European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 25, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Jennifer Parmelee Washington Post fucked away along the Banks of a dirty canal far away from the crowds at St. Mark s Square and the Lido is a Dank and homely warehouse that is Birthplace to one of the world s most Beautiful boats the venetian Gondola. From this Humble site with its dim lighting and carpet of Wood chips and grime Over an earthen floor Nedis Tramontin and his family have been crafting the sleek and elegant Black boats for the past Century or so earning a reputation As the Lagoon City s most distinguished Gondola makers. But today assaulted by the demands and perils of modern life their once thriving Trade threatens to become a lost Art. We Are in crisis admits the 67-year-old Tramontin during the heyday of the venetian Republic in the 15th and 16th centuries about 10,000 to 15,000 gondolas ferried moneyed citizens from one sumptuous Palazzo to the next silent witnesses to funerals and weddings soirees and shopping sprees love affairs and political intrigues. The music of Gondola makers at work with their axes and saws resonated along the City s 177 canals a Lively counterpoint to the constant Lap of the sea Waters. Taxi love Craft and Way of life the Gondola Over the years became the indelible signature of this City of water and Light immortalized in poetry and popular songs great works of Art and a staggering variety of Kitsch. The romantic tradition of the Gondola is still alive and Well but in reality Only a few More than 300 gondolas Are left mostly catering to tourists. That number is shrinking fast moving venetians to Ponder the unthinkable what would their City be like without the Gondola Only three real Sequen workshops for making gondolas can be found in Venice producing 10 to 12 gondolas a year. The City s gondoliers need two to three times that number to replace gondolas that have aged beyond repair and the Sequen Are now booked solid with orders that will take them far beyond the year 2000. One reason for the unfavourable Supply and demand equation is Venice s poisonous water pollution and the battering Wake of motorboats. Gondolas simply do not survive As Long As they used to. Gondoliers report that they have to replace their boats every 10 to 15 years before the onslaught of motorboats gondolas lasted up to 50 years but the heart of the matter is that Gondola makers or que Yaroli Are a dying Breed. We need pupils that is the problem. Otherwise we will be All alone says Tramontin. We will never be Able to build All the boats that need building. And the Gondola May gradually  while the calling of gondolier has come out of a slump and now is a popular occupation mostly because of the recent High tides of tourist dollars few Young men opt for the Long and painstaking apprenticeship of the que Parolo. Tramontin s son Roberto is one of those few. At age 34, he says he is the youngest que Parolo in Venice. And with Only a 16-month-old daughter who is unlikely to want to enter the traditionally All male Trade he could be the last heir to the closely held secrets of his great Grandfather Domenico who in the 1800s designed what was considered the first modern Gondola with no keel and the off Center balance that is Standard today. The Tramontino work with tools their family has always used a hand carved plane Domenico used to smooth and shape the Wood a 100-year-old a a time worn folding ruler with a set of measurements used Only in Venice even the special wooden base where the Gondola is built. No blueprints or instruction manuals have been passed Down through the generations just knowledge and skill that seem to Border on the mystical. It s not As if you can turn on a machine and make a Gondola like you would stamp a spoon out of Metal explains the younger Tramontin As he perches on a Sawhorse on a chill evening at the family Squero a Mist rising from the nearby canal. To one Side his bespectacled father tools in hand bends Over the gondolas have a colourful history but Only 300 or so remain. File photos venetian gondolas share Basic characteristics each is 35 feet Long no More than 4.5 feet wide across the beam and composed of 280 pieces of Walnut fir Cherry and other Woods. Skeleton of a Gondola making some minute adjustment decipherable Only to his son. Venetian gondolas do have certain basics in common. Each Craft measures 35 feet Long with a maximum Width of 4.5 feet across the beam and is composed of 280 pieces of Walnut fir Cherry Lime and other Woods. A Gondola is Black. Its Flat Bottom is asymmetric so the gondolier can pole from one Side. And when it s fully rigged a Gondola weighs 1,100 pounds and costs an average of $23,000. Apart from the decorative touches that vary from boat to boat gondolas essentially All look alike to the untrained Eye. But each Craft is subtly different depending on the kind of tree that provided the Wood or the build of the gondolier who is to steer it. You can t make the same boat for a gondolier who weighs 70 Kilos 154 pounds or 100 Kilos 220 pounds explains the elder Tramontin. For a thinner one we raise the Bow a bit and drop the  he pats the Frame of the Gondola whose regal Silhouette is already unmistakable and tosses out another variable the Grain of the Wood May go one Way or another. Trees Aren t All the same you know so you have to change the design a bit to fit the Wood to adjust the curve of the boat " All by Eye you understand interjects his son. The que Parolo must also know How to keep Pace with the times without sacrificing the Beauty of the boat. Gondola makers for instance were forced to phase out the Little curtained compartment known As the Felzke Long a favorite trusting spot because it made the Gondola too unbalanced to navigate the Waves caused by motorboats. But the Tramontino say they be considered and rejected proposals to alter the shape of the Gondola to make it better withstand the chop of the Lagoon Waters. The gondoliers would t like it because it would totally ruin the Beautiful line of the boat asserted the younger Tramontin. You have got to be Able to Combine function with  Roberto says it took him about 15 years to master the technique and the Many nuances that mystify even venetians who have grown up around gondolas. Says Mario Mingardi of Venice s society for the Protection of the Gondola and the gondolier it s almost  most Young people today Don t have the patience and Talent to work on gondolas according to Roberto Tramontin and most Lack that certain spark. You be got to be intelligent creative know How to learn he says. But the most important thing is to have the passion for making gondolas. Otherwise you la never make  proposals to open a school for Gondola makers surface periodically in Venice Only to vanish like tin cans under the Waters of the Lagoon. Mingardi s largely publicly funded group says it lacks the Money to run such a school. And Venice s steadily aging que Yaroli pointing to the shabby condition of their workshops say they Don t have the time or resources to take on apprentices themselves. The society for the Protection of the Gondola and the gondolier has repeatedly proposed legislation to reduce the Speed limits for the motorboats that zip up and Down the venetian canals and churn up a Wake that batters both gondolas and the City s crumbling Palazzo so far without a hint of Success. A similar silence has greeted suggestions by environmentalists to create a Blue zone in the Center of the City that would allow Only oar powered boats. Most venetians when asked predict the Gondola will somehow survive As it has for centuries. After All it has outlasted plagues wars invasions annual floods and the fall of the venetian Empire. It is inextricably bound up with venetian history and retains a powerful allure for tourists and the thousands of lovers who come from around the world each year just to share a kiss under the fabled Bridge of sighs. Romance and tradition they feel will surely win out Over the transient values of today. Wednesday january 25, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 13