Giacomo is in Istanbul!

Our good friend and fellow voyager, Giacomo de Stefano has arrived in Istanbul. After three years of planning, setbacks from sickness, waiting and effort, the journey is complete.

I doubt the man can believe it himself. I'm sure when he conceived this trip, he had no idea how much an epic it would become. 5400 kilometers across Europe by sail and oar, building community all along the way.

We applaud the Man on the River. Congratulations Giacomo, you have made us all stronger.

You can read all about this fabulous journey on Man on the River - London to Istanbul .

Man on the River, Voyaging with the Ness Yawl Clodia

Speaking of travelers, Giacomo De Stefano has resumed his journey from North Sea to Black Sea.
As winter set in on the Danube last year, Giacomo was obliged to put his Ness Yawl, Clodia up in storage in Budapest, Hungary.
Giacomo is committed to life as a nomad, drawing together people of like mind to create a new paradigm - life more in harmony with our water planet. This is not just an eco-vacation. Giacomo delves deep into the culture of the river communities he visits.

I doubt that Giacomo realized how much of his life would be consumed by this venture. Three years ago he attempted to launch from London only to be stymied by pneumonia, the silent thief.

Last year he fared better, rowing and sailing along the canals of Europe, making his way uphill through lock after lock on the Rhine. Along the way, he has met and introduced us to many people and multiple cultures. You could spend a lifetime making a journey such as this!







But the goal is Istanbul and Giacomo, with renewed energy, is on the downhill leg. We'll follow him as he makes his way downriver on the Danube over the next few months because we are part of the community that is the Man on the River.



Fair winds, Giacomo!

This voyage can also be followed on Facebook.

The Man on the River and the Riqueval Tunnel

The Riqueval Tunnel (5670 meters) is located near the town of Bellicourt, passing under the villages of Bony and Bellicourt.
Built on the Canal Saint-Quentin between 1801 and 1810 by order of Napoleon it is, along with the tunnel at Mauvages on the Canal de la Marne au Rhin, the only place where the system of towing barges with a chain still exists.






The length of the underground Riqueval does not allow enough air exchange to evacuate exhaust from combustion engines on transport barges. They are required to be towed by a towboat that pulls a string of barges and/or other boats with a winch and chain.






Rougaillou, the first towboat in the Riqueval used horses arranged in a carousel on its deck to drive a winch and the succeeding towboat was propelled by steam.
From 1906, the problem of smoke in the vault has been solved with an electric towboat. Its hourly average speed is 2.5 mph, so the trip takes just over two hours. The towboat hauls on a chain 8km long, which lies at the bottom of the channel.


Fortunately for the Man on the River, the towing at Riqueval is still in service. Traffic on the Canal Saint-Quentin has declined from 100 boats per day to ten, due to the opening of the Canal du Nord. The Waterways of France have considered installing mechanical ventilation that would allow boats to use their engines in the tunnel.





We must ask Giacomo and Friends if they would prefer to row the 5670 meters in darkness amid the rumble of cargo barges, or be towed silently by an electric towboat.

What an adventure on a man-made underground river in France!
Be sure to follow the links above for a more comprehensive story.






Tunnels aren’t the only obstacles on the Canal Saint-Quentin. The main mast on Clodia must be struck often to clear overhead bridges. Fortunately for the Man on the River, this is a simple task.









Ciao, Bruno and Giacomo!

Man on the River

My compatriot and citizen of the world, Giacomo de Stefano has announced that he will resume the journey he was forced to abandon last year due to ill health.

For those who don't yet know Giacomo, he is the person who rowed and sailed the Po river in Italy as a demonstration of how travel and commerce could be accomplished with minimal impact. Along the way he discovered that cultural exchange was part of the process. He met and shared his passion for protecting the river from the ravages of industry with so many like-minded people that the journey became a cultural event.

I met Giacomo here on DoryMan. His boat for the Po river trip was a Ness Yawl, designed by Iain Oughtred and I was fascinated by the versatility of that seaworthy vessel inspired by the ancient designs from Norway. Giacomo's use of such a design is not far removed from the original. The simple, beautiful and ultimately utilitarian lapstrake double-enders were the sole transportation from one community to another for centuries and Giacomo was determined to show that they could be useful once more, not just an attractive anachronism.



So, I joined the effort to promote Giacomo's new adventure - the ambitious navigation of Europe by rivers and canals that he initially called North Sea to Black Sea. As the project grew, he found sponsors and volunteers to build another Ness Yawl (his first one was borrowed from his friend Roland). Many people in Italy became enamored of the project and as it grew, it became Man on the River, a journey from London to Istanbul by fair means.














But as Giacomo and his friend Jacopo left London and headed down the Thames he began to feel weak and listless. As fate would have it, pneumonia gripped Giacomo in a life struggle and the journey was canceled.





Back in Venice, Giacomo has spent the last year recovering from his illness, but his dream never died. His Ness Yawl, Clodia, moored patiently in Ramsgate, waits for his return.


