gulf islands jaunt

[Neil]

I was thinking of doing this trip as a foot passenger some Saturday in the near future. First the route, then my questions...

Lv Tsawwassen 8:30 am
Lv Galiano 9:30
Ar Mayne 10;00

Transfer

Lv Mayne 10:15
Lv Pender 10:45
Lv Saturna 11:40
Ar Swartz Bay 12:45

Lv Swartz Bay 1:00
Ar Fulford Hbr 1:35
Lv Fulford Hbr 4:00
Ar Swartz Bay 4:35

Lv Swartz Bay 5:00
Ar Tsawwassen 6:40

Does anyone know if the ferry leaving Mayne at 10:15 a.m. on Saturdays is the Mayne or the Cumberland? I'm hoping it would be the Cumberland, since I would have been on the Bowen Queen from Tsawwassen.
Also, is it realistic to try to get off one ferry at 12:45 and on to the Skeena Queen by 1? Or, off the Skeena Queen at 4:35 and on to route 1 at 5? What is the ticket selling/ boarding procedure at Swartz Bay? Any advice would be appreciated.

[Koastal Karl]

I dont know the summer schedule on Saturdays if that sailing would be the Cumbie. I know the morning sailings during the week for the summer schedules the Cumberland and Mayne Queen switch schedules. The Mayne Queen now runs less on Saturdays than the Cumbie, not sure about the summer though. 12:45 would be pushing it to get on the Skeena Queen as you would have to go up and get a ticket to get on the Skeena. Well going back wouldent be a problem as the Skeena is scheduled so that they can meet up with the Vancouver ferry. So you would have to get a throughfare ticket on the Skeena to go to Tsawwassen then you could go from there and get on the Vancouver ferry.

[Neil]

The schedule I'm looking at is the current one.

[Mike C]

I like:

Spirit of Vancouver Island
Leave Tsawwassen: 1 pm
Arrive SWB: 2:35 pm

Mayne Queen
Leave SWB: 4:15 pm
Arrive Galiano: 5:35 pm

Queen of Nanaimo
Leave Galiano: 6:05 pm
Arrive Tsawwassen: 6:50 pm

[kylefossett]

with your throughfare you MUST go to the ticket booth to get a boarding pass. I saw them turn somebody out of the foot passenger lineup for the skeena queen a couple of weeks ago and send them to get a boarding pass. also 0830 departure from tsawwassen to galiano on a saturday is not the bowen queen but the queen of nanaimo

[Neil]

Thanks for that Kyle- you're right, I made the wrong assumption about the Saturday a.m. schedule. That's even better, actually- that means I get the Nanaimo, and either the Mayne or Cumberland . It would be nice if I could do all the ticket stuff when leaving Tsawwassen, but I don't suppose that's possible.

[kylefossett]

you would still have to get aboarding pass at swartz bay with your thrufare ticket. this is so they have a more accurate count of passengers especially when it is busy like most weekends in the summer

[Neil]

