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Post by Kahloke on Jan 11, 2010 0:10:27 GMT -8
My first solo trip for 2010. It wasn't anything unusual for me. I just did a day trip today up to Orcas to do a little Christmas with my dad since we did not get together during the actual holiday. I parked at Anacortes and walked on the 09:00 M/V Elwha sailing to Orcas and Friday Harbor. Coming back, I was aiming for the 15:35 sailing that departs Orcas because I knew it would be Evergreen State and I haven't ridden that boat in a long time. I also knew it would be really late because Evergreen, being a slower vessel, just hasn't been able to keep Sealth's schedule. Sure enough, the 15:35 sailing departed Orcas at 16:55, then ended up returning back to Orcas after the Shaw stop because a couple of walk-on passengers coming from Friday Harbor somehow missed the Orcas stop and did not get off when they should have. So, the crew of the Evergreen graciously returned back to Orcas to let them off before continuing on to Lopez and Anacortes. To be honest, I didn't mind being late. It gave me more time to spend with my dad and a chance to ride ye old Evergreen once again. I've posted photos in the WSF photos thread, but here's one of Evergreen State en-route to Anacortes:  |
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Post by ferryfanyvr on Jan 17, 2010 23:23:23 GMT -8
I did a double-Coastal trip on rt1 today...the CC leaving Tsa at 1300 returning on the CR at 1600. I observed a few things. First, the ship has been turned end-for-end to match the CC with #2 end (cafeteria end) toward the mainland. Second, there was some confusion among foot passengers since the on-board signage directs pax to the Vancouver (HSB) exit and the Nanaimo (DB) exit. Also...and this really bugged me.......the departure announcement states "Welcome aboard the Coastal Celebration"!! They are just using a copy of the CC's announcement, with the info about the buffet left out. The crew said that it didn't really matter since no one ever listens to the announcements anyway (I beg to differ). I believe that if they don't have the correct announcements, they should just make manual announcements...at least it would add a personal touch and not provide false info. They also explained that the TV's would not be working in any of the lounges as the ship was "on loan" from Nanaimo and the TV's would only work when the ship was based out of that terminal!?
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Koastal Karl
Voyager 
Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
Posts: 7,747
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Post by Koastal Karl on Jan 17, 2010 23:38:28 GMT -8
I did a double Coastal trip last Sunday took the 3pm Celebration to Tsawwassen and came back on the 6pm Renaissance and I noticed the same thing! Passengers were confused about the signage the recorded announcement was the Celebrations recorded message. They did mention to the ship was on loan from Nanaimo so pretty much the same as what you heard today. It was funny when I took the Celebration that day on the 3pm sailing the ETA they gave for Tsawwassen was 5:35pm as I guess they thought it was the 4pm sailing, lol! Cause I have been on the 4pm quite a bit from Tsawwassen and I kept thinking it was the 4pm too and not the 3pm, lol! But really how goofy can people be, Tsawwassen yeah we are going to HSB or Departure Bay! Yeah right!
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Koastal Karl
Voyager
Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
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Post by Koastal Karl on Feb 7, 2010 23:16:38 GMT -8
Nothing too exciting but I did a route 1 and 9 and 5 trip today but in the opposite direction I usually do my 1 9 and 5 combo! Took the 3pm Coastal Celebration to Tsawwassen then took the 6:40pm sailing on the Queen of Nanaimo to Village Bay where I then transfered to the Cumberland at 8pm for the trip back to Swartz Bay via Galiano and Pender. I must say it was a nice quiet sailing from Tsawwassen to Mayne and Mayne to Swartz Bay. Much nicer than a stressful and busy route 1. The lineup for the 5pm at Tsawassen again was pretty much all the way back to berth 3 again. I will never take a 5pm sailing out of Tsawwassen or Swartz Bay on a Sunday.
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Post by lmtengs on Apr 4, 2010 18:30:31 GMT -8
This was my first trip on a BC Ferry that you could actually call stormy!
