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Post by lmtengs on Jul 29, 2011 20:14:30 GMT -8
The following quoted post by our brassy moderator inspired me to create this thread. How is Mrs. Kahloke doing on her knowledge of ferries? - can she name all the members of the Issaquah class? - If you mention the "7 sisters" is she thinking Spaulding or is she thinking about "7 brides for 7 brothers"? The ferrification of family members can be a slow and patience-testing process. I recommend loving repetition of ship names in conversation, subliminal techniques such as use of WSF galley items in your kitchen (napkins, coffee cups, etc), and the working-in of ferry trips into family vacations whenever possible. I've been married 16 years, and I'm still waiting for the day when my spouse will say to me "Are we taking Route-2 on an MD sailing today?". ;D So, how do everybody else's families/friends react to you being a ferry fan, and how do they deal with it? How you YOU deal with them not being ferry-fans? Are there any tactics that you use to get more ferry rides with them? Etcetera. Ask questions and answer them yourself. This is mainly a study to see how ferry fans integrate with their contacts, and how they integrate with you. Maybe mention a few funny experiences you've had. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who's gotten the blank featureless stare after inadvertently commenting on the "this weekend's trip on routes 2 (or are we taking route 30 this time around?), 17, 7, and 3." ;D Discuss. |
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Post by Blisswood on Jan 6, 2012 20:03:22 GMT -8
One year I worked in a retail calendar store and a customer asked if we had any calendars about fairies/faeries (the spirits, like Tinkerbell or whatever). I misheard and told her where our Transportation calendars were, but we didn't have anything about ferries, just trucks, cars, boats and planes!
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Post by Mike C on Jan 8, 2012 1:24:36 GMT -8
Thankfully, my better-half is a pre-converted transportation enthusiast (mainly transit). I, originating prominently marine (with also significant interest in transit) found it easy to convert her to the whims of ferries. She enjoys taking them, and her favourite ferries are the Mayne Queen (because it's cute and has a lot of character) and Coastal Renaissance (because it never feels crowded, and can easily hide out in Sitka or on Deck 5). She also likes the Celebration, when I pay for the buffet.  Her least favourites are the Spirits (because they are boring with no character, and are always filled with tourists) and more prominently, the Skeena Queen (because of it's "inadequate" passenger accommodation, "ugliness" and other things). I am fairly sure, judging by her tastes, that she will be an on-the-spot NorEx fan like I was, when the time comes. My family, being ferry commuters for years and years, have a love/hate relationship with BC Ferries. The most complaining arises whenever we have to take the Alberni or the Coq/Cow, but are generally pretty good with the Oak Bay and love the Inspiration. They are BC Ferries' ideal customers: always make a reservation, always at the terminal 45 min beforehand, and always traveling by car. My friends have mostly come from the different aspects of the transportation community, so not much to be said there. My few friends from high school do not understand my interest, and will likely never. I do a lot of transportation planning at school, and it blows people away (including myself sometimes) at the random facts that I know. And when someone asks me a question that I don't know the answer to, I always enjoy the hunt for information and educating myself. I have earned myself a reputation, where if one of my classmates has a query regarding the routing or types of vehicles on a transit route, or frequency of sailings, or otherwise, I immediately get an email on my iPhone. |
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Post by lmtengs on Jan 8, 2012 1:51:07 GMT -8
I never really did share my own experiences on a topic that I coined myself... how unvikinglike of me. Well, not many people really know of my ferry fannery, because I sorta choose who's able to see it. When I upload photo albums to Facebook, if they're 100% ferry photos, I'll limit the privacy of them to be only visible to people who I know are fans themselves, or who know that I'm a fan of ferries. In conversation, I bring up ferries not much more often than the average human being does, which isn't very much, and I try to not mention any details about the system that might pitch me off as being a ferry geek. If someone mentions that they went to Victoria recently, I might ask if they went on 'one of those new German boats', but not much else. Yes, I'm a ferry fan 'in the closet'. When I schedule trips with friends, I have been known to head West towards the sea more than anywhere else, though, and people definitely notice that. Some of my relations know of it, but they don't really differentiate me for it much. My uncle lives in Kamloops, and he's sent me some photos of inland ferries and Coastal ferry trips he's made in the past, and I'll be getting to post some of those sometime soon. My Grandfather definitely knows I'm a marine buff, and a couple of my aunts are aware of it too. My mom knows and at first, she reluctantly accepted it, but after awhile grew to accept it. Lately she's been growing rather tired of my occasional proposals to be my transportation on ferry trips, so I may end up doing less trips, that is, until I get my N drivers license... can't wait to get this L gone. Only 228 days! My mother's picked up a few terms, and she's got the names 'route 1', 'route 2', and 'route 30' under her belt, as well as 'MD sailing'. She's got the names of the ships of routes 1, 2, 3, 7, 17, and 30 memorized too, as well as the Northern route ships. Her favorite ferry is the Coastal Inspiration, and used to be the Spirit of Vancouver Island. Before that it was the Queen of Prince Rupert, since it carried the name of her hometown. Like Blisswood said, I too have fallen victim to the ferry/fairy/faerie mixup too a few times. My friend mentioned the 'ferry' in Peter Pan, and I responded with something like 'Wait, there's a FERRY in Peter Pan?' then after an odd stare from them, an 'Oh wait, Tinkerbell. Yea... fairy, I knew that.' Living in Maple Ridge, there are very few people who are ferry geeks, mainly because of the distance from the coast. We have even fewer transit geeks, due to a unanimous bitter hate against Translink by every Maple Ridge resident. Maybe it wouldn't be so if they didn't constantly forget we exist. I, like everyone else, hate Translink, but I do find the whole transit thing a bit interesting. Considering that I can't tell a Nova D40 from a fishbowl though, I think I've got a ways to go. So yea, that's my ferry fan integration with society, with a few late-night overtiredness segways thrown in there a couple times. It's rare to get an all-text post this long from me, so you better appreciate it, whoever you are reading this. |
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Neil
Voyager 
Posts: 7,175
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Post by Neil on Jan 15, 2012 23:15:21 GMT -8
Tonight, while I was preparing supper, the call came that there was a ferry story on the news. I always get this helpful notice from my somewhat patronizing female family members, to whom my interest in ferries is a constant source of amusement.