Well, I did my Gulf Islands adventure yesterday.
Caught the 8:30 Queen of Nanaimo from Tsawwassen, which was almost half an hour late because of one of those maddening delays where the crew all seem to be standing around and cars remain only half loaded for some unknown reason. Have to admit, I was disappointed in the 'Nanaimo- I thought it had been really fixed up, but it still looks pretty bare bones to me. We've gotten so used to 'minimalist' ferries, that when they put in new chairs or carpeting, I guess we're impressed. We stopped at Galiano, and then I got off at Mayne, where an empty Mayne Queen was waiting to take on passengers for Pender and Saturna. It is a really nice ride down Navy Channel to Lyall Harbour, and the ferry was pretty empty after dropping off all the Pender traffic. I've always liked the Mayne and Bowen Queens- three passenger decks above the car deck, and the Mayne seemed pretty speedy, compared to the Quinitsa and Kahloke slug-barges that I'm more used to. The weather got sunny as the trip went along, and I noticed that, like Hornby, Saturna has a pub-restaurant with a deck, right at the ferry. Convenient, although I didn't have time to check it out. From there, the Mayne Queen took on a small load and left a few minutes late for a nice direct run to Swartz Bay.
We pulled into Swartz just as the Skeena Queen was pulling out at 1:00, so I had a two hour wait, which was okay, since it was lunch time, and the Mayne and Cumberland were sitting there for me to check out. Took the 3:00 sailing to Fulford. As with the Mayne Queen, BC Ferries has not spent fifty cents on 'decor' on the Skeena, but I suppose it's an efficient vessel, with easy auto loading, nd no need for stairs or elevators to lounges. But those 'lounges'! Yucch. Fulford is a really nice little place, and I went for a long walk out of the village, just checking out the countryside. Back in time for the 6:00 boat to Swartz (it was about three quarters full both ways). Then a quck transfer on the Spirit of Vancouver Island and a sunny, scenic as usual trip through Active Pass. Hard to ever get tired of that part of the trip. Confirmed for me, though, that I really don't enjoy the ferries themselves on the major routes- they all look about as interesting as doctors' waiting rooms, they're very noisy when full- I guess I've just done them too many times. Thank goodness for the scenery.
Can't beat the price- Thirty dollars or so to to go from Tsawwassen to Saturna, Saturna to Swartz Bay, over to Saltspring and back, and then back to Tsawwassen. An enjoyable day, pleasantly tiring from all the walking and sun. Ferry food was decent, I've never understood why there's so much controversy about it.
Saw one of the Seaspan vessels, either the Greg or Doris, coming down between Prevost and Galiano, and heading east- maybe it had been on a special trip to Chemainus.
Took photos, but as I don't have a digital camera and no scanner, can't share them.
All in all, I was pretty impressed by how much you could do for so little in one day on our ferries. Good value.

[Low Light Mike]

;)When you were on SaltSpring, where did you go walking?

Did you go up the main road, from the terminal......the one that curves around the marina?

Did you get down to the Fulford Inn, or did you turn onto Beaver Point Road ?

just curious, as I've walked in that area last summer, and I enjoyed the farms, along with the vegetable/flower stands that were setup at every 2nd driveway (or so it seemed).

Did you stop-in at the coffee-shop / bakery that's right beside the Fulford ferry terminal?

----------------------

Re the car-deck design of the Mayne/Bowen Queens, I've never quite understood why they would design for just 1 lane of overhight. I can see why they modified the PRQ.

However, I guess that the large passenger double-deck space is needed for a longer run, such as Swartz-Galiano. On the HoweSoundQueen, there's a smaller passenger space, and so most people stay in their vehicles (the short crossing time helps with that too).
============================

Thanks for sharing your trip stories with us. ( ;)Now just imagine how much more interesting your trip would have been if you had been in a multi-cultural, multi-linguistic part of the world.........you must have gotten tired of just being with white-folks who speak english, all day long......just like the lower-mainland, huh? ).

[Neil]

I headed up the road to the right (Maude?), which I think turned into Morningside or something-side, and then sort of petered out, and became a trail up a hill (hill had a name, but I've forgotten as well) which resembled the trail up Mt. Geoffrey on Hornby. I hiked up there for a while, but as I didn't know how far it was, and I was getting rather hot and didn't have a lot of time, I turned back.
Stopped in the little deli/ food place you mentioned, but only to get an ice cream cone (very poor value- I've been spoiled by Andy's at White Rock). Lots of flowers in Fulford, and being a gardener I really envied some of the gardens I saw.
The Bowen Queen was parked beside the main dock. I've always had a real soft spot for the Bowen/ Mayne Queens- when I was a kid and the Bowen Queen was brand new on the Snug Cove route, I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. Lounges on two decks, and the sun deck above, and one time I got to go up to the bridge when we were sitting outside Horseshoe Bay, waiting for another ferry to leave, and the Bowen was rocking around- ah, heaven for a nine year old. Nowadays, of course, the Mayne and Bowen look pretty dowdy, in fact all the 'minor' vessels are so unadorned that most transit buses look fancier. With the current paint scheme, the Skeena is so lacking colour on the outside that it looks like the old Dept. of highways vessels- black hull, white sides.
Ah yes, the uni-cultural thing. Despite the Spirit of V.I. last night looking and sounding like the United Nations, apparently you have to go to Old Blighty to experience REAL diversity. According to some renowned sociologists, anyway.