I arrived at Tsawwassen Terminal on Friday, and the ticket woman said we were guaranteed a spot on the 14:00 sailing. So, we drove into the compound and parked the car. The wind was so strong it was pretty hard to open the car door on the windward side of the car. I walked into the terminal building, bought myself two slices of the best pizza on earth, one Hawaiian and one carnivore, and a two-scoop cone of strawberry Ice Cream. Then I looked at the vessel tracking screen, and seeing that the Spirit of Vancouver Island was approaching the terminal, I went back to our car. 14:00 came and passed, lanes of cars drove onto the ferry, and she left without our lane. I had wondered why we hadn't got on, and decided it must have just been an error at the tollbooth, or they had forgotten our lane. So I asked an employee. His response: "The ferries are an hour behind."
I was shocked. I hadn't ever experienced that. Ever.
So I walked back to the car and played with my camera.
Then came the REAL 14:00 ferry, the Coastal Celebration, also about an hour and ten minutes late. We got on, and left at about 3:30.
Shortly after we left the terminal, we had found a seat and sat down. I decided that I'd go out on the outside deck 5, as deck 7 was closed. The waves were crashing up halfway up the lower car deck, and the ferry was leaning back and forth quite a lot. After about ten minutes, I went back inside, but the winds had picked up again, and now it took two people to just to open up the outside deck doors from the wind. Almost as soon as I sat down, there was an announcement asking all passengers to please find a seat due to all the large waves in the strait. 5 minutes later, the ship rolled hugely, at least 30 degrees to the port side, then another 30 to the right. Some people screamed, and others weezed or "OH MY GOD!!!" 'd. Out the window, no sky was visible. You were looking down at whitecaps, nothing else. That was the only time we rocked that much, but there were some more pretty big rolls that caused some nervous looks from people, and the entire boat creaked from some of those rolls. after about an hour, we entered active pass and the 'Celebration stopped rocking. We entered Swartz Bay about an hour and 40 minutes late, and the trip took about two hours and twenty minutes, but it was a fun experience.
Something fairly odd happened on our voyage too: As we made passage through the strait, we sailed by the Spirit of British Columbia, which was going to Tsawwassen. It looked fairly normal while it passed, then about half an hour later when I was walking through the cafeteria, which was on the East side of the ship, I noticed something very weird. The Spirit had now sailed as far south as Bellingham. I stood there and watched it for another ten minutes, and it didn't move... at all. I was told later by my uncle that they made it stay there because the waves and winds were too big to dock the thing. My trip back today on the Queen of New Westminster was uneventful.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Apr 4, 2010 20:07:11 GMT -8
My trip back today on the Queen of New Westminster was uneventful. Did you take the route from Departure Bay to Tsawwassen again today? ;D - thanks for the storm trip report. Did your stomach regret the 2 pieces of pizza and ice-cream? |
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Post by lmtengs on Apr 5, 2010 9:25:58 GMT -8
My trip back today on the Queen of New Westminster was uneventful. Did you take the route from Departure Bay to Tsawwassen again today? ;D - thanks for the storm trip report. Did your stomach regret the 2 pieces of pizza and ice-cream? Oops. Thanks for the fix, flug  I actually ate more on the ferry: a danish pastry and a burger, so I don't believe that I regretted the pizza and ice cream. |
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Koastal Karl
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Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
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Post by Koastal Karl on Apr 10, 2010 22:06:37 GMT -8
I did a solo trip Friday afternoon on route 1. I took the 2pm Queen of New West to Tsawwassen and came back on the 5pm SOVI. Nice afternoon for a ferry trip. The 2pm was nice and quiet as I dont think too many people knew there was a 2pm sailing. Docked in berth 5 then the New West headed over to berth 1 to tie up for the day. Nothing really too exciting about this trip just a last min trip. The SOVI was alot more crowded being the 5pm is usually busy. Heading back over Monday on the 11am SOVI to catch our flight out of YVR to Vegas so that should be awesome. A few photos can be found on my Facebook Album!
