The city of Venice will impose new restrictions on self-propelled watercraft within its vast network of canals, according to guide company Venice Kayak. A February 20 says that a new modification to the city鈥檚 traffic rules, set to take effect March 1, prohibits kayaks, canoes, dragon boats, and SUPs in the Grand Canal鈥攖he city鈥檚 main thoroughfare.
In a , Venice Kayak owner Ren茅 Seindal raises questions about the unintended effects of closing the Grand Canal to such traffic. He claims it will change the entire nature of canal transit in Venice and cause confusion and potentially traffic snarls in smaller canals connected to the Grand Canal.
鈥淎 lot of very narrow canals lead down to some of the no-go canals, so if you went down there in a kayak, you wouldn鈥檛 be able to get out legally,鈥 he wrote. Those one-way canals that open into the Grand Canal would essentially be closed by default, Seindal said. 鈥淚f you enter one of these nominally 鈥榣egal鈥 canals, you won鈥檛 be able to get out again, unless you paddled backwards through a narrow, winding and [possibly] busy canal.鈥 Seindal has calling for the city to revoke the ban.
A representative of , a kayaking outfitter specializing in Venice, contacted 国产吃瓜黑料 directly regarding the ban. 鈥淭ofino has received limited permission聽to run our small set of 3 closely guided trips,鈥 Tofino owner Grant Thompson said. He noted that 鈥渃ruise ships are the real problem here.鈥