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Post by Curtis on Apr 16, 2024 20:48:52 GMT -8
To clarify the post above: Island Discovery experienced a mechanical failure this morning which required tug assistance to return to Blubber Bay. (Hence the odd AIS positioning) Looks like repairs will take a couple days as the Route 17 schedule has been modified to stop at Blubber Bay.
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Post by Curtis on Feb 5, 2024 22:46:39 GMT -8
There's also several route variations with letters on the end.
Route 9a is the designation given to the Route 9 vessel based out of Tsawwassen. At least that's how it was when the Bowen Queen did it, I'm not sure if that's changed since the Salish Class took over. Route 17a is the Little River-Blubber Bay-Westview triangle route. There was also Route 17b (Little River-Saltery Bay) and 17c (Departure Bay-Saltery Bay) when the berths at Little River and Westview were being rebuilt a decade ago.
The Mid-Coast Connector (Bella Coola-Ocean Falls-Shearwater-Bella Bella) was previously referred by crews as Route 10s. (or Route 10a, but I don't know if that was official) I imagine they used that because traffic would transfer between the Nimpkish and the Route 10 vessel at Bella Bella. Now that we have the Northern Sea Wolf and Route 28, the more appropriate Route 28a is used for the Connector route.
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Post by Curtis on Jan 3, 2024 22:39:08 GMT -8
Is there any way to do a foot passenger round trip on the Malaspina Sky from Earls Cove without getting off the ferry? I have done it on other routes before but on the Malaspina Sky there is no gift shop to buy return tickets and it's not a free return from Saltery Bay. It's been a while since I've done it, but I'm pretty sure you can buy a return fare from the cashier in the Coastal Cafe Express. Curtis can hopefully confirm this. Haven’t personally done it myself, but I expect they’d be able to do it as long as it’s not the sailing prior to the afternoon crew change.
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Post by Curtis on Dec 17, 2023 23:49:49 GMT -8
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Post by Curtis on Dec 13, 2023 0:06:19 GMT -8
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Post by Curtis on Dec 11, 2023 22:45:20 GMT -8
I don't think I know enough as to what the "system relief vessel" is, but they say that ship will redeploy to the Denman - Hornby route for double capacity. Curious if anyone can enlighten me as to what ship that would be referring to. My guess based off geographical location is that one of the Campbell River-Quadra duo (Nagalis/K'ulut'a) becomes the "system relief vessel" while the other takes over Quadra-Cortes. The mention of 'double capacity' at Denman-Hornby feels a bit misleading as the Quinitsa accomplishes this already... I suppose they don't consider that permanent since the Quinitsa's capacity is needed elsewhere during refit season. At least with an Island Class that capacity drop will be almost nonexistent... assuming the Quinitsa is the vessel swapped in.
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Post by Curtis on Nov 30, 2023 18:26:33 GMT -8
Last intermediate sized ship on the route iirc was the tsawwassen in July 1995. The Victoria was assigned as third sb ship that summer but was redeployed to cover a broken c class for a couple of weeks. Tsawwassen filled in, possibly the first time on r1 since 1962 since she went to route 2 that year. I seem to recall reading on the forum somewhere that the Queen of Burnaby did a brief stint on Route 1 in the early 2000s. Think it was following the Queen of Surrey engine room fire in 2003? (Think that was one of the rare times the Queen of Vancouver ran on Route 2 as well) The Burnaby must have been in refit at that time cause I doubt they would’ve brought her all the way from Comox just for that.
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Post by Curtis on Nov 25, 2023 15:32:15 GMT -8
Salish Orca is passing by Departure Bay this morning, heading up island. The Salish Heron has passed the baton back to the Salish Orca on Route 17 and is now repositioning south in the strait.
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Post by Curtis on Nov 24, 2023 8:18:34 GMT -8
Follow-up on the R.J. Breadner sinking courtesy of The Peak.
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Post by Curtis on Nov 23, 2023 14:06:52 GMT -8
My guess, 400 AEQ, or about the same as the Spirits. They need to be significantly larger in auto capacity than the vessels they replace. I thought the upper vehicle deck will be convertible space for increase passenger capacity. Something tells me we won’t see much follow-through on that plan. It’s pretty clear after last summer that vehicle capacity needs to rise, so I’d expect vehicle decks will remain solely vehicle decks for the foreseeable future.
