Kalakala update: Hope in tourism?

I never heard back from the Kalakala team, and the Net's been quiet.  Today I got curious and went over to kalakala.org, where I discovered a brand new press release.  The owners, who, for a while, have been going under the moniker of the ferry's old operator, "Black Ball Line," have signed with Select Contracts, an international company that advertises its "turnkey" approach, which basically means that they oversee planning, design, implementation, and operation, all under one budgetary umbrella.  This press release gave me a little flutter of hope:  Might there actually be a plan to save the boat?  As I dug further, however, the proposal became about as murky as the waters of the Hylebos Waterway.

Kalakala update: No news is good news?

The WWW has been very quiet lately about our favorite Art Deco ferry.  The only article lately was this one from the Tacoma News-Tribune on 5/4, discussing how the Kalakala's owner Steve Rodrigues talked to a very skeptical audience about moving the boat to Bellingham.  Yet there has been no formal proposal made public.  The official Kalakala website, typically, gets facelifts and new historical pictures and words without ever actually giving any NEWS.  I took the above picture (which is undated) directly from the Website, where it has the optimistic caption "Hope Floats."

So one can at least assume that the Kalakala remains above water and that the "disaster waiting to happen"...hasn't.  My care and curiosity, however, has finally driven me to try emailing the crew at kalakala.org directly.  I'll let you know what I find out...

The Kalakala seems OK: an eyewitness report

With little more direction than a Google Maps location, Zanne and I went in search of the Kalakala today.  First we went around on Marine View Drive, and peering around a refinery we saw where she was.  There was no good photo spot.  We backtracked and went out into the port on Taylor, thinking this was actually the way to the boat.  We were right, although we could still get no better view than a peek between buildings.

I am happy to report that--at least with the tide in--she appeared upright and on an even keel.  The news has been painfully quiet about the Kalakala lately, and since Zanne and I were already out for the opening of the Olympia Farmers Market (and a run to Sonic) we decided to go see her ourselves.  Don't call her a trashy hulk:  She's still beautiful.  And she's afloat.

By the way, if anyone knows if and how to get to the Kalakala, or at least a decent place for a picture, PLEASE leave a comment...

Kalakala update

I found this hidden in the comments to KOMO News' coverage of the Kalakala's current predicament:

"I volunteered my help on the Kalakala yesterday. I found someone had intentionally destroyed the power line to the ship at an unknown time. When this happened it shuts down all lighting and pumps that drain out the accumulated rain water from the heavy rains. As you see, the ship is resting on the shore line and at 6pm last night the Kalakala was afloat on its own. This is not the first time the power cord has been intensionally destroyed and we have not found out who did this evil actions on a worlds famous ship that helped tens of thousands of people when it was in full operation. The owner has a very few volunteers to help maintain the ship. The state officials have made it very difficult to work on the ship so I put the blame on them."

Meanwhile, this commentary at the Tacoma News Tribune is arguing that the only way to save the "dream" of the Kalakala is that "that remnant of a great vessel must be put out of its misery in short order."  The author states that the "idea" of the Kalakala must be distinguished from the "actual hulk," the latter being best given back to "the element she belongs to."

In other words, we have a hardworking volunteer corps that is besieged not only by dumbass saboteurs but also naysayers masquerading as romantics who think that she's not worth it anymore and should be, well, euthanized.

Don't know about you, but the answer to preservation is generally more work by those who actually care...NOT debates about whether death with dignity is the final answer.  This is heritage, not a terminally ill patient.

Save the Kalakala...again

The ferry Kalakala is once again in trouble.  This morning, before I went back to bed to nurse what is either a hangover or the first signs of the flu that has been knocking out my coworkers, G'ma (a.k.a. my mother in law), showed us this story on King 5.  You can also read about it here at the Seattle Times.  The scoop is this:  After everything else the Kalakala has been through, she now seems to be at serious risk of going down at her current location on Tacoma's Hylebos Waterway.