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Post by lmtengs on May 23, 2010 20:32:29 GMT -8
Today I traveled to Sechelt, but mostly for the ferry trip  It was a fun day!  Queen of Capilano on a rainy May morning  Ferry Terminal signage  They've got the new ticket machines in place in Horseshoe Bay, and now they've just got to set them up. I'm surprised that they didn't even put a fake wood-grain finish on these ones. It's just blue and yellow.  The Renaissance entering Horseshoe Bay.  She seemed to enter the terminal at an odd angle...  The pedestrian on-ramp at Horseshoe Bay  The pedestrian overpass looks like it's been painted recently. Any confirmations of this?  The Renaissance offloading  Queen of Coquitlam's Wheelhouse  Horseshoe Bay with Queen of Capilano  Queen of Coquitlam's deck is in a despicable state! The floor is wavy, with spaces where it sinks, developing puddles, and sections where it rises into lumps. It's really not very good for walking on anymore.  Coquitlam's funnel  Her zodiac  Her solarium  a stairwell  another stairwell. There's not much evidence in the car-deck stairwells, if any, that there used to be escalators. I couldn't find anything suggesting it's 'moving' past...  Another wheelhouse shot    Her plaques  Is this supposed to look like that?? I spoke to a member of the crew, and he said it was perfectly normal, but I don't believe that. None of them are like that at any other terminal... It looks like it's been bumped into one too many times.  The Langdale float is looking spiffy  The Coquitlam sails off to Horseshoe Bay  The Queen of Coquitlam, taken from the dock in front of Molly's in Gibsons.  Some big yellow thing on the vehicle deck... it looks like a crane. Could anybody tell me more? All the non-ferry pictures are on my facebook album |
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Post by BreannaF on Jul 4, 2010 17:28:19 GMT -8
I got to take a little bit of an adventure trip last weekend -- just now getting the time to talk about it. The background story is that my car's starter decided to quit on the night before my trip to Seattle for my 30th high school reunion. The next morning, the local car rental agency called and said they didn't have a car to rent that morning, even though one was reserved online. While I was muttering about driving around all weekend in one of the company (bright blue and yellow and covered in logos) vans, my daughter asked if this was the time to suggest that "Mr Transit" might just want to walk his talk and take the train to Seattle. After giving that about 10 minutes of thought, I shed all the excess stuff to carry down to one bag and headed downtown. I hadn't been on the train to Seattle in a couple of years, and most of my train recollections revolve around the Coast Starlight. The Cascades is really a great little train. The Talgo is pretty comfortable, the trip is a fast 3.5 hours Portland to Seattle. It's not my Father's Amtrak train. This trip made me remember just how efficient this trip can be, even though the train was full in both directions. The one thing that disappointed me at a personal level was an inability to take a decent photo out the window of the train. Now, I guess you can't expect to do well at 60 mph, but I was hoping for better results than I got. For example, I can verify that the Olympic is still there, and that the Christine Anderson is a pretty little boat as the sun sets over Puget Sound, but many of the pictures I took both ways seem to have been done with the same camera that I take to Queen of Richmond functions.  There must be a way to do that. By the way, if you ever do the trip, unless you're really pinching pennies, spring for the extra $14 for Business Class. I did on the way back just because I was getting sore and tired, and it was totally worth it. If not for the extra big seats, then just for the fact that you don't have to stand in the endless line in Seattle to check in and get a seat assignment. The Cascades train actually matches up with transit in Seattle pretty well. Got to the hotel just fine, and got to the two reunion events just fine on the bus, with only one late-night taxi home the entire 3-day trip. Saturday was my play day, with nothing in particular to do, but was sort-of limited to where I can get to on the transit system (by my own choosing). So the first stop of the morning was a trip to the Edmonds ferry terminal to take the Puyallup to Kingston. The trip served two purposes -- for someone who lived so long in North Seattle and Snohomish County, I rarely ever took the Kingston ferry, just because some other route was always closer. Second was that the Puyallup was one of three WSF vessels that I hadn't taken a trip on yet (though I have been in the presence of the Hiyu and the Chelan at one time or another). Spent some time at the Kingston Farmers Market, took lots of pictures, and came