Canals of Venice in the Dinghy

[El_Guero]

Originally Posted by Normanby

great post, excellent dream fodder...

is kayaking around the canals allowed, and doable you think?

There were kayaks in the canals,

But, the canals stank in January .... so, I would be prepared for unpleasant smells year round.

There is quite a bit of chop in the canals, and since the smell seemed to be sewage related in places, I would not risk it in a kayak.

And it is cold water, so dress appropriately.

The gondola we were in had decent freeboard - I might post pictures later.

It was one of those, I am glad I went, but would not go out of my way to go again places.

In short, Venice was a great, large shopping mall for tourists.

Several other places I saw in Italy looked much more inviting, from rivers to a couple of bays.

Wayne

[El_Guero]

Here are some quick photos.

And I would recommend a gondola ride over doing it yourself. You can easily get turned around in the canals, and you would be paying more attention to rowing than to site seeing.

That is only important on occasion, there were more walls to see than anything else.

[Miniyot]

Originally Posted by El_Guero

But, the canals stank in January .... so, I would be prepared for unpleasant smells year round.

There is quite a bit of chop in the canals, and since the smell seemed to be sewage related in places, I would not risk it in a kayak.

Unfortuntaly it is sewage.....They figure because of the current it will all float away. Think about it....a city in the sea.... sewage.......hint, hint....A hundred years ago it could have been considered pristine. but now with population.....AND tourism......

Add to that the city is STILL sinking...... I hope I get to visit this place before it gets too bad!

[vRUN]

Originally Posted by Miniyot

Unfortuntaly it is sewage.....A hundred years ago it could have been considered pristine. but now with population.....AND tourism......

Add to that the city is STILL sinking...... I hope I get to visit this place before it gets too bad!

miniyot,
You are being a bit unfair to Venice... ... and your history is off

Venice has been, historically, one of Europe’s cleanest cities. 15th-century Venetians dealt with their waste by flinging it out into the streets, as many medieval people did; Venice's streets were made of water, however, and the tides conveniently swept waste out to sea twice a day. [1] This kept Venice clean of waste compared with other cities...

Modern Day
The main sewage disposal system in Venice today continues to be the canals and naturally occurring tides. As new technology has become available, newer forms of sewage disposal have been implemented. However, these changes have not been made throughout the whole city, and not uniformly to all of Venice's buildings, so the current sewage disposal system is a patchwork of old and new and still does not fully function to the city's needs. The edges of the physical city and the peripheral islands, such as the areas of St. Helena, Giudecca, Santa Marta, and Murano, have more modern networks of sewage disposal, but many still dispose directly into the lagoon's waters. A central sewage treatment plant was built in Porto Marghera in the 1980s, but it is far removed from the main center of the city of Venice. Sewage is removed and treated there when possible, but some sewage continues to enter directly into the canals. Venice has 140 small biological plants installed throughout the city for waste treatment, and more than 6,000 septic tanks.[4] Private residences and businesses such as hotels are required to have their own septic tanks in Venice to help alleviate some of the problems caused by sewage, but the sheer number of people and amount of sewage plus the outdated sewage systems have been causing a variety of problems in Venice.
...

The use of canals as a sewage disposal system in Venice has come to an unpleasant surprise to the visitors and tourists of Venice for hundreds of years, and the stereotype of Venice's water as filthy and dangerous is just as old.[1] The presence of sewage in the canals contributes to the unpleasant smell that tourists complain of, and locals often attribute the smell to "naturally occurring algae and silt" in the canals, though the sewage is the real culprit. Venice's antiquated sewage system is very different from modern sewer systems found in other urban areas around the world, which is part of why tourists are so shocked and exaggerate the smell. Local Venetians ignore the stench of the canals as they are simply used to it.

Sewage disposal - Venipedia

HINT: GO VISIT NOW (and then once in spring or autumn) ... you skip the tourists and the smell )
Take the waterboat from Marco Polo airport for the view and so you may gradually adopt
In winter the light is even more watery and damp and chilly - even aqua alta is impressive (sort of)
- only in summer, Venice is torrid and smelly, stuffed to it's gills with (all those other) tourists

[monte]

Great stuff D, K&M! Yes some pics would be great!

[Katiusha]

Originally Posted by vRUN

miniyot, You are being a bit unfair to Venice... ... and your history is off Sewage disposal - Venipedia HINT: GO VISIT NOW (and then once in spring or autumn) ... you skip the tourists and the smell ) Take the waterboat from Marco Polo airport for the view and so you may gradually adopt In winter the light is even more watery and damp and chilly - even aqua alta is impressive (sort of) - only in summer, Venice is torrid and smelly, stuffed to it's gills with (all those other) tourists

Agree about timing. We just left Venice having spent a month there. There were very few times when we felt the sewage smell... But maybe we didn't go to the right areas. Not sure what it's like in the summer, but we had the advantage of everything being washed away with strong autumn tides.

Monte, I'll post the pics once we sort through them. Now we're in a hurry to have our Combis sorted out, meet a relative, and leave Adriatic with the northerlies this week.

P.S. It was cold in Venice the last 10 days. And we couldn't believe our eyes when we came to Croatia - people still wear short sleeved tops here! And the water is warm enough to swim. That was after Venice where we had heaters on most of the time and regretted not having warm boots...

[BRob]

Originally Posted by Katiusha

Another unexpected bonus of getting these temporary number plates is that the charts show all allowed anchorages and free moorings in the entire lagoon. In addition, the charts also suggest the most scenic route to take through the lagoon and the booklet describes points of interest.

Has anyone got a copy of the free charts mentioned here?

I've tried searching online for an electronic copy but to no avail.

If you do have a copy, could you scan/photograph/share it?

Cheers,

Bryan.

[SV Siren]

We were there a little while ago, and rented kayaks, it was fun, but a challenge with the very narrow canals in a few spots. I used the navionics app on my I-phone so we could not get lost, which is very easy to do. The canals are just as bad as the alleys, and very easy to get out of sorts as to where you were and what direction you were going. We also went to the lagoon islands of Camino, Burano and Murano, there we bought fruits and veggies right off the "floating markets" much like the locals, and found the islands to be much less touristy and more like communities.

If you stay at any of the Venetian lodging, take note that often they will offer free private vaporetto rides to the lagoon islands, but, many times you will get dropped off at private docks for tourist shops, like we did at one of the glass making shops, which for free included a tour of the facilities. No way around the tour btw...we found it to be very informative if nothing else.

We were there in March right after Mardi Gras, and the smell was not noticeable..I cannot speak about the conditions in August, which might be very different.

[BRob]

Thanks, Land Cruiser.

I'm planning on being there late September/early October and I was hoping to do some pre-planning before we leave for Europe.

The document that Katiusha refers to seems to have information that I haven't been able to find elsewhere so I was hoping to view it before I get there and pick up my own copy. E.g.: "...all allowed anchorages and free moorings in the entire lagoon. In addition, the charts also suggest the most scenic route to take through the lagoon and the booklet describes points of interest"

Cheers,

Bryan.

[Jim Thomsen]

BRob,
Did you ever find copies of the charts? I have them, but they are large, so not easy to scan or photograph, but I can try if you want.
Where is your boat? A great marina is the one on Certosa Island and they have the charts and even more important, people who are from the area and can give you a lot of information from personal experience. If you email Certosa Marina maybe they have already scans the charts or can send you other information. We spent 2 months there and it was great.
Enjoy