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Post by yak on Dec 27, 2017 19:22:56 GMT -8
How do you feel about them overall, now that you've gotten used to them? I get another trip on Wednesday, so I will keep my mind open and then report back after that trip. ---------- On my Sunday trip, not using the garage-deck took some of the fun away from me. They appear to only use the garage deck when necessary. It's not the default option when only one deck is needed. Your wish is my command...
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Post by yak on Dec 14, 2017 20:16:28 GMT -8
Bid $5,100 and it could be yours. Had to chuckle when reading all the machinery specs pages etc. to learn that the poor old 'Burnaby' has had 2 of her 3 generators removed! Gee, gosh, golly, I wonder where they sailed off to eh? ....and yes George, you're welcome. One of them was actually transplanted to the Nanny some time before retirement and was frankensteined into a replacement for the larger of her two bow thrusters after her Mitzi blew a piston through a cylinder wall.
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Post by yak on Sept 25, 2017 22:44:44 GMT -8
I've never done a trip over to the southern gulf islands & thinking about doing a day trip & staying on the vessel. Can you make a round trip in a day from Tsawwassen back to Tsawwassen as a walk on? If so which schedule from Tsawwassen work out the best? As Neil says, you can buy return fare onboard though you may have to disembark in Long Harbour and walk back on as the crew changes. If you are travelling from Tsawwassen and simply want full value riding through the islands I would suggest catching the 1010 sailing on a Monday-Thursday. This will make stops at Galiano, Mayne and Pender before getting to Salt Spring just after 1300. You'd then catch the 1535 ferry out of Long Harbour and stop at Pender, Mayne and Galiano before arriving in Tsawwassen at 1840.
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Post by yak on Sept 15, 2017 23:10:19 GMT -8
Salish Eagle is the subject of this photo essay, of images seen at Roesland Point on North Pender Island. This point is part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, and has great views of Otter Bay terminal. This is the noonish arrival/departure on September 12, 2017: by Mike Bonkowsk
Nice pictures Mike, I'll critique the Captain on his arrival. ;-) I hope that you and your wife enjoyed your time on Pender.
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Post by yak on Sept 5, 2017 10:10:46 GMT -8
It is kind of funny you say that because I'd noticed over the last few months of service that the paint on the doors had chipped down to the old baby blue stripe in places. Made me wonder how intact that old paint job is and exactly how long ago it was painted over (for '86 I imagine).
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Post by yak on Sept 4, 2017 13:46:40 GMT -8
Route 9 Reservations question: I will be on Pender Island, and want to travel with my car on the last leg of a milk-run on Salish Eagle from Otter Bay to Long Harbour. The reservations page on the BCFS website doesn't list this as an option, the only choices are from Tsawwassen to an island. No inter-island on the reservations page. So my question is: Is inter-island travel on Route-9 simply a first come, first served? - I'm assuming that the ship (the one that departed Tsawwassen at 10ish on the milk run) would be only 1/2 full by the time it finishes unloading at Otter Bay. So I'm assuming that it will have space available for the Pender-Long Harbour leg. Let me know if this sounds correct, or if it's not as simple as that. Thanks. No reservations inter-island but there will definitely be space on a normal "3 back". As you already suspect, more traffic gets off at Galiano and Mayne than gets on. When loading the Nanaimo or Eagle the inter-island traffic has always been the biggest wildcard when coming up with a load plan. I get a copy of the reserved numbers to or from Tsawwassen at the start of the watch but no indication of what may be traveling between the islands - I just have to rely on past experience. Actually, we've been finding one of the trickiest loads on the Eagle is the "3 back" since Long Harbour traffic now has to be "turned" as it gets on in every port. On the Nanaimo we were able to simply have everything for Salt Spring (the biggest draw of traffic) face the stern with plenty of lane space. There is significantly more inter-island traffic coming back than there has been in the past and it has taken some careful planning to ensure deck space isn't being wasted. With lots of returning commercial traffic the Eagle's car deck can get ugly really fast even if there's less traffic getting on than got off. That being said - we haven't left anyone behind from Otter Bay... yet Toward the end of the Nanaimo's career there was a general consensus on how the load plan would look with very limited variations depending on different circumstances. We haven't quite reached that point yet on the Eagle and each Watch is tackling the problem with very different philosophies so far. Talking to the other Chief Officers and Staffing Pool Deckhands who work with all of us it's clear that there's more than one way to skin a cat. It does mean some regular passengers get the pleasure of being put in different places on the deck more often than they were used to...
