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Love boat ties new knot
The floating wedding chapel is leaving Clearwater to try a berth in St. Petersburg.
By MARK ALBRIGHT
Published October 18, 2006
Billed as the world’s biggest floating chapel, Weddings on Water Inc. will test the matrimonial waters of Tampa Bay in downtown St. Petersburg.
Hemmed in by condo developers and expecting their spot at the Seminole Street docks in Clearwater to be sold soon, the owners of the 60-foot diesel-powered chapel struck a short-term deal to tie up on the Pier approach in the Vinoy Yacht Basin.
If the four-month, rent-free test up for City Council approval today works, the owners plans to negotiate a deal with the Pier.
The venture will create an unusual new sight on the downtown waterfront where the HMS Bounty Exhibit docked for decades: a wood-panel 125-seat chapel complete with stained-glass windows and a white picket fence.
“We’re excited,’’ said Phil Henderson, a local tourist industry veteran who spent $1-million building the vessel that’s staged 123 weddings since 2004.
Inspired by a much smaller floating chapel in Australia, the venture is profitable. But ongoing construction at its current location in Clearwater has made operations a challenge, he said.
Henderson plans to tie up at a dock shared with a Pier charter boat operator at 3 p.m. Friday to get exposure at a weekend wedding show at the Coliseum nearby.
After returning to Clearwater for a scheduled series of weddings, the craft will return to St. Petersburg on Oct. 26.
A twin-engine catamaran that moves at 6 knots, the chapel isn’t licensed for alcohol or catering. Henderson plans to book it to sail to receptions staged in hotels, halls, Pier restaurants and the Mahaffey Theater. His Coast Guard approval tethers the church to travel within 1,000 feet of shore.
Bookings don’t need much lead time. The chapel has 50 advance bookings now, but has done as many as three in one day. The booking logjam is tied to reception hall availability, which Henderson believes will mean more multi-ceremony days because there are so many venues around the downtown waterfront.
Mark Albright can be reached at albright@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8252.
[Last modified October 18, 2006, 22:17:26]
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