Free Republic

Anyone want to buy an old, rusty piece of Seattle history? The Kalakala ferry – yes, that hunk of junk which sat on Lake Union for years – is up for sale. And for just a buck. Of course the Kalakala, now in Tacoma and starting to sink, is much more than a disintegrating eyesore; it was once a symbol of Seattle maritime, a flagship of Puget Sound. The silver, art-deco ferry has seen much better days … and much worse ones. Then there’s the chance that the Coast Guard might seize the boat. The Kalakala’s website notes that the...

Tacoma, WA--On Friday, March 25, 2011, Steve Rodriguez of www.kalakala.org announced that the former non-profit organization dedicated to saving and preserving the ferry KALAKALA would become a for profit entity. At the same time, it looked like his dream of saving the the unique vintage ferry was literally sinking as the ship took on water causing a list of up to 25 degrees to port, during low tide at her berth on the Hylebos Waterway in Tacoma, Washington. The former Black Ball Line and Washington State Ferry has been at this location since September, 2004. Various efforts to find a...