One of the most extraordinary things to do in Long Beach is to glide along the canals of Naples Island in a gondola crafted like the original boats in Venice, Italy.
It is a special experience that has been enjoyed by thousands since the Gondola Getaway company started 44 years ago, in 1982.
The history of the Gondola Getaway is a fascinating story in itself.
Some of that history is contained in a book written by David F. Black, 66, who cofounded the gondola company with Michael O’Toole, who continues to own the company. Black sold his interest in the company to O’Toole in 2010. He now is dealing in real estate. He and his Wife, attorney Rose Burgos, live in Naples.
A young David F. Black is steering a gondola. (Photo courtesy of David F. Black)
A young David F. Black is overseeing the construction of a gondola. (Photo courtesy of David F. Black)
David F. Black stands by a poster of the cover of his book, “The American Gondolier.” (Photo courtesy of David F. Black)
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A young David F. Black is steering a gondola. (Photo courtesy of David F. Black)
“This book is inspired by real events, but it is not a retelling of them,” Black writes in the preface to his book, “The American Gondolier.” “Some of what you’ll read happened. Some of it didn’t. Most of it sits somewhere in between.”
The story, Black said, comes from years spent on the water in Long Beach, “where two friends built a gondola business from the ground up.”
“David and Mike had been friends since their junior high days,” Black writes in the book, “when summers were spent on the peninsula, a narrow stretch of sand where the Pacific Ocean met Alamitos Bay in Long Beach.”
When they were of college age, they made trips in a sailboat between Long Beach and Catalina Island.
On one of those trips, according to the book, O’Toole told Black that he (O’Toole) had a great idea: to start a company with gondolas cruising along the canals of Naples.
“Venetian-style gondolas, right here,” he writes. “Everyone will probably think we’re crazy.
“But the canals are perfect,” he adds, “with calm water, beautiful homes and bridges that look like they’re straight out of Europe.”
When Black agreed with the idea, he said, O’Toole told him he would take him to the first boat in their fleet.
They went to a yard on the Rivo Alto Canal, where there was an old Pakistani fishing boat half-buried in the dirt and turned into a makeshift rose garden.
This boat and a lifeguard dory were repurposed and became the first two boats to take people around the canals until real gondolas were built at Hill Marine in Seal Beach, Black says in the book.
But the road to expanding the business had a few bumps along the way.
The book refers to issues that had to be overcome with the city of Long Beach before the company could get approval to operate the gondolas. In an interview with me, Black said there were problems with some people at City Hall. But, he said, there were other people there who were a great help to the gondola company.
From its early start, Gondola Getaway continued to grow and eventually became a Long Beach institution — with thousands of customers and supporters.
John Morris, co-owner and manager of the Boathouse on the Bay restaurant, is quoted in the book as being one of those longtime supporters.
“They (Black and O’Toole) belong here,” Morris is quoted as saying during a meeting with city officials. “They have already put in their work and shown their commitment. … They have gondola cruises on the water at this moment, and people love what they have created.”
Morris noted that when he operated Legends Restaurant & Sports Bar, he hired Black, who was 19 at the time.
In an interview with Grunion Gazette columnist Jo Murray celebrating the company’s 40th anniversary in 2022, O’Toole said 40 years “represented about 400,000 rides, 2 million passengers, 1,000 gondoliers, more than 5,000 marriage proposals and 400 weddings.”
And the company is still going strong.
The last part of Black’s book is fictional, dealing with possible business expansion in the British Virgin Islands and other cities in the United States.
“While the foundations of Mike and David’s journey in the first book were deeply inspired by my own real life years building a gondola business on the canals,” Black writes in a note to readers on his website, “their spirits and ambitious ultimately grew bigger than reality.”
“The American Gondolier Trilogy,” he writes, “expands into a thrilling new fictional landscape across its final two books. In Book 2, “Protected,” Black’s past collides with a decades-old family secret. The story ultimately reaches its explosive finale in Book 3, “Legacy.” Book 2 is almost ready to be published, Black said.