Baytownes gondola sets sail for higher ground
For the past year, Robert Dula has donned his red-striped shirt and beribboned straw hat and navigated his 36-foot gondola around Baytowne's twisting inland waterways.
During that time, Dula witnessed eight proposals, but the honeymoon is over at Baytowne.
Dula decided he wanted to be a gondolier at age 8 when he watched James Bond aboard one in a "007" movie. He set his sights on achieving that goal and traveled to Venice, Italy to bring home a handmade Venetian gondola, which he christened the Bella Mae for his mother.
While in Venice, Dula also learned the art of the gondolier, and in his tours he wears the traditional attire of a red-and-white striped shirt and straw hat.
The charmed Bella Mae has withstood two hurricanes, the fiercest of which was Katrina.
After Katrina, Dula spent six days and nights stranded before being plucked from his rooftop by an Air Force Helicopter at 4 a.m.
"I boarded the helicopter not knowing where I was headed," he said.
Dula ended up in Denver.
Onboard that helicopter was a photographer for "Time" magazine.
It was weeks later before Dula was able to go back to New Orleans and check on the Bella Mae. She survived the winds thanks to Dula's decision to sink her in a local canal.
He has been featured in "Time" twice since he was plucked from his rooftop, the most recent being August this year.
After surviving two storms, Dula gets nervous during hurricane season and keeps a close watch on the weather. He won't have to be concerned with hurricanes, however, when he sets sail for Huntsville, Ala., on Oct. 2.
"Sandestin and Baytowne are wonderful, but the seasonality of it and operating my gondola on such a small pond and I can't take any more hurricanes. I have lived through two and that is enough," he said, in explaining his decision to leave.
In Huntsville, he will be navigating around a 10-acre lake at a new outdoor mall. He will also have charge of pedal boats and other attractions.
"It's a step up and no more hurricanes. I must go where the creek leads," said the graying Dula nonchalantly.
