Gondola | 24' Bay Weld Boat Rental

The most stable platform on the bay

The Gondola is a 24-foot Bay Weld — a wide, beamy hull built for Cook Inlet conditions. Where the McGray is built for speed and agility, the Gondola prioritizes stability. The broader beam means less side-to-side roll in chop, a more secure platform when you’re fighting a halibut, and a steadier ride for anyone in your group who’s sensitive to motion. If your group includes kids, first-timers, or anyone who’s been seasick before, the Gondola is the right call.
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Like all K-Bay boats, the Gondola is permanently berthed in a slip at Homer Harbor. There’s no towing, no trailer, no launch ramp. You meet us at the slip the evening before your trip for orientation, and the next morning the boat is ready.

Equipped for a full day on the water

The Gondola carries everything you need for a productive day of halibut and salmon fishing. Navigation runs on two Garmin GPS chartplotter/fishfinders — the lower screen is a full touch screen, the upper is button-controlled and serves as a backup. Both display your position, depth contours, and can pull up the built-in sonar on a split screen. Blue on the chart means shallow water; white means deep. Rocks are marked with asterisks — keep the boat in the white unless you’re zoomed in and know exactly where you are.
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Three VHF radios are on board: two hard-mounted units that display your GPS coordinates at all times (useful if you need to call the Coast Guard and report your position), and one handheld with its own internal battery in case the main batteries die. Channel 16 is the Coast Guard channel. The built-in distress button on the hard-mounted VHFs will override nearby vessels’ radios, put them on your channel, turn their volume up, and plot a course from their position to yours.
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The Gondola is also equipped with a diesel Espar heater — the only K-Bay boat with onboard heat. On a cold Homer morning or a late-season trip in August, this makes a real difference. Press the power button twice to start it; the system self-regulates once running.

Downriggers, rods, and fishing gear

Two electric downriggers are stored in the starboard seat box and mount to dedicated bases on the gunwale with twist-lock plugs. To let line out, pull back the clutch lever — faster pull means faster descent. Press and hold the power button to retrieve. Depth counters are on both units. The boat carries four halibut rod/reel combos and two salmon/rockfish rods, plus downrigger balls, release clips, and an assortment of halibut sinkers.
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The fish box is built-in at the stern. The brush, club, gaff, harpoon (with tip and line), and landing net are all stored and ready. Salmon flashers are also included for trolling.

Anchor, safety, and engine systems

The Gondola uses an electric windlass for the anchor. To deploy: run out a couple feet of line from the winch to create slack, then push the anchor overboard from the bow. After that, the windlass brings it up and down from inside the boat. Always anchor off the bow only — never the stern. Cook Inlet tides run hard enough to pull a stern-anchored boat under.
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The anchor is rigged with a zip tie breakaway at the chain. If the anchor gets stuck, pulling hard enough should break that zip tie and allow the anchor to pull out in reverse. If that fails, a dedicated anchor knife is mounted at the bow. In an emergency, cutting the line is always the right call.
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The main engine is fully down before starting — just turn the key. Start it first thing when you board; let it warm up before you leave the slip. The kicker engine is controlled from a low helm panel, steers via the main wheel through a tie-bar connection, and starts with a key. Tilt the kicker up before running the main engine.

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