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Post by Curtis on Nov 15, 2023 23:44:03 GMT -8
Going off how the Malaspina Sky was re-named, I expect it will be kept fairly low-key until the official reveal. I'd expect we'll get a ceremony featuring representatives from BC Ferries, local governments, the ferry advisory committee, and the Penelakut Band. We'll probably hear about it a week or less before. If they don't swap the name in refit, it will probably be painted on the night before along with the name on her AIS transponder. As for the name. I expect they'll try and go with a 'K' name to keep consistency with the rest of the class, but I also wouldn't doubt they change it up since she looks like a cross between a 'K' Class and a 'Q' Class. Maybe Penelakut? 'P' is between 'K' and 'Q' alphabetically... Though I'm not sure BC Ferries would want to admit (with a straight face) that they have a 'P' Class of ships.
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Post by Curtis on Nov 13, 2023 0:29:59 GMT -8
I'm afraid I don't. I started going to Hornby regularly around 1980, and I think even by then the ' Savoie was just the winter vessel. Didn't ride her much. My most vivid memory was a wild return trip to Cortes when she was still a Highways vessel, and they didn't cancel sailings unless things were really dangerous. In late April 1991 my wife & I travelled to Hornby and unfortunately I paid no attention to what ferry I was riding on. Any idea what vessel would have been on the run at that time and also the Buckley Bay run? The photo is of my wife Elizabeth & our daughter Rebecca on the Hornby ferry, 27 April 1991. View AttachmentJudging by the features in the picture and looking at a few reference pictures of the 'K' and 'Q' class ships, this is most likely the Quinitsa. The black poles in the picture are of one of the arches on both ends of the Quinitsa which houses the bow and stern navigation lights. The 'K' Class also have their nav lights on an arch, but it's a simpler design that looks more like a street light. The railings also match those on the Quinitsa based off This Picture. (That diagonal piece the chains are resting on looks like a match too) Looking at more recent photos, those railings were replaced at some point. All that said, the Quinitsa would mean this picture is actually from the Buckley Bay-Denman Island route. I don't think Hornby would have needed a vessel quite that size back in the early 90's.
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Post by Curtis on Nov 6, 2023 18:50:07 GMT -8
Sad news to report this past weekend. The R.J. Breadner sank in Sechelt Inlet the evening of November 4th. Article from: The Peak
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Post by Curtis on Jul 29, 2023 16:40:16 GMT -8
The Coquitlam seems to have been the #1 vessel on Route 3 for a couple days. Anyone know why? Mechanical problems with the Queen of Surrey from the sound of it. There was a service notice Thursday night that said there was a “mechanical problem with the air compressor.”
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Post by Curtis on Jul 13, 2023 19:02:25 GMT -8
My Vote:
Bonus: Pender Queen
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Post by Curtis on Jul 12, 2023 6:38:24 GMT -8
1. Queen of the North 2. Queen of Tsawwassen
Bonus: Albert J. Savoie
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Post by Curtis on Jul 8, 2023 11:45:29 GMT -8
Ok, before I forget…
1. Northern Expedition 2. Queen of the North 3. Queen of Burnaby 4. Queen of Tsawwassen
Bonus. Coho
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Post by Curtis on Jul 2, 2023 10:08:17 GMT -8
Here are my picks. 8 had me torn, no shortage of good memories from the Tsawwassen and Nanaimo.
1. Queen of Vancouver 2. Northern Expedition 3. Queen of the North 4. Queen of Oak Bay 5. Queen of Burnaby 6. Spirit of British Columbia 7. Queen of Sidney 8. Queen of Tsawwassen
Bonus: Quillayute
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Post by Curtis on Jun 27, 2023 18:54:54 GMT -8
1) Coastal Celebration 2) Queen of Vancouver 3) Northern Expedition 4) North Island Princess 5) Queen of New Westminster 6) Queen of the North 7) Queen of Surrey 8) Powell River Queen 9) Queen of Burnaby 10) Spirit of Vancouver Island 11) Spirit of British Columbia 12) Queen of Prince Rupert 13) Tenaka 14) Queen of Sidney 15) Queen of Tsawwassen 16) Queen of Nanaimo
BONUS: Sechelt Queen
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Post by Curtis on Jun 27, 2023 6:56:17 GMT -8
I’ll put mine in.