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Post by yak on Aug 31, 2017 8:12:23 GMT -8
My experience is that when the ships are on gas you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference, at least on the operator side. Salish run with 2 or 3 generators on the board and they can be run all on diesel, all on gas or on a combination with two run on one fuel and the third run on the other. The theoretical output on diesel is higher than the gas and if the ship is running hard to make up lost time the Engineers will likely switch to diesel. That being said, even on gas there is generally sufficient power for the runs these ships are making. More often than not, at least on Route 9, the default is to run 2 generators on gas or diesel (largely based on fuel management) with a third generator brought online for Active Pass or if serious time needs to be made up. Honestly, most of the time the only difference you'd notice is that a little icon on the conning display is blue when a generator is on gas and it is green when the generator is on diesel... Thanks for the information, Yak. As an engineer, I'm very interested in hearing about stuff like this. Do you know anything of the fuel economy? I'm curious how do they compare to the vessels they replaced or to similar size vessels such as the Island Sky. On the BCF website, they list the Island Sky as having more horsepower than the Salish class. While horsepower does not necessarily relate to fuel consumption, I'm inclined to think that the Salish class are more efficient for a number of reasons. It would be interesting to see the 'extra' Salish vessel on Earls/Saltery in the off season, when she is not replacing the other Salish vessels for refits. My original question here, which I now realize was not very clear, was whether or not BCF is using natural gas as priority over diesel. My fear with the dual fuel vessels was that BCF would come up with a reason not to use natural gas, citing 'safety issues' or something like that. I've heard that the hybrid conversion vessel (Tachek?) is not being run in hybrid mode, though I don't know if that is 100% true. I am not on the Engineering side of things, so any insight that I have into the process probably won't answer all of your questions. At least on Route 9 the vessel is being routinely run on LNG or at least LNG and diesel. The buzz term being used on board for when we choose to use one or the other is "fuel management". As far as I know it goes beyond simply how much of each fuel we have on board. You probably understand the properties of LNG more than I do but since it is delivered at such a low temperature it is always wanting to warm and expand in the storage tank on board. Therefore the ship needs to keep burning it somewhat regularly in order to keep pressure from building and also to cool the tank through adiabatic expansion. There's no danger of over-pressurizing the tank since the system would automatically vent to atmosphere if pressure built to an unacceptable point - but obviously that's not ideal considering the environmental considerations. Fuel economy-wise I couldn't tell you for sure what is more efficient between a Salish and the Island Sky. As you say, you'd be inclined to think Salish is more efficient for a number of reasons and I'd suspect the same.
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Post by yak on Aug 29, 2017 13:21:17 GMT -8
Does anyone know how well these 3 have been operating on natural Gas? Is BCF using it 100% of the time (or close to)? My experience is that when the ships are on gas you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference, at least on the operator side. Salish run with 2 or 3 generators on the board and they can be run all on diesel, all on gas or on a combination with two run on one fuel and the third run on the other. The theoretical output on diesel is higher than the gas and if the ship is running hard to make up lost time the Engineers will likely switch to diesel. That being said, even on gas there is generally sufficient power for the runs these ships are making. More often than not, at least on Route 9, the default is to run 2 generators on gas or diesel (largely based on fuel management) with a third generator brought online for Active Pass or if serious time needs to be made up. Honestly, most of the time the only difference you'd notice is that a little icon on the conning display is blue when a generator is on gas and it is green when the generator is on diesel...
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Post by yak on Aug 27, 2017 17:07:28 GMT -8
Well, if nothing else prior to this confirmed that 'Nanny' is definitely going to Fiji, this ought to be the final proof. Good luck to Lomaiviti Princess V. May she have a smooth sailing across the Pacific, and a successful career with Goundar's company. Could we ask yak to keep us 'paint' posted if he's able? As it appears they are working from the hull upwards, wonder if the BCFS blue stripe at the top of the hull is going to remain or get painted out. Looks quite good with the 2 tone blue. The white super structure looks a bit refreshed but it may just be the way the picture was taken. Still the funnel to go? Heaven forbid if we see any 'painting' going on over at the wall-slip occupied by the Burnaby. I echo Kahloke's well wishes for a safe voyage to her new home in the sun and much fair sailing when she takes up her new assignment. I came across this photo second-hand so I'd guess that anyone driving past Deas would be just as likely to get any scoops on the paint job. That being said, I'll let you know if I hear/see anything.