[Low Light Mike]

I'm working out a day trip idea, starting & ending at Duke Point....for a summer's weekday.

Leave Duke Point on 7:45 am Queen of New Westminster

Arrive at Tsawwassen for 30 minute stopover, and then take 10:15 am Queen of Nanaimo to Gulf Islands.

Disembark from Q-Nanaimo at Galiano at 11:15 or later (likely later for this usually-late route), and then embark onto Mayne Queen at 11:50 AM, destined for Swartz Bay.

Arrive at Swartz Bay at 1:15 (after a call-in at Mayne).

From Swartz Bay, take the 2:00pm Route 1 ship to Tsawwassen, likely a V-Class on the even-hour?

Arrive at Tsawwassen by 3:40 (or later if the ferry is late), and shipspot at Tsawwassen for a while, and then take the 5:45 Route-30 home to Duke Point.

Or perhaps 1 can shipspot for an hour at Swartz, and take the 3:00pm Spirit sailing on Route-1 instead.

So, what terminal offers the better shipspotting: Swartz or Tsawwassen? just curious where it's nicer to enjoy a couple of hours......

[Scott]

flugelhorn said:

I'm working out a day trip idea, starting & ending at Duke Point....for a summer's weekday.

Disembark from Q-Nanaimo at Galiano at 11:15 or later (likely later for this usually-late route), and then embark onto Mayne Queen at 11:50 AM, destined for Swartz Bay.





So, what terminal offers the better shipspotting: Swartz or Tsawwassen? just curious where it's nicer to enjoy a couple of hours......

I think they usually try to have the Queen of Nanaimo to dock at Galiano before the Mayne Queen. As you mention, there is a 35 minute gap between when the Nanaimo arrives and the Mayne Queen departs. If it's a really busy day, though, the Nanaimo could be an hour late.. so have a back up plan.

Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen have about the same amount of ship-spotting available... nothing too spectacular. Just the outside decks of the waiting rooms. Swartz Bay has more traffic and more variety, so if you're more interested in watching ferries and terminal operations than getting a pretty picture, I'd say Swartz Bay is more interesting.

I completely concur with hornbyguy when it comes to busy ferries. My favorite part of a ferry trip is usually watching the scenery or the marine traffic or a beautiful sunset, rather than exploring the ferry and taking pictures of the carpet;) So does that mean I don't really like the ferries?

[Low Light Mike]

Thanks for the advice, John. If I miss my Mayne-Queen connection, I can hang around on Galiano for the day, and take the Nanny back to Tsawwassen when she goes back that way, later in the afternoon. That would let me enjoy the scenery from the bluffs/beach where some ferry-guys went last summer.

My motivations for such a trip would be:
- to be "on the water" for the day.
- to see the various expected and unexpected ships, both from land and from sea
- to smell the ocean, and feel the breeze.
- to get some reading in.
- to see the southern gulf island's scenery, from the water.
- to go through Active Pass.
- in short: to experience the west-coast.

[kylefossett]

will you be a walk on passenger this day or taking a vehicle. this itinerary will not work with a vehicle as you will need a reservation for the route 9 sailing from tsawwassen. otherwise this will be a nice trip especially if the weather is sunny and warm. also swartz bay is the better place to ship watch. you can also do the walk over to the stonehouse pub at canoe cove for a bite to eat.

[Low Light Mike]

definitely at footie walk-on.

thanks for the advice.

[Kahloke]

I'm thinking of doing the Swartz Bay Day Trip some Saturday this spring - like in May or June. According to the Schedule, the ferry leaves SWB at 9:35am, goes to Pender, Mayne, Galiano, then Pender again, and returns to SWB at 1:10pm. Does anyone know which ferry does that sailing on the current schedule? Is it Cumbie or Mayne Qn?