back over to Edmonds on the Spokane. The Spokane and the Walla Walla were the "new" ferries in the fleet when I was in high school (class of 1980!). Kind of fitting that I would board one of them on this weekend. It's been a long time for me riding the Spokane, and it has been really nicely taken care of. I think that the original jumbo ferries are still my favorites in the current fleet. But please don't laugh... I still miss the orange solariums. But that's just me. Spent the afternoon wearing out my Orca card in Seattle seeing the touristy sights. Went to Ballard to see the locks, don't know why that always fascinates me. (Favorite quote of the day, from one of the locks workers:"Just because they have a lot of money to buy a boat doesn't mean they know how to pilot the thing.") Took my first ride on the new Link light rail system. (A lot like Portland's, only in Seattle.) Finally ended up wandering around the waterfront. So, after a late lunch and seeing the sights, what's a person to do? Well, ride another ferry, of course. I took a round trip to Bainbridge, just to sit and relax. Of course, "relax" means walking like a couple of miles back and forth and around the ferry, taking pictures and looking around. Went over on the Tacoma and back on the Wenatchee, completing the (unplanned) feat of riding all 3 Mark II's in one day. It feels a little funny taking a touristy trip on a route that a couple of decades ago I used to commute on, but every time I am out on the water it is still special. Got to watch the local fire and ambulance companies take someone off the incoming ferry at Bainbridge, but other than the fact that the guy on the gurney seemed to be moving about, you never really get to hear the whole story. I'll likely add a few pictures and some commentary, just as soon as I get some time to sort through all the photos. But it was fun to have a day to just run around and do nothing and ride some ferries for the heck of it. |
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Post by ferryfanyvr on Jul 7, 2010 18:05:57 GMT -8
Well, a few days after the fact I'll recount my route 3 trip on board the Coastal Renaissance this past Sunday. I bought my ticket about 2100 for the 2135 sailing to Langdale. There were a few people in waiting room "A" who had already bought their tickets for what they thought was the 2135 sailing to Departure Bay so they had a bit of a wait ahead of them. Shortly after 2110 the CR rounded the point and made her approach into berth 1. The crew said that even though she fits into all 3 berths at HSB, berth 1 is the most ideal.
Kind of funny...when her arrival was announced on the terminal's PA system it went something like this: "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. The Coastal Renaissance is now arriving at berth 1 on the left hand side of the terminal. All passengers bound for Langdale on the Sunshine Coast....you get to ride on the Coastal Renaissance tonight!"
It was a fairly quiet crossing with no traffic on the upper car deck as the Coquitlam had left less than an hour earlier. Upon boarding, deck 5 was closed..which I'd expected, but it had been open on the sailing from Nanaimo because looking in from the outer deck I could see the snack bar (sorry..."Coast Cafe Express") was still stocked with hot dogs being kept warm under the heat lamps.
It felt very strange leaving HSB on the Ren and travelling straight out instead of making the immediate turn towards Vancouver Island. The trip took the usual amount of time but docking in Langdale was another matter all together. They tried for almost 15 minutes to get her into the dock before she was finally secured. When the deckhand came to release the barrier rope he said, "You can tell we don't come here very often!"
The trip back was a bit busier with roughly 80 cars on the upper car deck and a half dozen or so vehicles down below. When we arrived back at HSB's berth 1, the Capilano was already tied up in berth 2 and the Oak Bay was arriving at berth 3. The 10 other foot passengers and I were waiting to walk off the overhead and I could see over onto the Oak Bay that all the footsies were also waiting to walk off and the OB's deckhand was waiting to open the gate for the walkway. However, there was no one to lower the ramp and the foot passengers were sent down to the car deck. We then walked off the overhead from the CR and there were 50 or 60 foot passengers waiting to board......but they were sent down to the car deck to board. When I asked the attendant why the ramp was lowered for 10 foot passengers to disembark, but not used for 6 times that many to board I was told, "the ramp operator has to go to berth 3 to lower the ramp on the Oak Bay's upper car deck. We weren't prepared for 2 ships to arrive at once"
All in all it was an enjoyable little jaunt...hopefully I'll get a chance to do it once more before the Surrey returns.
