped by to visit him last year, he made a passing
> mention of
> one yard there that was building with plywood and
> epoxy
> (remarking something like, "that's not my idea of
> building a
> boat.") There's a resurgence in gondola racing in
> and around
> Venice, so maybe people are experimenting with
> ultralight
> construction.
>
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day
http://shopping.yahoo.com
There may be, in Venice. An American fellow there named
Thom Price is building gondolas the traditional way. When I
dropped by to visit him last year, he made a passing mention of
one yard there that was building with plywood and epoxy
(remarking something like, "that's not my idea of building a
boat.") There's a resurgence in gondola racing in and around
Venice, so maybe people are experimenting with ultralight
construction.
--- Inbolger@yahoogroups.com, "Bruce Hector
<bruce_hector@h...>" <bruce_hector@h...> wrote:
Thom Price is building gondolas the traditional way. When I
dropped by to visit him last year, he made a passing mention of
one yard there that was building with plywood and epoxy
(remarking something like, "that's not my idea of building a
boat.") There's a resurgence in gondola racing in and around
Venice, so maybe people are experimenting with ultralight
construction.
--- Inbolger@yahoogroups.com, "Bruce Hector
<bruce_hector@h...>" <bruce_hector@h...> wrote:
> Phil has been pretty eclectic, with galleys, longships, frigates,stitch
> etd. Has he (or anyone else) ever drawn a plywood Gondola for
> and glue?
There may be, in Venice. An American fellow there named
Thom Price is building gondolas the traditional way. When I
dropped by to visit him last year, he made a passing mention of
one yard there that was building with plywood and epoxy
(remarking something like, "that's not my idea of building a
boat.") There's a resurgence in gondola racing in and around
Venice, so maybe people are experimenting with ultralight
construction.
--- Inbolger@yahoogroups.com, "Bruce Hector
<bruce_hector@h...>" <bruce_hector@h...> wrote:
Thom Price is building gondolas the traditional way. When I
dropped by to visit him last year, he made a passing mention of
one yard there that was building with plywood and epoxy
(remarking something like, "that's not my idea of building a
boat.") There's a resurgence in gondola racing in and around
Venice, so maybe people are experimenting with ultralight
construction.
--- Inbolger@yahoogroups.com, "Bruce Hector
<bruce_hector@h...>" <bruce_hector@h...> wrote:
> Phil has been pretty eclectic, with galleys, longships, frigates,stitch
> etd. Has he (or anyone else) ever drawn a plywood Gondola for
> and glue?
Phil has been pretty eclectic, with galleys, longships, frigates,
etd. Has he (or anyone else) ever drawn a plywood Gondola for stitch
and glue? The cover article at Duckworks got me thinking, something
that should be avoided when in the throws of a deep cabin fever.
Pretty cool to glide around there harbour in an electric gondola,
while pretending to actually row it, no?
Bruce Hector
http://www.brucesboats.com
etd. Has he (or anyone else) ever drawn a plywood Gondola for stitch
and glue? The cover article at Duckworks got me thinking, something
that should be avoided when in the throws of a deep cabin fever.
Pretty cool to glide around there harbour in an electric gondola,
while pretending to actually row it, no?
Bruce Hector
http://www.brucesboats.com