A SEADOG HISTORY
©2002 Jeff Lindeman
August 15, 2002
When I was a kid in the late 50's and early 60's, the ferryboat Kalakala (pronounced kah-LOCK-ah-la) was THE most recognizable symbol of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest in existence. This is of course from a time when the tallest building in Seattle was the Smith Tower and the Space Needle was only a dream on an architect's drafting table. I remember that later in the late 60's when the 50-story Sea-First building was completed the joke around town was that it was the box the Space Needle came in.
My personal recollections of the Kalakala include several rides on the bridge where I was allowed to operate the engine-room signalling levers to reverse engines and signal full-speed-ahead etc. This was because my uncle Ole Rindall was a captain on the Black Ball Line - and also later when Washington state took over ferry operations. I got to ride the Kalakala, which is a Chinook word meaning "flying bird", many times until her retirement from the fleet in 1967.
Well, yesterday as I was wandering through my favorite Bellingham bookstore, Village Books in Fairhaven, I spotted a coffee-table style book entitled "Kalakala - Magnificent Vision Recaptured" by Steven J. Russell and decided to take a look in the index under "Rindall". Much to my delight there was a reference. I flipped to page 80 with baited breath and when I read what was there a great laugh welled up in me and burst forth with such force that several people across the room stopped to turn my way. I knew I had to buy the book and I also immediately realized that I wanted to now more about my Uncle Ole. This is what I read:
"Captain Ole Rindal was involved in an impromptu race with the KALAKALA in 1944. Rindal, usually the skipper of the KALAKALA at the time, was temporarily assigned to take the crew of an aircraft carrier to Bremerton on the SACRAMENTO ferry. Quite by chance, the KALAKALA was emerging from the Colman Docks at the same time the SACRAMENTO was leaving. Rindal ordered full speed ahead and the race was on. The two ferries battled neck and neck rounding Duwamish Head and passing Decatur Reef on the southern tip of Bainbridge Island. As they approached Rich Passage, the KALAKALA was in a better position for the usual course through the channel. However, Captain Rindal, after determining that it was high tide, cleverly directed the SACRAMENTO through the narrow gap between Bean's Point and a rock pile on the port side and beat the KALAKALA to Bremerton by one-quarter mile. Captain Rindal was later "called on the carpet" by Port Captain, Harry Anderson, not for safety reasons, but for publicly embarrassing the flagship of the fleet."
And than there was this precious gem:
"In March 1945, the KALAKALA ran aground at Pleasant Beach near West Blakely on Bainbridge Island while captained by Ole Rindal. All passengers were transferred to the ferry WILLAPA. The KALAKALA had beached at low tide and was refloated at high water, resuming service the next day."
Two wonderfully colorful vignettes that are just short enough to be intriguing and yet say so much in so few words. And when taken together, they paint a picture of a man with enough good luck to keep his bad luck from getting him in too much trouble. A bold man. A winner. A risk taker. A screw-up now and then, sure, but name anybody having a good life that doesn't step deep in a pile on ocassion. How would you know if things were going really well, if you'd never seen things go not-so-well? Or at least that's the way I see it.
Anyway, I have a few old rememberences of my Uncle Ole and I'm going to see what else I can find out. Stay tuned...
The Kalakala Aground on Bainbridge Island - 1945