We're a city defined by our rivers, so a water taxi seems a natural. Yet the $6 round-trip from the Strip District to PNC Park -- with free parking, cheap drinks and cushioned booths in a heated pontoon boat -- remains a secret to most.

Ninety minutes before the Pirates opened their season, Capt. Mark Schiller opened his. A five-minute cruise whisked 15 baseball fans across the Allegheny River from the 23rd Street dock, below the Cork Factory, to a dock on the North Shore just east of the Roberto Clemente Bridge.

Mr. Schiller, 46, has been hauling frigid football fans in his 49-passenger "Miss Pittsburgh" since 1999, taking them from Downtown to games first in Three Rivers Stadium and then Heinz Field, but baseball always has been a tougher sell. The weather is nicer and the walk is shorter from Downtown.

But last June 24, after a Strip District dock opened below the Cork Factory, he started his baseball shuttle and fans headed to the ballpark from points east have found the deal hard to beat.

Randy Doman of Plum, who works in the Strip District, and his friend Bill Perroz, of Indiana Township, were the first passengers to board shortly before noon. When Mr. Schiller's engine didn't turn over right away, Mr. Doman joked, "You going to get the oars out?"

But the engine soon kicked in and a couple more groups, totalling a baker's dozen, came aboard. Joe Jezik of Oakmont brought a vanful of friends and was joyous at finding this deal when he checked the parking options on the Pirates' Web site.

"What better way to ride out these hard times?" he asked and bought a round of drinks at the opening week price of $2 a pop.

Mike Broniszewski was part of a group from the Strip District that popped a bottle of champagne in the parking lot before boarding. Why?

"The Pirates haven't lost a home game yet all year," Mr. Broniszewski explained.

His group included David Regan, co-owner of Mullaney's Harp & Fiddle just a short walk away on Penn Avenue. The Irish pub, along with the nearby Spaghetti Warehouse and the new organic supermarket, Right by Nature, are picking up half the boat fare for their customers who spend at least $10 and take same-day receipts to the boat. The first drink is free, too.

That's all about boosting a fledgling operation they think will benefit the Strip, but these ballpark runs are only part of Mr. Schiller's dream. He'd like to have shuttles on Friday and Saturday nights from the Strip District to Station Square to the Watersteps on the North Shore and on back to the Strip. He'd run them from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., linking three of the city's top entertainment districts.

This water taxi would fill a new niche for people interested in bopping among the attractions on the three rivers, but so far Mr. Schiller has been unsuccessful in getting docking rights at Station Square. (I was unable to reach a Station Square official for comment yesterday.)

I made the first two runs with Schiller and his first mate, a friendly old guy who didn't want to be named, so call him Gilligan. Fifteen passengers went on the first run, and 17 on the second, and the consensus was this beat the horsehide out of battling the pre-game traffic and paying $12, $15, $20 or worse for a parking spot near PNC Park. And after the game, they could essentially swim ahead of the post-game Route 28 logjam.

Starting 90 minutes before each game, this boat makes four trips, one every half-hour. Return trips begin after the seventh-inning stretch and the last one leaves 20 minutes after the last pitch.

Mr. Schiller carried about 60 passengers yesterday, each way.

As a teenager growing up in Penn Hills, he'd told his friends he'd open a restaurant on the water one day, and he did. He opened Trolls on Herrs Island in 1997 but sold it in 2003 because after he got married, the late hours no longer made sense.

But he had the restaurant long enough for Merle Crouse, a local beer distributor, to walk in one day in the summer of 1998 and mention that he wanted to start a water taxi. Mr. Schiller told him he'd always had the same idea and they formed a partnership, and a decade later this "hobby" is still cruising.

He'd just like to do more than ballgames and party cruises. He'd like to be the go-to guy for getting to the night spots along our rivers, but he needs Station Square to make that work.

"I'm not asking for a subsidy," he said. "All I need is access."

Contact Pittsburgh Water Limo at pghwaterlimo.com and 412-221-LIMO (5466).