1. Sunshine Coast Queen 2. Coastal Celebration 3. Queen of Vancouver 4. Queen of Victoria 5. Salish Heron 6. Northern Expedition 7. Malaspina Sky 8. North Island Princess 9. Queen of New Westminster 10. Queen of Cowichan 11. Tachek 12. Queen of the North 13. Mayne Queen 14. Queen of Surrey 15. Queen of Oak Bay 16. Powell River Queeen 17. Queen of Burnaby 18. Langdale Queen 19. Kahloke 20. Bowen Queen 21. Spirit of British Columbia 22. Klitsa 23. Queen of Coquitlam 24. Queen of Prince Rupert 25. Island K’ulut’a 26. Tenaka 27. Queen of the Islands 28. Queen of Sidney 29. Queen of Tsawwassen 30. Queen of Saanich 31. Queen of Nanaimo 32. Princess of Vancouver
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Post by Curtis on May 30, 2023 12:36:08 GMT -8
Northern Expedition is Port Hardy bound! Appears she snuck out of Deas in the early hours this morning and is now northbound in Johnstone Strait.
Wouldn’t have noticed myself had I not spotted her off Texada on my drive to work this morning.
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Post by Curtis on May 25, 2023 15:06:36 GMT -8
Here’s a pic of this lounge on the SoBC back in 2019. If I’m not mistaken, this space would have been taken up by staterooms prior to the MLU.
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Post by Curtis on May 18, 2023 6:39:19 GMT -8
I had no idea the Esquimalt ran routes 1 and 2 at times, that's pretty neat! I'm surprised you don't have any videos of the Esquimalt on your channel, did you ever get any videos on the ship that aren't on YouTube? I started making videos in 2008 so the Esquimalt was already retired before I could get a chance. Even then, my last trip on her was in 2005 so all I have are a handful of pictures from onboard.
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Post by Curtis on May 17, 2023 21:20:10 GMT -8
Once the Spirits came along, and especially after the Queen of Victoria was retired and sold, the Queen of Esquimalt became the rover of the major fleet. You’d normally see her on Route 3 or 30 as was said above, but she’d see use on Route 1 and 2 occasionally. If one or more major vessels were out of service during long weekend/holiday periods or an unexpected breakdown occurred, You can bet the Esquimalt would get the call.
This was especially the case when the ‘C’ Class were undergoing their Mid-Life Upgrades between ‘02 and ‘07 where each year, one ‘C’ was taken out of commission give or take from November through June. The Spirits also received their ‘Coastalized’ interior makeovers during the spring of ‘05 and ‘06, (I suppose we’d call that a 1/4-Life Upgrade in retrospect) so there was no shortage of off-season work for the Esquimalt back then.
I suppose there’s no true rover among the majors nowadays. The Queen of Coquitlam held the torch for awhile, but it seems to be more of a split between Routes 1 & 30 (Coastals/New West) and Routes 2 & 3 (Coquitlam) as far as interchangeability goes… I will chuckle though if once the ‘C’s are gone, the Coastal Renaissance assumes that rover role considering her entry into service is what allowed the Esquimalt to be withdrawn.
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Post by Curtis on May 6, 2023 19:13:06 GMT -8
Hi, I am thinking of taking a round trip to Langdale as a footsie, what is the proper procedure for boarding the same ship on the return. Do I need a boarding pass, and if so where do I obtain one? I plan on disembarking the vessel at Langdale. Once you disembark at Langdale (via the main vehicle deck) all you need to re-board is to grab a boarding pass. (No payment necessary at Langdale) They can be easily obtained at the press of a button from a set of kiosks around berth 1. Alternatively, if you’re just getting off then getting back on, you can stay onboard during unloading/loading as long as you notify a crew member that you’re staying onboard. Just let the chief steward know and you should be fine. You may have to disembark anyway if crew change occurs prior to your return sailing. In which case, refer to what I said above.
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