lohium
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Post by lohium on Nov 15, 2022 14:21:28 GMT -8
Three BC burgers in one day, that's wild. You're a machine. Great writeup and photos! Looking forward to the next entry.
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lohium
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Post by lohium on Jan 25, 2020 16:36:54 GMT -8
My dad was cleaning out his house and was going to recycle these old fare guide pamphlets but I told him I'd take them. The ferries were so cheap, even less than 20 years ago! As someone who wasn't doing the paying back then, I never realized there were different fares for peak, shoulder and off season. They really should bring that back.
Fare pamphlets for 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004
1999:
2000:
2001:
2002:
2004:
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lohium
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Post by lohium on Jan 7, 2020 11:36:04 GMT -8
Apologies if this question has already been asked elsewhere, but can anyone confirm if the Mill Bay ferry takes card payment now? I am considering taking this route before I head back to Quebec and was a bit surprised to see cash, credit and debit payment listed on the BCF schedule.
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lohium
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Post by lohium on Nov 26, 2018 14:33:22 GMT -8
Not sure if this is appropriate here, but being I use public transportation to get around... sure wish BC Ferries schedules were put into the transit section of Google Maps. But that's me. You mean you don't like having two Google Maps tabs open and the ferry schedule open in another tab?
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lohium
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Post by lohium on Sept 1, 2018 15:43:31 GMT -8
No foot passengers when I took it, but the website says they can travel for $2. I thought there may have been a lounge underneath the captain's tower there (is it still called the bridge) but as you can see photos 2 and 3, that appears to be a small lounge for the crew. I guess those benches are all the foot passengers and cyclists get? The ride is only ten minutes but even then I would not want to be caught outside when it starts pouring...
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lohium
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Post by lohium on Aug 31, 2018 18:03:14 GMT -8
It's been a few weeks since I moved from BC and finally got to ride a ferry in my new province! The Hudson-Oka ferry travels across the Ottawa River, just upstream from Lac des Deux Montagnes (Lake of Two Mountains), where the Ottawa joins up with the Saint Lawrence river, near Montreal. According to the ferry's website, this route has been serviced since 1909. The fare was $11 for me and my car, and the ride took about 10 minutes. Ships depart every 15 minutes and I got to the Hudson terminal (south bank) just as the ferry was unloading. The ferry was about a third full. Fare was collected by the crew on board, signs instructed drivers not to get out of their car until they paid. The ferry itself was very similar to the K-barges of BC, with ramps on the ferry itself. The overall experience reminded me a little bit of the Mill Bay route, a "shortcut" ferry designed primarily for tourists. However, the two mountains are a bit of a stretch compared to what I'm used to in BC... Sorry for the cell phone quality pics, as well as total photo-taking inexperience. Ferry unloading *9
View towards the bow (Oka end) of the ferry. I don't know why they loaded most of the cars on the left side.
Another front facing view
Looking towards the stern (Hudson end) from the bow
Meeting the other ferry
Arriving at Oka
No fancy Queen name for this boat...it's just Oka #7
-p
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lohium
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Post by lohium on May 31, 2018 22:24:00 GMT -8
Amazing photos! The Ocean Falls pictures are particularly fascinating - the brand new ferry dock against the background of that crumbling apartment building. It is my dream to ride one or more of the North Coast routes but I don't think I'll be doing it any time soon considering the fares.
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lohium
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Post by lohium on May 24, 2018 18:40:34 GMT -8
BC Ferries is getting a lot of heavy traffic on routes 4,6 and 12 today due to the Malahat closure. It makes me wonder why there isn’t a properly prepared contingency plan in place for emergency Malahat closures. Surely something similar to the Sea to Sky closure plan from the Olympics could be set up for situations like this... I was thinking the same thing today...I haven't checked but I imagine the Quinitsa is back at Buckley Bay. They should leave it at Fulford when it's not being used and have it available to supplement the Klitsa on Route 12
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lohium
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Post by lohium on Apr 30, 2018 18:05:14 GMT -8
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lohium
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Post by lohium on Apr 28, 2018 18:05:26 GMT -8
Apologies if this sounds a bit callous, obviously as a layman I know little about the inner workings of both BC Ferries and Transport Canada... But what's the freakin' holdup with getting the Queen of Cumberland back into service? She had her incident with the lifeboat's davit failing during training a little less than two weeks ago, and as of yesterday evening BCF announced she'll be out til May 16 - almost a full month! Last week they were saying she'd be back for May 1. As per the most recent service notice (but reiterating past ones almost verbatim): "We are investigating the root cause of davit failure and need to replace the rescue boat and cable. Once the investigation is complete, we will begin the necessary repair work, which includes the replacement of the davit. Acquiring this replacement part and the installation is going to take some time." This question may not be answerable without insider knowledge, but do you think it's the investigation that is taking time, or did they have to repair or order a new lifeboat and that's the holdup? www.bcferries.com/schedules/travel-advisory.html
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lohium
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Post by lohium on Apr 18, 2018 16:44:08 GMT -8
The Queen of Cumberland had an operational incident with the lifeboat and have cancelled all sailings for today and tomorrow. The Bowen Queen is still running but BC Ferries made some interesting modifications to the schedules of the Salish Eagle and the Skeena Queen: The Salish Eagle will leave Long Harbour and first sail to Swartz Bay, before doing its usual milk run route to Pender, Mayne and Galiano on its way to Tsawwassen. The Skeena Queen, of particular note, will be doing its usual 7pm run to Fulford, but then after it will sail to Pender before coming back to Swartz Bay. Has the Skeena ever been to another terminal than Swartz and Fulford? I guess this is what all those dock fitting trials are for. www.bcferries.com/bcfservicenotice?id=3466www.bcferries.com/bcfservicenotice?id=3464www.bcferries.com/bcfservicenotice?id=3465
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lohium
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Post by lohium on Apr 15, 2018 19:34:34 GMT -8
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lohium
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Post by lohium on Mar 28, 2018 20:12:54 GMT -8
View from the Queen of Cowichan ... Point Atkinson Light & the Lions Gate Bridge at the entrance to Vancouver Harbour 17 March 2018 In this pic you can just make out that another ferry is visible on the right of the photo. © WCK-JST by Jim Thorne, on FlickrIs that the V2V ferry?
