* T H E * M / V * K A L A K A L A *

The m/v Kalakala was the world's first streamlined ferry boat, entering service in 1935. Like the streamlined steam trains, Pan Am China Clippers, and aerofoil automobiles of the time, she drew juice from the Art Deco style to drum up a thumping great business for the Black Ball Line in service from Seattle to Bremerton (a 30-minute ride across Puget Sound).

The 276-foot Kalakala was constructed on the burnt-out hulk of a 1925 ferry boat in Kirkland, Washington, just across Lake Washington from Seattle, largely as a project to employ shipyard workers in the hard years of the Great Depression. The boat's streamlined superstructure, designed by Boeing engineer Louis Procter and made of steel plating finished with gleaming silver paint, presented a distinctive profile on the water, while her graceful lines, deluxe restaurant with double horseshoe-shaped bar, and magnificent interior decor made her an instant hit with the public. In the Thirties and through the war years and beyond, Kalakala rocked as a transport link between the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and downtown Seattle (carrying as many as 2000 passengers and 100 cars), and as a venue for swing dances and "booze cruises" to nowhere on the Sound at night.

Kalakala was powered by a single massive 3,000-hp Busch-Sulzer diesel engine, with direct drive to the shaft; the boat was noted for her powerful vibrations when under way, though these were greatly diminished by the installation of a different propeller in 1956. The bubble of the ship's forward cowling made the foredeck invisible from the wheelhouse, rendering her tricky to dock and contributing to confused signaling and numerous pierside crashes and crunches; the vessel was never involved in a fatal collision, luckily, but there was a large repair bill for mangled ferry docks and perforated barges over the decades.

The Kalakala cruised the Puget Sound like a great silver bird until 1967, serving as a sensational symbol of Seattle's progressive outlook throughout that time, much as the Space Needle has since 1962. Showing her age and too small to handle the huge American cars fashionable in the Sixties, the vessel was sold to a cannery company. Her crystal chandeliers and parquet floors removed, Kalakala became a floating crab cannery in the Gulf of Alaska until her engine blew a cylinder. From 1972 on, she was beached on the Kodiak waterfront, continuing as a cannery workspace for some years before being abandoned and falling into rusty disrepair.

Enter Peter Bevis of Seattle, founder of the Fremont Fine Arts Foundry and Kalakala fanatic. Over the last decade, Bevis and a large crew of enthusiasts ripped out and hauled away the cannery junk and assorted garbage which had been dumped on the old ferry, and had the hull surveyed. Result: Seaworthy, with minimal leaks. Through the nonprofit Kalakala Foundation, funds were raised and in-kind donations solicited which refloated the ship and eventually towed her back to Seattle in November 1998. She is now berthed at the north end of Lake Union, adjacent to Gas Works Park, awaiting the major donations which will restore her to her former splendor as floating nightclub and Queen of the Puget Sound.
Kalakala today; photo copyright © 1999 by Larry Neilson