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Post by bcf86102 on Feb 15, 2016 0:10:46 GMT -8
First post on the forum.
I worked on the venerable Queen of Saanich from 1986 till her retirement in 2008. In fact I was working on her final day, and final sailing from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay. That was a bittersweet day, and the entire crew were quite sad to see her being finally retired. Know I was.
And took part in her official decommissioning ceremony, which really made it final. Quite a few people were there, including current and former crew members, and know that invitations were sent out to her former crew members, and a number of them did show up. It was a good turnout.
Out of the four V class vessels, the Queen of Saanich was easily in the best shape, with the most upgrades as well. Company recognized that she was in good condition, compared to the other three, and spent the money on her.
But her time had come, and with the brand new Coastal Class vessels arriving, she was gracefully retired, while still capable of a few more years left in her. Just didn't make financial sense to keep sinking the substantial money into her, especially as BCF had already spent the money on a replacement vessel, the Coastal Celebration.
She was a great ship to work on, easily my favourite, and gave 45 years of service. The old girl did have a good run.
Which makes it that much harder to see her in limbo. Basically abandoned, left to rot and rust, and being vandalised. Not a gracious ending for this grand old lady. And wish it had turned out a bit better. Think a quick trip to the scrap yard would have been a better fate.
Anyway, great to see some fans of the Queen of Saanich out there, and the V class in general.
They did serve the people of BC very well, almost from the inception of BC Ferries.
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Post by WettCoast on Jan 18, 2017 21:31:26 GMT -8
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2020 19:08:31 GMT -8
Hello fellow ferry fans I am wondering if anyone has pictures of the Queen of Sannich refit at point hope as my dad is curious to see pictures of her there especially because he started having his career at BC Ferries aboard the Queen of Sannich. And as well if anyone has photos may I be able to use them with the owners permission thanks and merry Christmas to you all
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Post by WettCoast on Mar 27, 2021 9:17:29 GMT -8
Queen of Saanich approaching Swartz Bay on 24 January 2003. This was just a few months before her 'Expo' colours were replaced by BCFS 'slugs', and about 6 years before her retirement. This was taken with my second digital camera, a Nikon E5700 (5 MPx), which featured a fixed 5:1 zoom lens ... © WCK-JST by Jim Thorne, on Flickr
Higher Res version
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Post by paulvanb on Mar 27, 2021 19:01:01 GMT -8
Queen of Saanich approaching Swartz Bay on 24 January 2003. This was just a few months before her 'Expo' colours were replaced by BCFS 'slugs', and about 6 years before her retirement. This was taken with my second digital camera, a Nikon E5700 (5 MPx) ... © WCK-JST by Jim Thorne, on Flickr
Higher Res version Oh, weren't those the days! Cutting edge back then. Photoshop has an interesting upgrade to make a larger image.
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Post by princessofvanfan on Mar 27, 2021 21:05:07 GMT -8
Miss the old B's and V's. We've booked our summer trip to the Island on the New West, both ways! Hopefully they don't swap ships like they did last summer.
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Post by WettCoast on Mar 31, 2021 8:54:00 GMT -8
Queen of Saanich approaching Swartz Bay on 24 January 2003. This was just a few months before her 'Expo' colours were replaced by BCFS 'slugs', and about 6 years before her retirement. This was taken with my second digital camera, a Nikon E5700 (5 MPx) ... © WCK-JST by Jim Thorne, on Flickr
Higher Res version Oh, weren't those the days! Cutting edge back then. Photoshop has an interesting upgrade to make a larger image. I took you advice (not exactly) and purchased a suite of photo correction software from Topaz Labs (De-noise, Sharpen AI, etc) and then reworked that same 2003 original from my Nikon E5700. I am fairly impressed with the results, shown below. Queen of Saanich approaching Swartz Bay - 24 January 2003 © WCK-JST by Jim Thorne, on Flickr2000 pixel wide version on Flickr 1680 pixel version of image w/o Topaz corrections posted on Mar 27
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Post by paulvanb on Apr 9, 2021 21:48:49 GMT -8
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Post by GulfIslandGuy on Jan 1, 2023 17:34:01 GMT -8
Victoria 04 006 crop by Andrew Chin, on Flickr I found a couple of pictures of the Queen of Saanich that I took a long time ago. The one of the lifeboat was taken on August 22, 2004. The first one in Active Pass from The Bluffs on Galiano Island was taken on June 24, 2005. My son told me it's the Queen of Saanich. (I wasn't sure) Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks.
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Post by WettCoast on Aug 11, 2023 21:00:01 GMT -8
Another look at the Saanich, from shortly after she was stretched in 1972.
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