Sold in October of 1967 r, the Kalakala was moved to Ballard and throughout the fall, winter and spring of 1967-68 had most of her interior gutted. Cannery equipment was installed, and she was readied for her long trip to Alaska.
From 1968-1971 the Kalakala operated as a floating processing vessel, moving under her own power. In 1971 the engine blew a piston. Her owners tied her up at the Kodiak dock, but constant winds threatened to snap the mooring lines. Her owners soon found out what the State of Washington had--her big diesel engine was expensive to operate. Rather than repair the vessel, a decision was made to beach the ferry at Gibson Cove and make her a stationary processing plant. Oozed into the mud, the former pride of Puget Sound became a building, processing shrimp and crab until the early 1980s.
The last of the cannery operators went out of business in the early 1980s. Whatever could be taken off and sold was done so at auction in 1984. The Kalakala lay abandoned in the cove, the elements slowly destroying her.
In 1986 Seattle sculptor Peter Bevis while working as a fisherman, caught sight of the ferry stuck in the mud on Kodiak Island. Shown around the boat by her caretaker, Gil Reel, Peter knew the boat had to be saved and returned home. It would another six years before the Kalakala Foundation would be formed, and several more years of work removing over 300 tons of concrete and cannery material, but Bevis would see his dream come true--the Kalakala returned to Seattle after an absence of 30 years.
After several months on the Seattle waterfront, the ferry was moved to Lake Union. While trying to raise funds for complete restoration, Peter Bevis organized work parties on board to help keep the Kalakala from further damage. Once a month the vessel was opened for tours, which took in donations and educated people unfamiliar with the ferry on what a remarkable history the vessel has.
After struggling for years to raise the money, and despite all the best efforts of Bevis and the volunteers, the Foundation filed for bankruptcy. The ferry was sold at auction.
In a continuing a surprising twist to her history, the person who was high bidder on the boat was unable to come up with the funds to pay for her. The Kalakala went to the second highest bidder, who also couldn't come up with the funds to pay for her. Finally, she went to the third high bidder. Her current owner, Steve Rodriguez, tried for months unsuccessful to move her from Lake Union where she had more than worn out her welcome. Finally on March 9th she began her journey to Neah Bay, where the Makah Tribe had graciously offered to give the historic vessel free moorage.
That offer soon soured when the Kalakala damaged the pier she was moored too. The Makah sued as did the Department of Natural Resources. The lawsuits were later resolved.
On September 24th 2005 the ferry was moved to Tacoma. Her status there is somewhat uncertain. Since leaving Lake Union, there have been no work parties nor tours, and the Kalakala has slipped further into decay.
On 26 March 2011, the pumps stopped working. The ferry heeled over alarmingly, prompting officials to question the vessel's status on the Hylebos waterway. Aside from being a superfund site, it is a major waterway for the Port of Tacoma. Had she rolled over, shipping would have been blocked for months.
Happily, the pumps were restarted and the Kalakala righted herself. Today she sits on the Hylebos Waterway , a ghost of her former self, still waiting for the funds to restore her to her former silvery glory.
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At right, in March of 2011, with her guards touching the water and listing heavily, there was a very real danger of the Kalakala rolling over. Thankfully her pumps were restarted and the ferry righted itself. Courtesy of the Tacoma News Tribune.