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lohium
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Post by lohium on Mar 28, 2018 19:53:46 GMT -8
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lohium
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Post by lohium on Feb 20, 2018 19:14:52 GMT -8
Anyone know how busy the Bowen Queen has been on Route 7? I'm visiting the Sunshine Coast next Friday (March 2) and spending a night in Egmont and checking out Skookumchuck Narrows before catching the ferry to Saltery Bay and then onto the 5:15pm from Powell River. Because of the timing for viewing the tide at the Narrows, I'll probably just miss the 12:40pm sailing from Earls Cove. What are the odds of the Bowen being too full and me missing the 2:40pm? I have reservations for the Powell River sailing. I’d say your odds are good for making the 2:40 should you not waste too much time. The Bowen, while smaller than the Sky isn’t nearly as much of a downgrade in capacity as say the North Island Princess would be. I’d argue the Bowen’s capacity is closer to what the actual capacity numbers are for Route 7 at this time of year excluding holidays and long weekends. The best advice I can give for your situation is to keep track of the connecting ferry traffic from Horseshoe Bay. Most of the traffic for the 2:40 sailing will come from the 11:55 sailing from Horseshoe Bay. Assuming that sailing is on time, ferry traffic from that sailing will start arriving around 1:50 or so. If you arrive at or any time before then, you should be fine. There is always the chance the previous sailing left a lot of vehicles behind, but you should still be fine as long as you don’t arrive after the 11:55 traffic does. If you have an overheight vehicle however, I’d advise you get to the terminal sooner due to the limited amount of overheight space on the Bowen. Thank you! No overheight for me and I'll definitely get to Earls Cove way before the traffic from Horseshoe Bay. I've never been to the Sunshine Coast despite living on Vancouver Island pretty much my whole life. I'm excited that I get to ride 4 different ferries to do a round trip from Victoria.
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lohium
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Post by lohium on Feb 19, 2018 19:10:30 GMT -8
Anyone know how busy the Bowen Queen has been on Route 7?
I'm visiting the Sunshine Coast next Friday (March 2) and spending a night in Egmont and checking out Skookumchuck Narrows before catching the ferry to Saltery Bay and then onto the 5:15pm from Powell River. Because of the timing for viewing the tide at the Narrows, I'll probably just miss the 12:40pm sailing from Earls Cove. What are the odds of the Bowen being too full and me missing the 2:40pm?
I have reservations for the Powell River sailing.
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lohium
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Post by lohium on Jan 19, 2018 17:43:20 GMT -8
Tomorrow will be the last weekend of being able to smoke aboard ferries or at terminals. It's probably a good move in the long run, but it certainly feels like the end of an era. I imagine when BC Ferries first started in the 60s a significant amount of passengers smoked aboard, and I imagine they were able to so inside the passenger lounge too? Maybe one of the older members can remember, and if so when they changed it to smoking outside only. As well, riding the ferries as a kid in the 90s I seem to recall the entire outside deck being able for smoking, does anyone remember when they ended up sequestering to a small corner of each ship? I'm not a tobacco smoker myself but I'm considering getting a nice cigar to smoke on a round trip on route 1.
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lohium
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Post by lohium on Dec 20, 2017 11:26:54 GMT -8
Hello all, long time/first time here, slowly working my way through the old threads, got my Experience Card, yadda yadda...
My question is about the Mill Bay ferry. I understand that it's cash only but that you can also purchase discount tickets at the Thrifty Foods in Brentwood and Mill Bay. Do they sell single tickets or only a sheet with several tickets?
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