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Post by Kahloke on Aug 5, 2010 16:42:05 GMT -8
Me and my sweetie did a weekday getaway to Nanaimo on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was a fabulous trip. Here's my report and some photos: Tuesday, 3-Aug:We departed Gig Harbor late in the morning and drove up to Arlington on I-5, stopping in downtown Arlington for a quick lunch at a great little 50's-style diner. From Arlington, we took Hwy 9 north to the border at Sumas. While it is decidedly slower than the more typical freeway route (I-5), it is definitely a lot more scenic. For anyone wanting to experiencing something a little different than the scarred pavement of I-5, I fully recommend doing Hwy 9. It is one of the more beautiful drives in the state, north of Arlington, that is. We arrived at Sumas a little after 15:00 and there was no wait at the border, but we encountered a lot of traffic and slowdowns driving across the valley to Tsawwassen. I assume this is normal weekday rush hour. Fortunately, I had banked a lot of extra time in getting to Tsawwassen, assuming we would have time to kill before getting to the ferry. As it turns out, the timing was nearly perfect, as we arrived at Tsawwassen at 16:40, just a little over an hour before our scheduled 17:45 Route 30 sailing. I'm certainly glad we did not leave any later than we had. Luck was also on our side at the toll booths, as there was no line at the time. A few minutes later, that all changed. Once we boarded Coastal Inspiration, it was quite entertaining watching all of the activity at Berth 4.  I loved watching the little tugs scoot around maneuvering the barges    Tsawwassen was very full. I was certainly glad we had made reservations  Bowen Queen sitting at Berth 1. I had not heard about Queen of Nanaimo's incident at village Bay until watching the news later that night, and I admit, at the time, I was curious as to why there were no vehicles in the SGI staging area.  Coastal Inspiration was about 20 minutes late, so we ended leaving at the same time as Coastal Celebration. They allowed CC to pull out first so we could slide in behind them for the turn to the north.   We overtook Princess Superior on our way to Duke Point. Later, I saw this vessel pull into downtown Nanaimo.  Thanks to the haze created by the forest fires, we enjoyed a spectacular sunset. Here's Coastal Renaissance, silhouetted by the evening sun  Quinsam sliding past Duke Point  approaching Gabriola  Upon arriving in Nanaimo, we proceeded to the Coast Bastion Inn which is where we stayed the night. It's a very nice hotel, BTW. We grabbed a late dinner down on the waterfront, then walked around there for awhile. Wednesday, 4-Aug:Our day started with getting breakfast at a nice little French bakery around the corner from the hotel, and then wandering around downtown Nanaimo a little bit. View from the room at Coast Bastion Inn   Our main goal for this day was to take the little water taxi over to Newcastle Island and hike around the island. I had been wanting to do this for a long time, and the island did not disappoint. It's beautiful. Those of you who live in, or near, Nanaimo, are lucky to be close to this great park. Here are a few of my pics from the island:  View of Nanaimo from the island    Besides exploring the island itself, I naturally wanted to go there to get some great ferry photos from Giovando Lookout. What a great vantage point! Queen of Oak Bay   Coastal Renaissance  Besides Giovando Lookout, I also captured some good photos of Departure Bay from the west side of the island Queen of Cowichan  Queen of Oak Bay  We had reservations on the 17:20 Queen of Oak Bay departure to Horseshoe Bay. It turns out BC Ferries did some MD sailings with Cowichan, and that ended up clearing the staging area nicely, so when we left at 17:20 (or thereafter - it was running late), they didn't leave any cars behind, and Oak Bay wasn't as full as it would normally have been without the extra Cowichan sailings. Once again, fate was on our side, this time with the weather. Even though it had been somewhat hazy all day, it didn't get really bad until after we got in line at Departure Bay. I was so glad it was nice while we were on the island. I'm guessing the winds must have shifted late in the afternoon, because all of a sudden, you couldn't hardly see across the bay, and for the first time, we could smell the smoke in the air. After a very hazy trip across the strait, we arrived in Horseshoe Bay around 19:20. Both of us were hungry, so we stopped in the village and grabbed dinner at Troll's before hitting the road for the long trip home. We arrived back in Gig Harbor a little after midnight, but all in all, it was a great trip, and we both thoroughly enjoyed Newcastle Island. |
