300px, upright 2, Sandolo in Canal Grande Venice - Sandolo

The sandolo is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size or capacity, its shape, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically used on inland waterways s ...

designed for the generally shallow waters of the

Venetian Lagoon The Venetian Lagoon (; ) is an enclosed bay of the Adriatic Sea, in northern Italy, in which the city of Venice is situated. Its name in the Italian and Venetian languages, ' (cognate of Latin ' ), has provided the English name for an enclosed, ...

. The

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

plural is sandoli.

Description

A sandolo is less ornate and of a simpler build than a

gondola The gondola (, ; , ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull, in a scul ...

, but both have a pointed, decorated metal nose. It is also lighter and smaller than a gondola, and can be recognized at a glance, as it always lacks the benches and high steel

prow The bow () is the forward part of the hull (watercraft), hull of a ship or boat, the point that is usually most forward when the vessel is underway. The aft end of the boat is the stern. Prow may be used as a synonym for bow or it may mean the f ...

(called ''ferro'') which is seen on a gondola. The sandolo, like the larger craft, is rowed while standing up. It can be fitted with a sail, and also with an in-board or outboard motor. In the past, the police used an extant variant of the sandolo called vipera, which differed in having no

stem Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

, being sharply pointed at both ends and constructed so that it can be rowed from either end. Space in the sandolo is limited, with enough room for one oarsman, aft, two passengers on the main seat, and two more passengers sitting on small stools towards the bow, although for greater comfort some writers advise one passenger, or two small passengers. The traditional use of the sandolo is for

recreation Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for happiness, enjoyment, amusement, ...

and racing, and it is considered one of the four principal types of boat used in and around Venice. Rather less stable than a gondola, it has a rocking motion all of its own. Although not often used for fishing, as such, the craft is used for collecting

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek language, Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen#Arthropoda, abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the Thorax (arthropo ...

s and

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

s, while an early 20th-century writer noted that he had heard the sandolo called "the donkey cart of Venice". The boat has also been called "without doubt one of if not the most graceful of all Venetian craft". Less manoevrable but lighter than a gondola, it was in the past used especially by boys, artists, and women. In ''Gondola Days'' (1897), Francis Hopkinson Smith (1838–1915) stated that the sandolo was "the only boat of really modern design, and this is rarely used as a fishing-boat". He went on to describe it as "a shallow

skiff A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats, usually propelled by sails or oars. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for work, leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-pers ...

drawing Drawing is a Visual arts, visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface, or a digital representation of such. Traditionally, the instruments used to make a drawing include pencils, crayons, and ink pens, some ...

but a few inches of water, and with bow and

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

sharp and very low", and considered that it was originally intended for greater speed in

boat racing Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water body, water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and ...

Horatio Brown Horatio Robert Forbes Brown (16 February 1854 – 19 August 1926) was a Scottish historian who specialized in the Venice#History, history of Venice and history of Italy, Italy. Born in Nice, he grew up in Midlothian, Scotland, was educated in E ...

said in his '' Life on the Lagoons'' (1884), "The Venetians are not good boat-builders. The only boats they make successfully are gondolas and sandoli. In a later book he wrote, "The pleasantest way to go to Malamocco is to take a sandolo, if you can. Alexander Robertson said of Venice in 1898, "Their streets are canals, their carriages are gondolas and sandolos..."Alexander Robertson, ''The Bible of St. Mark, St. Mark's Church the Altar and Throne of Venice'' (1898)
p. 80
/ref>

References

{{Oared racing boats Human-powered vehicles Water transport in Venice Rowing racing boats