The story was, of course, about the 'Oak Bay's recent incident, and as you might expect from Global, the coverage has been fairly mindless, with ominous mentions and shots of the 'Oak Bay's previous visit to berth nine-and-three-quarters at Horseshoe Bay.
I pointed out that while the story was about the 'Oak Bay, the shot they were showing tonight was of the Queen of Capilano. To which there arose the chortle from one waggish daughter that they should have been showing the 'Queen of Kelowna', a remark that garnered general amused approval from the other members of my clan.
The point being that claiming the status of 'ferry fan' is usually regarded as an admission of (hopefully harmless) eccentricity. Car ferries don't have the cachet of old steam locomotives or passenger liners or vintage sports cars or other motorized transportation devices that are regarded as more worthy of someone's interest. Most people think of them as floating carparks with fast food joints upstairs, overpriced and with annoying schedules. People love the scenery you get from ferries, but the vessels themselves are forgettable.
After nine years or so, this forum has a few dozen regular contributors. Old retired ferries rust and rot into the muck with nary a tear being shed by anyone. Even our own families indulge us with patronizing pats on the head when we enthusiastically share our insider ferry news with them. (Oh, this boat had to go back to the builder because all the deck coating flaked off? How interesting...) But of course, who do they turn to when they want to figure out a Gulf Islands day trip? Hah!
Linus would have more luck finding a sincere pumpkin patch to receive a visit from the Great Pumpkin in, than we would have waiting for the general public to recognize the magic of smelly, rusty old car ferries.
We are the Hobby That Dares Not Speak Its Name.
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Post by lmtengs on Jan 16, 2012 15:25:48 GMT -8
We are the Hobby That Dares Not Speak Its Name. We might be pretty out there, but the bus geeks are even further... ;D |
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Post by Mike C on Jan 16, 2012 17:51:45 GMT -8
We are the Hobby That Dares Not Speak Its Name. We might be pretty out there, but the bus geeks are even further... ;D There are two categories of transit fanatics: More passive (i.e. whenever we have time, Jordan, Scott and I fall into this category) and Ridiculous (those who skip school/work/commitments to go find and track a shiny bus that could be anywhere in the city). Although their efforts have gotten easier with TransLink Next Bus (http://nb.translink.ca), it still takes a lot of time and commitment to find a specific bus. Those guys take transportation geekiness to a whole new level. |
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Post by Dane on Jan 16, 2012 21:17:18 GMT -8
I couldn't afford the gas to be a transit fan lol
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Post by Mike C on Jan 16, 2012 22:44:45 GMT -8
I couldn't afford the gas to be a transit fan lol Exactly. Or, in my case, I can't afford the car to be a transit fan... |
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Post by lmtengs on Jan 16, 2012 22:58:42 GMT -8
I couldn't afford the gas to be a transit fan lol Exactly. Or, in my case, I can't afford the car to be a transit fan... Or in my case, I already devote too much time and money to ferries to be a transit fan ;D And I must admit that I HAVE skipped school at least once to ride a ferry... |
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Post by Barnacle on Jan 27, 2012 9:15:45 GMT -8
I haven't answered this one yet because I've found myself really backing off from ferrygeeking in the last decade or so. Something about actually doing it for a living does that to a person. ;D I've noticed that our fairly fresh BC Ferries employee has diminished in his quantity of posting as well, so it doesn't appear that I'm alone in that. And I understand it, too. I once made an observation at 'the office' that invariably cracks my co-workers up: "I love my job, but there's a reason I back in to my parking space." I'm still into ferryboating, but on the whole when I'm not there, it doesn't really take a huge place in my life any more. But part with the collection of stuff? No way. (Well, maybe some trades with my duplicate stock, but...) |
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Her least favourites are the Spirits (because they are boring with no character, and are always filled with tourists) and more prominently, the Skeena Queen (because of it's "inadequate" passenger accommodation, "ugliness" and other things). I am fairly sure, judging by her tastes, that she will be an on-the-spot NorEx fan like I was, when the time comes.