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Post by Low Light Mike on Aug 5, 2010 17:49:54 GMT -8
Me and my sweetie did a weekday getaway to Nanaimo on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was a fabulous trip. Here's my report and some photos: Thanks for your trip report, Brandon. I'm glad that you had a good visit to my city. For you to photograph both the C'Renaissance and OakBay from Giovando lookout means that you had a nice long break at that lovely spot. Did you like those pickle-boats that took you to Newcastle? Was the Newcastle Island Pavilion building (the old dance-hall) open? ps: We're giving you a $10 forum-fine for plagiarizing Karl in the opening 4 words of your trip report. I believe that he has that phrase copyrighted. |
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Post by lmtengs on Aug 5, 2010 17:57:59 GMT -8
Amazing pictures! For some reason, Renny looks really short in that one near the end... great contrast in all of them though  |
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Post by Kahloke on Aug 5, 2010 19:02:12 GMT -8
Thanks for your trip report, Brandon. I'm glad that you had a good visit to my city. For you to photograph both the C'Renaissance and OakBay from Giovando lookout means that you had a nice long break at that lovely spot. Did you like those pickle-boats that took you to Newcastle? Was the Newcastle Island Pavilion building (the old dance-hall) open? We ended up going to Giovando Lookout twice. In between, we walked the Mallard Lake Trail. I definitely wanted to get back to Giovando in time to catch Renaissance. As it turns out, she was running a bit late, so we had plenty of time. As for getting to the island, I was expecting, and hoping, to ride on one of those little pickle-boats, but they were using a bigger boat on Wednesday. Oh well. We can't always get what we want.  The Pavillion building was open, and we did go in and look around a bit, although we didn't have a lot of time since we were wanting to walk around the island and get back to Nanaimo in time to catch the 17:20 ferry. It's a neat building, though, and full of history. You live in a nice city. I had never explored Nanaimo much before. |
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Post by Kahloke on Aug 5, 2010 19:04:38 GMT -8
Amazing pictures! For some reason, Renny looks really short in that one near the end... great contrast in all of them though Must be the angle (regarding the Renny pic). Thanks for the compliment, though! |
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Nick
Voyager
Chief Engineer - Queen of Richmond
Posts: 2,078 
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Post by Nick on Aug 5, 2010 21:48:34 GMT -8
So, back in the beginning of June "Quatchi" and I were in Bellevue, WA for a model boat regatta. It ended up wrapping up a little bit earlier than we had expected, so we looked at each other and said "What about a ferry trip?" We had a fair bit of time still, so we decided to go to Bremerton and back, and we figured we'd be able to get to Seattle just in time for the 1730ish sailing. This had the added benefit of being a Jumbo (Spokane), which we wanted to compare to BCF's C-class. This was the first time for both of us on WSF, and we discovered that WSF does things a little bit different than BCF, which was interesting to observe. There is obviously a significant commuter group that goes back and forth, since the foot passenger loading procedure is FAR more efficient than anything BCF attempts to do. Turnstile ticket validation and gangways that are wide enough for 5 people to walk abreast are very good at getting people on board quickly. The pax load on our particular trip was probably less than 100, but you could tell that the system would be able to handle large groups of people very quickly. Once on board, we took a good walk around the boat and finally settled into the cafeteria area, where we promptly discovered that WSF sells beer on board. ;D Unfortunately, it was Bud Lite, and it tasted even more watered down than Bud Lite usually is. But still, a beer on a ferry is a novelty that took a while to get used to.     