LAKE CRESCENT — The ferry Kalakala will leave its temporary home at Neah Bay by July, its owner said Saturday.
Finishing up a couple of days of R&R out of the limelight at Lake Crescent’s Log Cabin Resort after several harrowing weeks of getting the dilapidated vessel from Seattle’s Lake Union to Neah Bay, Steve Rodrigues said Saturday that the Kalakala won’t overstay its welcome.
The Makah tribe is not charging Rodrigues to store the boat at its pier, he said, but he’s still working with the state Department of Natural Resources, which manages the shoreline, toward a reasonable moorage fee.
“Right now we’re securing it so it can weather a storm, but we have all intentions of adhering to our initial agreement with the tribe to have Kalakala out of there by July,” he said Saturday.
He still hopes to tow Kalakala into Port Angeles Harbor for the town’s Fourth of July celebration, and will approach the Port Angeles City Council with a plan in the near future, he said.
After that, the former ferry’s facelift could be a breeze, given the right opportunity for dry-dock repairs.
“I’ll know that within next two to four weeks,” Rodrigues said.
“Things are happening in a very positive way. Finally.”
