Zadar Barkajoli Boatmen Are A Symbol Of The City

- This is the most peaceful part of the day – reveals Berto who became a boatman 18 years ago but who had earlier worked with his father who had also been a longstanding boatman barkajol. But the tourist season is on the horizon, Berto tells us, the most active part of the year for us boatmen. Besides, every day, under all weather conditions, this distance of 76 meters is also connected by his colleagues Dino Gajić, Zvonko Gregov, Šime Gregov and Šime Begonja. If needed, Berto’s father jumps in. 

Many others before them, even women, connected these two points by boat for the tradition of Zadar boatmen barkajol dates from the 14th century, while others say that it is as old as the city of Zadar itself. They are one of the symbols of Zadar, keepers of the traditions and undoubtedly an important tourist attraction. It is not said for no reason “you have not been to Zadar if you have not experienced a boat ride”.

Berto has been a barkajol since 1993, first as an apprentice, and then time went by and now he has been a part of this tradition for 29 years which is an exceptional honor for the job was transferred from father to son, Berto’s father became a barkajol in 1982, and his uncle and  brother-in-law pledged to be barkajol also after having returned from abroad.

- My father was a barkajol and took me along in all his works and he used to say “you will come and take my place on the boat for one hour” and so already at the age of 15 I took my boatmaster’s exam so I could jump in for him. It was the war period and all the others had to serve in the army. I was 18 and not for army service so they agreed that I should replace them and cover the shifts, and there were plenty of shifts and working hours. And thus, little by little, I became a barkajol –Berto tells us.

At that time, he remembered, there were eight boatmen and six boats, and now there are four of them with three boats.  

- We are struggling. Now it has come to the point that there is no more equal traffic throughout the year. The locals, simply do not go to the city any more, and the city has become exclusive to tourism so that the tourism rush lasts for three months and the rest of the year is slow down.  There are few of us in the summer but many in the winter – he tells us. 

The only conditions when we do not drive is during a gale force south wind and storms but we are here for the locals and tourists during all other weather conditions. We are exceptionally interesting to the tourists for this is something they have not seen nor tried.  

- Everything is unusual to them. You must understand, though, that tourists, as people, are generous but also grumpy. This is very interesting for them, going shopping and to work by boat. They always say that if there were something like this where they come from it would be "wow". But we have it –Berto adds.

They ask the barkajol if they can have a try at rowing thinking it to be easy until they do so , and then the conversation acquires a completely different tone.

- The Germans are traditionally our most frequent guests. Before the crisis, in 2009 there were many Italians. However, during that crisis they simply disappeared, the Germans remained. In the recent years, many Czechs have started coming but the Germans are the most numerous and the best payment wise – Berto continues with his story.

There are always various things happening with tourists, it is a book full of different stories.

- What is most funny to me is when you have a couple, he is usually very rich and old and she is very young, and then he, being jealous, does not allow you to give her your helping hand and those are the most hilarious cases. You also have an example when one of the married couples is very stingy, so when that comes to light, it just becomes funny. If you exclude the two years of the corona virus, tourists start coming to Zadar already for Easter if the date does not fall too early. One to two weeks around Easter there are a lot of them, and then after that there is a small decline in numbers and then the season starts again. The highest number is from July 15 to August 25 – he continues. 

There are many domestic and foreign guests who have heard of the barkajol and they come to   the Điga aiming at trying the boat ride as a unique experience. They all wish for us to take pictures with them, of course, and so Berto’s pictures can be found all over the world. The barkajol are also very interesting to the foreign media.

- Of course, there are lot of reports about us on the German television, at least once a year.  ZDF recently made short reports within the framework of Adriatic points of interest. 

Besides having an excellent cooperation with the City of Zadar, the barkajol also have an excellent cooperation with the Zadar Tourist Board.

- They have procured us with summer uniforms and now we have gotten the winter ones, paint for our boats and other. Mr. Paleka has an open ear for our needs which is most important and we are glad for that–Berto tells us with satisfaction.

We would also need a sign board, actually brown signalization, which would mark where the barkajol are located in the city.

- We started that project with the city before the pandemic and it just stopped there, but we will restore it now. It shall probably be solved – considers this barkajol.

But the past pandemic years have had an influence on their work.

- It influenced us in a terrible way, especially with the locals. One can see that the locals have stagnated. Maybe it is not of financial matter but a, issue of fear for no one wants to go out, especially in the winter. They do not go out, do not spend money, they save which is normal. The elderly in particular, and they were our passengers until the pandemic, but now they have withdrawn and are staying more at home. Earlier people used to come just to spend time with us, to relax. But life started hastening and we lost that. People used to come and just go on two or three rides to fill their batteries.  

The work of the barkajol is in no way a simple one. On the contrary, besides having no rest, they must be polite decent, and psychologists for they work every day with people. There are the good and bad sides of the work, it offers satisfaction to socialize with people, relaxation for the soul and body… How many turns he makes a day Berto has never counted, particularly not in the summer when traffic is really intense.

- There are usually crowds in the port, and we take care of everyone’s safety, and when the boat will start its turn for we are responsible for all of them. When the wind blows experiences can be adventurous, but that is part of the work, experience and knowledge. We try to be at disposal all the time. We make efforts to keep up and to be there. 

We shall therefore end with these verses from the song Barkajoli  by singer Đani Maršan:

“Born on the stage of the boat, their second mother afloat

They row in pain, all their life without disdain, 

Many turns across the port, the sun and salt as cohort, 

They are of hard core, our barkajol..."