Business & Tech
Gondola Girl Offers Scenic Boat Rides Along New Port Richey River
An avid, longtime rower and retired Pasco County teacher offers private gondola rides for two along the Pithlachascotee River.
NEW PORT RICHEY, FL — Folks strolling through downtown New Port Richey or in other areas along the Pithlachascotee River are no strangers to seeing kayaks, boats and the usual mix of watercraft. But lately, there’s been a more unexpected addition gliding through the water: a Venetian gondola.
“I’m definitely turning heads,” Mary Jane “MJ” Kranendonk told Patch. “I have gotten so many positive responses.”
The longtime rower, a Land O’Lakes resident who’s engaged to recently reelected New Port Richey Mayor Chopper Davis, turned her hobby into a business in recent months.
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The 63-year-old launched her company Gondola Girl after retiring from 38 years as a teacher and began taking people out on the water about six months ago.
“I’m retired and having fun and living my life,” she said.
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In addition to teaching, Kranendonk has organized a rowing club in Land O’Lakes and coached the Land O’Lakes High School club team. She’s also a U.S. Rowing instructor and an avid runner.
She also enjoys staying busy. And when she retired, she immediately began thinking about what her next project or hobby might be.
“I thought, ‘What am I going to do?’ Canoes, kayaks, paddleboards. But that’s all been done,” Kranendonk said. “In my research, I thought a gondola might work. Nobody does a gondola. So, I bought a gondola.”
She purchased her gondola about a year ago from the Old Wooden Boat Company and had it shipped to her Land O’Lakes home. The next step was getting the boat to the river.
“I told my son and his college buddies, big football players, ‘Get it on my trailer and I’ll cook you anything you want,’” she said.
Kranendonk faced challenges when she first got her gondola in the water, having never operated one before. It was difficult to row backwards, and it was nerve-racking to steer it for the first time near heavy boat traffic.
“Gondaliering is not like crew; it’s more like glorified paddleboarding,” she said.
She bought a trolling motor for her boat to help with steering it, especially on windier days, but learned the hard way that she bought the wrong size and had to purchase a second one that was big enough.
“I was going in circles that first time out,” Kranendonk said.
She also had to learn how to safely lower the gondola into the water. Her fiancé, the mayor, often helps her “get the gondola in, get the gondola out,” she said.
Now, business is starting to ramp up.
Her gondola experience is largely designed as a private outing for couples or two people.
“It’s really fun. It’s a beautiful one-hour excursion. They get refreshments on board and when we get back to shore, they have prosecco or wine — we can’t have that on the boat,” Kranendonk said.
The ride includes photos and “romantic, Italian music,” she said, adding, “I don’t sing, because I can’t sing, but I have Spotify.”
The gondola ride is a unique way to experience New Port Richey and Pasco County, Kranendonk noted. “It’s fun. It’s different. It’s safe — we go at idle speed down the river. We go 30 minutes down toward the Gulf, then come back, go under the bridge, and the other way a bit.”
As for what’s next for the woman who needs to stay busy?
“A horseless carriage,” she said. “It’s a glorified golf cart. So, I’ll have the gondola on the water and the horseless carriage. It’s like Paul Revere’s ride. What is it? One if by land? Two if by sea?”
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