Once again, like a phoenix, the Man on the River cultural project is underway. I am concerned that Giacomo is not yet well enough to tackle a six month journey of such proportion but he is the judge of that. I do know that he needs our support. The Man on the River is not about just one man, but about the future for all of us. Can we find the courage to live in harmony with our environment and with each other?


















That is the simple, yet intricate message of this endeavor. To build a global community around a paradigm of a world much more loving and supportive than the one we live in today.

You may say this is utopian, but I say it's possible if we want it bad enough.

I invite you to join us as we travel with the Man on the River.
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Man on the River

Wind and Tide on the River Thames

Giacomo and Jacopo arrive in London on the first leg of their journey to Istanbul. London to Istanbul - improbable you say? Watch these dedicated men on a journey of discovery and adventure.

London to Istanbul

Building the Ness Yawl


Boat turning. A reason to celebrate. Raise a toast to Man on the River!
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Tools of the Trade

Giacomo puts up more every day on his Man on the River site. Today I was looking at his Flicker uploads and there are some very good shots of the building process for the Ness Yawl being built in Italy and close-ups of the tools Roland is using.
The wooden clamps are a detail that Iain Oughtred worked out and included in the plans for this boat. A very simple and clever method for holding the planks while the glue dries.


















If you haven't already - be sure to see the previous post below...

Man on the River

The latest video from Giacomo de Stefano shows tremendous progress on the Ness Yawl being built for his upcoming trip through Europe. After many months of working toward this goal, it must be thrilling to finally see the project pulling together.
Roland, Silvio and friends are working hard!

You can watch the build live via web cam. The Lago lobby where the boat is being built is in Italy, so those (like me) who live on the other side of the world have to get up very early to see any action. This is a unique opportunity to see a quality boat built by professionals live, simultaneously, over the entire planet.



Thank you Giacomo and team!



A list of links for Giacomo's efforts to help bring the plight of the world's rivers and seas to the attention of all of us:
Ness Yawl on the Po River
unaltropo
Canto Mediterraneo (there is a lot here, look diligently and keep your translator handy - posts are in English, Italian and Portugese.)
Canto Mediterraneo (on DoryMan)
Ness Yawl on the Po River (on DoryMan)

...more about Iain Oughtred's Ness Yawl and open boat cruising.

North Sea to Black Sea is Giacomo's new challenge. He will row and sail from London to Istanbul by going up the Rhine and down the Danube with the aim of making people aware of these rivers that are dying, and to show the possibility of living in a way that is both light and slow.
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Gesamtkunstwerk

Thomas Armstrong signs onto Man on the River by fair means.

"Thus the building of the new Ness Yawl becomes a performance piece. In point of fact I would label the whole of Giacomo's oeuvre as performance art, a very broad work of art encompassing not only the aesthetic but also the social, the political, the environmental and the spiritual realms.

Indeed, I believe it is a gesamtkunstwerk."

Thomas Armstrong,
70.8%

North Sea to Black Sea gains global support. For Giacomo's effort to succeed will require a commitment from us all. Un Altro Po.
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North Sea to Black Sea

Design Conversations with Nicola Zago

"At Lago in the last few days strange things are happening.
We have always designed and built furniture. Some furniture is often very detailed, but we never expected to start building boats."

"On Monday a carpenter's bench and tools appeared in our reception area where the shipwright Roland Poltock and his loyal friend Silvio began to shape a boat of 5 meters." (A Ness Yawl from the pen of Iain Oughtred. DM)



"Of course as you know, our reception area has now become the famous "Art Waiting Room" where we host live installations and performances, but until now we have never seen anything like this."

"Everything stems from a journey that Giacomo de Stefano plans to take in the coming months from London to Istanbul first rowing the Thames, crossing the Channel, then navigating the Rhine and Danube rivers to the Black Sea using only sails, oars, the energy of the sun and the aid of people met during a trip of 5-6 months. A true journey of zero impact. The journey involves no competition or sports, but hopes to build a dialogue with the land and the people about sustainability, respect of water and the real needs of Man at a time when these things have been forgotten."


"Giacomo is no stranger to these journeys. In 2008, in the same way and with the same tenacity he went up the Po, from Venice to Turin, discovering the hidden aspects of a river, perhaps overlooked but still with much to say. His whole journey is the site: unaltropo.com"

"As you can see from the pictures the boat is already on site. We will also have a site dedicated to streaming live video and when the time comes we will follow this journey of over 5200 km."

Nicola Zago

Translation from Italian by Doryman.

The Ness Yawl being built for North Sea to Black Sea is the same design Giacomo employed for his trip on the river Po and this boat is being built by his friend Roland Poltock, who also built his first Ness Yawl.

Be sure to check out the live stream video of the lobby at Lago. Maybe you can catch the boat building in progress!

Those who might want to join Giacomo, for encouragement or just to row a little can leave a comment below or contact him at unaltropo.com.

Here is a map of the proposed route:


Visualizza Man on The River, by fair means in una mappa di dimensioni maggiori