Saturday, February 21, 2004

Saturday is clear and beautiful. Under the Fremont Bridge, around the point from where the Kalakala is moored, a small group gathers at a dock to be part of a flotilla – a floating band of well-wishers – that will accompany the Kalakala though the locks and out into the Puget Sound. Once through the locks, the flotilla will bid farewell to the old ship, which will complete the two-day journey to Neah Bay behind a tug.

The five well-wishers mill about on shore, commenting that they expected more people. Most had booked early to beat the expected sell-out. The captain of the flotilla vessel, Larry Kezner, finally arrives with disappointing news: The Kalakala is not moving this morning – the owner could not secure the final Coast Guard permit. No new departure date has been set. Larry urges the group take the trip out onto Lake Union anyway. “I’ll take you right up to the Kalakala, he says imploringly. “You’ll get some great pictures.”

Out on Lake Union, under the glare of the sun, the Kalakala shines brightly despite large patches of rust and graffiti. It sits next to another old ferry, the Skansonia, which worked the Seattle waters during the same period era. The Skansonia is now where the Kalakala hopes to be in five years. Like the Kalakala, it was purchased by a private investor, and has now been successfully refurbished. It has a new life as an events venue on Lake Union. Where the Kalakala is gutted and pock-marked with rust, the wooden Skansonia is beautifully finished. From the water, it looks new, probably better than it did while in service. But not much else can be said about the Skansonia’s appearance. It is an ordinary ferry. In comparison, the Kalakala looks otherworldly; its fluid lines and sleekness catch the eye. Even among the quirky houseboats that line the shores of Lake Union, the Kalakala is a stand-out.

Larry takes the helm of what was to be the flotilla vessel and grabs the microphone. He’s a huge fan of the Kalakala and relates its strange history in enthusiastic and animated monologues over the PA system. After the Peralta burned in 1933, the Puget Sound Navigation Company purchased the charred steel hull for ten dollars and towed it to a Washington shipyard to be rebuilt. A model-maker from Boeing carved the original design for the Kalakala in the streamline style popularized in trains and planes of the day. The result was the first and only streamline ferry.

As a Seattle ferry, the Kalakala, was not without incident. Accounts of the ship noted that it vibrated fiercely under the power of the largest single cast engine ever put in a ferry – a 3000 horsepower Busch-Sulzer. Because of the streamline style and placement of the bridge, the captain was not able to see the bow of the boat. Consequently, the Kalakala developed a bad habit of running into things, including docks, barges and tug boats. Larry down-plays this though, and in a pinnacle moment of awe he booms, “You couldn’t buy a postcard of Seattle between 1935 and 1962 without the Kalakala on it!”