When we got to Bremerton we decided to stick around for an hour so that we could ride a Super as well, which ended up being the Kaleetan. So, we hung out in the little park beside the terminal and watched the Spokane leave. After, we walked up the road and into town a bit. I was really impressed with the displays about the history of Bremerton, in particular the Naval Shipyard. I wish Esquimalt would do something like that.       One word comes to mind when I think of WSF vessels - Efficient. Everything on board is easy to clean, there's lots of seating for passengers, and it's cheap. Under 6 bucks for a round trip ain't bad. I was surprised to learn how small the crews are though. To take 2000 passengers, the Spokane needs a crew of 14 (If I remember right... it was something like that anyway). In comparison, to take 2100 passengers, a Spirit requires a crew of 48. I'm curious why there is such a difference between the two countries. Even the Coastals need about 40 for 1600 pax. Anyway, it made a very good evening trip, and it was made better by having dinner at Ivar's afterward. |
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Post by lmtengs on Aug 7, 2010 14:43:30 GMT -8
I was surprised to learn how small the crews are though. To take 2000 passengers, the Spokane needs a crew of 14 (If I remember right... it was something like that anyway). In comparison, to take 2100 passengers, a Spirit requires a crew of 48. I'm curious why there is such a difference between the two countries. Even the Coastals need about 40 for 1600 pax. Well, first, as far as I know, we have a larger cafeteria staff, which is necessary due to the types of meals and level of preparation done on-board on BC Ferries. Cafeteria/buffet/snack-bar staff DO count as crew, right? Maybe WSF doesn't count them as crew since they don't contribute to the actual running of the ship? Also, Look at the overall SIZE of the Spirits and Coastals next to WSF's ships. That right there should tell you something. Another thing is that we have more services on the BC ferries, those ranging from Gift shops to Buffets to cafeterias to snack-bars to pay-lounges... all I can think of on WSF ferries are cafeterias, and a Duty-free on the international route. Do they have gift shops or snack bars? I'm not sure about that, but all those services on BC Ferries must add a whole bunch of people to the crew numbers. |
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Post by Dane on Aug 7, 2010 14:56:50 GMT -8
It is the designation of the water type, BC Ferries are not considered as being in protected waters whereas WSF is. That leads to a fairly large variation in crew size. The SeaBus requires about 4 crew for 400 pax I believe, where a BC Ferry of similar capacity would require substantially more. The Stormaway's numbers are not in front of me but it is a way smaller ratio than the SeaBus, something like 2 crew to 30 or 40 pax.
With similar waterway designations the crew sizes would be similar between BCF and WSF, although Canadian standards are, from what I have heard at BCF's community meetings, still more stringent for crew sizes (particularly as of 2009 with minimim safe manning regulations being implimented on BC Ferries not being fully compliant with more "modern" (for lack of a better term) safety designs/equipment).
The additional services BCF's major routes have above and beyond WSF really are just a way to keep crew busy (and make money while they're at it). It does not add to the required crew.
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Nick
Voyager
Chief Engineer - Queen of Richmond
Posts: 2,078
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Post by Nick on Aug 7, 2010 16:01:00 GMT -8
Thanks Dane for clearing that up. I suspected it was something to do with the type of water the ships are transiting.
