Owner: Kalakala ferry sold for $1, 'saved from scrap yard'
»Play Video
TACOMA, Wash. -- The adventures of the old, Art Deco ferry Kalakala have taken another twist with the announced sale of the ferry.
Kalakala owner Steve Rodrigues posted a note on the ferry's website Sunday stating the boat was sold to an anonymous bidder for $1.
"There are specific moments of time that you cross the path of the right person with the right heart and soul and this person is the one," Rodrigues said.
While the bidder wishes to remain anonymous, Rodrigues said the bidder is a maritime-related company that has experience in renovating historical ships and has promised to restore the ferry to its original condition.
"He has given me his promise, he has embraced this vessel's history; its rich future," Rodrigues said.
That future is to make her sea-worthy once again so she can sail from a permanent home-port and take passengers on cruises with food, drink and music. The first step will be to spend the next six months to repair the hull so it can be towed to a shipyard where the renovation will begin.
Rodrigues says the restoration is supposed to be finished sometime in about the next two to three years. He'll stay with the project and says he retains the authority to choose the Kalakala's home-port -- hopefully Seattle, he says, but other cities like San Francisco and San Diego will be considered.
Monday was the deadline the Coast Guard set to develop a plan to tow the Kalakala from its current home at Tacoma's Hybelos Waterway. It needs to move by the end of the year.
Built in the 1920s, the Kalakala began serving Seattle as a ferry in 1935, according to HistoryLink.org. It sailed the Bremerton route for more than 30 years before it was auctioned off in 1967. That's when its darkest days began, re-purposed in Alaska as a fish processing ship before being grounded in 1972 as a cannery.
There it remained, smelly and unseaworthy, until 1998. That's when Seattle sculptor Peter Bevis bought the Kalakala and brought it back to Seattle. His efforts to restore - a multi-million dollar venture - ultimately failed, however, and by 2003 the rusted hulk was no longer welcome in Lake Union. It was sold to Steve Rodrigues, who took decrepit vessel to Neah Bay and then to Tacoma, where it currently sits.
Rodrigues also had a dream of restoring the Kalakala to its original condition. But the project's budget has grown to nearly $50 million, according to the project's website, and Rodrigues needed some help.
Kalakala owner Steve Rodrigues posted a note on the ferry's website Sunday stating the boat was sold to an anonymous bidder for $1.
"There are specific moments of time that you cross the path of the right person with the right heart and soul and this person is the one," Rodrigues said.
While the bidder wishes to remain anonymous, Rodrigues said the bidder is a maritime-related company that has experience in renovating historical ships and has promised to restore the ferry to its original condition.
"He has given me his promise, he has embraced this vessel's history; its rich future," Rodrigues said.
That future is to make her sea-worthy once again so she can sail from a permanent home-port and take passengers on cruises with food, drink and music. The first step will be to spend the next six months to repair the hull so it can be towed to a shipyard where the renovation will begin.
Rodrigues says the restoration is supposed to be finished sometime in about the next two to three years. He'll stay with the project and says he retains the authority to choose the Kalakala's home-port -- hopefully Seattle, he says, but other cities like San Francisco and San Diego will be considered.
Monday was the deadline the Coast Guard set to develop a plan to tow the Kalakala from its current home at Tacoma's Hybelos Waterway. It needs to move by the end of the year.
Built in the 1920s, the Kalakala began serving Seattle as a ferry in 1935, according to HistoryLink.org. It sailed the Bremerton route for more than 30 years before it was auctioned off in 1967. That's when its darkest days began, re-purposed in Alaska as a fish processing ship before being grounded in 1972 as a cannery.
There it remained, smelly and unseaworthy, until 1998. That's when Seattle sculptor Peter Bevis bought the Kalakala and brought it back to Seattle. His efforts to restore - a multi-million dollar venture - ultimately failed, however, and by 2003 the rusted hulk was no longer welcome in Lake Union. It was sold to Steve Rodrigues, who took decrepit vessel to Neah Bay and then to Tacoma, where it currently sits.
Rodrigues also had a dream of restoring the Kalakala to its original condition. But the project's budget has grown to nearly $50 million, according to the project's website, and Rodrigues needed some help.
