| Type
: |
Wooden
steam ship |
| Launched
: |
7/11/1906 |
| Builder
: |
David
Drake Ltd Balmain, NSW |
| Gross
weight : |
303
tons |
| Dimensions
: |
152.00
x 33.00 x 10.60 (feet) |
| Passenger
capacity : |
1245 |
| Speed
: |
11
knots |
Kaikai was a wooden steamship built by David Drake at Bald Rock for Sydney Ferries Ltd. At the time of her launch she was their largest ferry and the largest of her type anywhere in the world. She was launched on the 7th of November 1906 just before noon and christened by Miss Nina Massic.
The launch speech for Kaikai is the first acknowledgment by SFL that they were deliberately naming their vessels with Aboriginal words starting with the letter K and the speech also mentions that (even at this early stage) the names were fast being exhausted.
The ferry was fitted with 108 electric lamps (the largest amount so far fitted to a harbour ferry) by the Federal Electrical and Engineering Company and her steam equipment (designed by SFL) was constructed and fitted by Mort's Dockyard and Engineering Company at Balmain.
During fitout of the new vessel the Harbour Trust had to install a new pontoon at Circular Quay to cater for her longer length (seven feet longer than the last vessel, Kulgoa). She ran her speed trials on the 13th of March 1907; unusually this wasn't over the measured knot between Pincgut and Bradley's Head but rather at Watsons Bay - she turned in an average of 11.5 knots.
Three days later she went into service on the high capacity Lavender Bay to Circular Quay route.
Kakai had few incidents during her life - the first of these occurred on the 20th of February 1909 when a passenger collpased on the deck and claimed that he was dying - this turned out to be true as, according to the report, he "expired" on the way to hospital of a "heart seizure". Her first serious accident occurred on the evening of the 25th of October 1911 when the collier Derwent sliced a hole nine feet long and four feet deep into the ferry smashing the ladies salon wood paneling and windows. Fortunately the damage was above the waterline and no-one was injured in the accident. At a later enquiry the master of the Derwent was found to be at fault and lost his ticket for a period of time.
On the 26th of June in the same year the ferry was run into by her mate Koree - damage to both vessels was light and the cause was the Kaikai failing to go astern. Her next accident was not until late June of 1926 when she collided in dense fog wit the steel hulled Koompartoo sustaining damage that cost some three hundred pounds to repair - the steel vessel suffered no damage at all as is usual when wood meets steel. That was to change on the 26th of may 1933 when the ferry was en-route to Cremorne and still in Circular Quay. She was struck by the Manly ferry Bellubera and rather surprising suffered no damage - not so Bellubera which needed to withdraw from operation for repairs.
Kaikai was one of the fortunate ferries that survived the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge - by that time she was not the largest of the fleet and fell into a size range that could still be economically operated. Along with Kuttabul, Koompartoo and Kulgoa she received modifications in the form of a flying bridge that allowed her to follow yacht races (greater visibilty to the master was the result). She was engaged in this role and on Head of the River duties frequently in the 1930s and was also used extensively for concerts and charters often paired with the smaller Lady Denman.
Kaikai
was the first