If you think getting to Pittsburgh by plane is tough, try sailing here on a yacht.
Capt. Mark Schiller, the helmsman who brought us
Pittsburgh Water Limo, is supplementing his ballgame shuttle business with something "a little more high end."
"The Pittsburgh Clipper does a great job," he says. "They're a premier boat company, but nobody has a yacht. There's a tremendous potential here."
Little did he know the forces of nature that would prevail. Schiller charted a seven week cruise starting from Manhattan, where the boat was running Ellis Island tours. Traveling south, he planned to go down the east coast, through Lake Okeechobee in Florida, across the Gulf and up the intercoastal to the Ohio River. Then Hurricane Ida lashed out, turning the trip into a longer and more frightening ordeal.
"It got hairy," he says. "The waves were crashing through the boat. The front window blew out."
He was never so happy as when he pulled into the Cork Factory in December and was greeted by his pregnant wife, Janice.
A crew will rehab the boat this winter, turning it into a luxury dinner and party service that will run this spring. Schiller will start with caterers but plans to hire a gourmet chef, bartenders and servers for the 140 passenger vessel. "In my mind it will be state of the art," he says.
Christened Fantasy, it will berth at the Cork Factory--look for a big hull with tasteful black and gold trim. A new company, Pittsburgh Luxury Cruises, is funded by an anonymous group of local investors. His wife serves as president.
"Like the water taxi, it's a niche that needs to be filled," says Schiller.
Writer:
Debra Diamond SmitSource: Mark Schiller
Image courtesy of Pittsburgh Luxury Cruises
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