If anyone is interested in this little excursion, it could be a fun group trip. I've never done this trip before, so that is why I am doing it. Most likely I will take the Coho over from Port Angeles on a Friday evening, spend the night in Victoria, and do the day trip on Saturday (definitely as a walk on - I would park my car at Swartz Bay), then go home via Coho again Saturday evening. Any takers? If so, I'll re-post in the Group Trips section.

[Koastal Karl]

It will be the Cumberland. They only do the day trip schedule on the Cumberland.

[Neil]

A question for those familiar with cycling the Gulf Islands:

What presents the less challenging ride in terms of hills- Mayne Island, or the southern part of Galiano (Sturdies-Montague) ?

[Coastal Canuck]

Jun 26, 2008 14:19:57 GMT -8 Neil said:

A question for those familiar with cycling the Gulf Islands:

What presents the less challenging ride in terms of hills- Mayne Island, or the southern part of Galiano (Sturdies-Montague) ?

they are both bad

[D'Elete BC in NJ]

Jun 26, 2008 17:01:31 GMT -8 Coastal Canuck said:

Jun 26, 2008 14:19:57 GMT -8 Neil said:

A question for those familiar with cycling the Gulf Islands:

What presents the less challenging ride in terms of hills- Mayne Island, or the southern part of Galiano (Sturdies-Montague) ?

they are both bad

lol...define bad...I, for one, am a little crazy and enjoy the challenge of going up hill...though not as crazy as some people I know who considered puking only once on a challenging hill as an indication of your lack of self motivation ...

[Ferryman]

I don't really think that either Island is really "bad" at all. There are some hills, but nothing too serious. But it all depends where you plan to go. I usually like to picture any gulf Island road, as being a "road of waves", because it seems like you're constantly going "up and down, up and down, up and down......". That's what it feels like when I'm driving on the Islands anyway.

But for which Island I think would have a little bit more hill climing and hill riding, that would be Mayne Island. But really the worst of it, is only at Village Bay from what I could tell. If you go down to Miners Bay, there's a fairly long but somewhat gradual hill, leading down to the Bay.

[Bob]

If I was to be going from Galiano Island to Swartz Bay as a foot passenger would I have to go to the ticket booth and get a boarding pass or just go down to the waiting room and wait for the ferry?

[Political Incorrectness]

You have to get a boarding pass if travelling from Swartz Bay.

[Low Light Mike]

Jun 27, 2008 14:42:22 GMT -8 @Bob said:

If I was to be going from Galiano Island to Swartz Bay as a foot passenger would I have to go to the ticket booth and get a boarding pass or just go down to the waiting room and wait for the ferry?

Hi Bob. I think the answer is "No". The new boarding pass requirements for minor-routes was first implemented for northern islands such as Quadra, and not yet for the southern group.

I experienced this first-hand in May 08, when departing Mayne Island onto the Mayne Queen for Victoria.

If in doubt, just check at the ticket booth at Sturdies Bay, assuming that you're walking down that street and will pass it. Or perhaps you're arriving on the Queen of Nanaimo and want to stay on the dock until the Cumberland/Mayne-Q arrives?

[Bob]

Jun 27, 2008 15:15:35 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

Jun 27, 2008 14:42:22 GMT -8 @Bob said:

If I was to be going from Galiano Island to Swartz Bay as a foot passenger would I have to go to the ticket booth and get a boarding pass or just go down to the waiting room and wait for the ferry?

Hi Bob. I think the answer is "No". The new boarding pass requirements for minor-routes was first implemented for northern islands such as Quadra, and not yet for the southern group.

I experienced this first-hand in May 08, when departing Mayne Island onto the Mayne Queen for Victoria.

If in doubt, just check at the ticket booth at Sturdies Bay, assuming that you're walking down that street and will pass it. Or perhaps you're arriving on the Queen of Nanaimo and want to stay on the dock until the Cumberland/Mayne-Q arrives?

I'm arriving on the Nanaimo...so you think I can just stay on the dock?