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Post by Kahloke on Aug 8, 2010 18:40:45 GMT -8
So, back in the beginning of June "Quatchi" and I were in Bellevue, WA for a model boat regatta. It ended up wrapping up a little bit earlier than we had expected, so we looked at each other and said "What about a ferry trip?" We had a fair bit of time still, so we decided to go to Bremerton and back, and we figured we'd be able to get to Seattle just in time for the 1730ish sailing. This had the added benefit of being a Jumbo (Spokane), which we wanted to compare to BCF's C-class. I'm glad you were able to steal some time to go and enjoy our ferries for an afternoon. The Jumbos were the basic template for your C-Class vessels, so it makes for a good comparison. The Walla Walla and Spokane are about 20 feet shorter than the C-Class boats, but the design is similar. BTW, the jumbo you rode on was Walla Walla, not Spokane - just thought I'd throw that in.  There is obviously a significant commuter group that goes back and forth, since the foot passenger loading procedure is FAR more efficient than anything BCF attempts to do. Turnstile ticket validation and gangways that are wide enough for 5 people to walk abreast are very good at getting people on board quickly. The pax load on our particular trip was probably less than 100, but you could tell that the system would be able to handle large groups of people very quickly. Bremerton sees a significant walk-on yield during commuter times, but Bainbridge gets the lion's share of walk-on traffic. Think Route 1 foot traffic levels during the busiest times, and you get the idea. It's about the same. I'm really not that fond of the turnstiles. Of all the technologies WSF could have adopted and implemented, this one seems pretty antiquated. And, the turnstiles are difficult to get through with luggage, strollers, etc. They do have a gate (for wheelchairs), and 1 extra-wide entry with slide-back doors for folks with luggage on each side of the waiting area, but signage is not that great for funneling people into those lanes, and that becomes an issue when the terminal is really full and the queues are long, like at 17:00 on any weekday. It would have been nice to see all the entry gates use flipper doors, like what London's Underground has, or slide-back doors, like what BART uses. Once on board, we took a good walk around the boat and finally settled into the cafeteria area, where we promptly discovered that WSF sells beer on board. ;D Unfortunately, it was Bud Lite, and it tasted even more watered down than Bud Lite usually is. But still, a beer on a ferry is a novelty that took a while to get used to. They do sell Red Hook as well. I probably would have gone for that one. Bud Light = |
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Nick
Voyager
Chief Engineer - Queen of Richmond
Posts: 2,078
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Post by Nick on Aug 8, 2010 18:56:09 GMT -8
So, back in the beginning of June "Quatchi" and I were in Bellevue, WA for a model boat regatta. It ended up wrapping up a little bit earlier than we had expected, so we looked at each other and said "What about a ferry trip?" We had a fair bit of time still, so we decided to go to Bremerton and back, and we figured we'd be able to get to Seattle just in time for the 1730ish sailing. This had the added benefit of being a Jumbo (Spokane), which we wanted to compare to BCF's C-class. I'm glad you were able to steal some time to go and enjoy our ferries for an afternoon. The Jumbos were the basic template for your C-Class vessels, so it makes for a good comparison. The Walla Walla and Spokane are about 20 feet shorter than the C-Class boats, but the design is similar. BTW, the jumbo you rode on was Walla Walla, not Spokane - just thought I'd throw that in. Haha, wow that was quite a brain fart. There's even a photo of the name board... I'm not sure where the whole Spokane thing came from. At least I got the class right!  Once on board, we took a good walk around the boat and finally settled into the cafeteria area, where we promptly discovered that WSF sells beer on board. ;D Unfortunately, it was Bud Lite, and it tasted even more watered down than Bud Lite usually is. But still, a beer on a ferry is a novelty that took a while to get used to. They do sell Red Hook as well. I probably would have gone for that one. Bud Light = Well, I have to admit... Bud Lite was the only one they had that I had heard of, and it was a case of "go with the devil you know..." Oh well, next time! |
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Post by northwesterner on Aug 8, 2010 22:22:40 GMT -8
They do sell Red Hook as well. I probably would have gone for that one. Bud Light = Well, I have to admit... Bud Lite was the only one they had that I had heard of, and it was a case of "go with the devil you know..." Oh well, next time! If I a dollar for every story I've heard of a Canadian coming down south, walking into a bar, seeing nothing recognizable on tap (read: an assortment of Northwest microbeers) and picking the one junk beer on tap because it was the only thing they recognized..... |
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Post by WettCoast on Aug 11, 2010 20:58:21 GMT -8
WCK reporting in from Skagway, Alaska.
Tomorrow I, along with my wife, will be heading south for Prince Rupert. We will be aboard the Malaspina as far as Juneau, and the Matanuska after that.
We just completed an 8-day canoe trip on the Big Salmon & Yukon rivers in the Yukon Territory.
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Post by lmtengs on Aug 11, 2010 21:00:22 GMT -8
In less than a week, I'm departing on a trip to Alberni, Tofino, Ucluelet and area. Any recommendations on campsites to stay at, things to see, not-to-busy beaches to visit on the rim, etc.?
I'll be doing the basics, like photographing the Esquimalt at Alberni, etc, but I'd like some suggestions.
Thanks!
-Viking
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There must be a way to do that.