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Post by yak on Aug 27, 2017 14:58:57 GMT -8
Sporting new livery... This picture has been circulating among the crew today. The photo is not my own but from an Engineer who has been working on the ship at Deas
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Post by yak on Jul 30, 2017 20:11:55 GMT -8
Photos from a day spent out on Route 9. Little did I know that this would have been my last time sailing aboard the Nanaimo... Note: I came over Friday night to witness the Nanaimo's arrival at Fleet Maintenance Unit yesterday, so I hope to have those up later today... July 23, 2017The following images posted by this account are copyright © S.A. ~ Unauthorized use is prohibited. BC Ferries - Skeena Queen away from Berth 3, Swartz Bay. by Scott, on Flickr So I guess at some point mid-summer they changed procedure so that the Queen of Nanaimo would berth stern to at Swartz Bay. This would require cars to spin around to get off at Long Harbor, but that may have been fewer cars than inbound SGI cars having to spin around to get off at Swartz Bay under the previous arrangement. We hoped that by backing into Swartz Bay we could more easily set up the car deck as we loaded traffic throughout the gulf islands. It was something of a guessing game regarding traffic levels since there were no reservations on that part of the route and so we wanted to be able to get everyone on without losing space to have to turn traffic. In the end it is up to the discretion of the Captain and Chief Officer.
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Post by yak on Jul 29, 2017 19:30:39 GMT -8
Here's a video of what is presumably her last turn out of Tsawwassen as she was moved to Deas Dock. There was a sense of occasion to this voyage. The video isn't the highest quality and I've seen a better one from shore but for now it'll have to do. We cranked up the PA to play her off with Heart of Oak; I believe there were several bewildered passengers aboard the incoming Coastal Celebration.
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Post by yak on Jul 27, 2017 9:48:30 GMT -8
This question isn't specific to one ferry, and is based on something I saw on Monday morning on the QUEEN OF ALBERNI. This past Monday, I was on the 5:15 AM ferry from Tsawwassen to Duke Point. I think it's the first time I've done that; maybe the last. I got to the terminal at 4:30, and there was a mile long lineup before the toll booths. Amazing how many people get up that early! It took 30 minutes to get to the toll booths, so I paid 15 minutes before sailing time. How do they deal with reservations in those circumstances? You're required to be there at least 30 minutes before sailing time, but if the lineup before the toll booth is 30 minutes long, you'd need to get there by 4:15 in the morning. I don't think there were that many reserves, except for the overheights. Anyways, that's not my question. On the QUEEN OF ALBERNI, they loaded an old style decommissioned ambulance van onto the upper deck and it was parked in the large open-air part of the deck at the stern because the car deck was pretty full. About 10 or 15 minutes after we sailed, I noticed some crew members measuring the height of the van, and it was pretty clear that the van would not be able to fit under the "ceiling" to unload once we got to Duke Point. As I drove off, I noticed the van doing a U-turn to face the other way. My question is, what would BC Ferries do in this circumstance? It's pretty much their fault the van got there. Would they load the ferry, then turn it around to let that one car off before heading back to Tsawwassen? Or would they take them all the way back and re-load them at Tsawwassen, wasting half their day? I wasn't able to stick around and watch, and didn't have access to a computer to see if there were any delays that day, but I'm wondering if anyone on here knows what kind of procedure they'd follow in this kind of circumstance. Sounds like they probably sent them back to Tsawwassen, but it could be a case by case basis sort of thing. The crew would weigh potential delays for all of their passengers against fixing the issue with the single vehicle even if the fault lay with the ferries. On smaller double enders like the Mayne Queen in the gulf islands I have seen them load commercials that are too tall to fit under the accommodation and they can just pull the ship out of the dock and rotate end to end before heading back in when discharging. Probably not that easy on something like the Alberni in Duke Point, though I have seen a Coastal do it in Tsawwassen when a sailing needed to be cancelled after they'd loaded the car deck. Mates rely pretty heavily on the terminal to give them accurate information when loading vehicles but for a variety of reasons mistakes happen. For one thing, the terminal is working with a cookie cutter "AEQ" and max height when they sort vehicles. I know from experience that what they qualify as an "underheight" doesn't always fit in places on board that are designated for underheights. A notable example on the Queen of Nanaimo would be the ramp deck where a vehicle may technically be short enough but if it is close to the limit and has a long overhang past the back axle (like cargo vans or some trucks with canopies) it will contact the ceiling when it comes down the ramps, resulting in tears and paperwork for the Chief Mate. Generally by the time a vehicle that doesn't fit makes its way down to the ship it is quite difficult to deal with. It is hard to say why the vehicle in this case got as far as it did or whether there were options while the ship was still in Tsawwassen.
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Post by yak on Jul 11, 2017 13:04:43 GMT -8
Does this include deck 5 on major vessels and when does it take affect For the smoking issue, no one knows when it might take effect. I saw a memo that indicated they'll be going forward with the smoking ban in January 2018. It will include crew as well as passengers. I'm a non-smoker but I can just imagine how this is going to go over...
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Post by yak on Jul 6, 2017 8:46:15 GMT -8
Anyone want to sign up for the 'Nanny's journey to Fiji when she's ready to go? Hmmm. I would in a heartbeat... except that my wife might kill me after already spending a month away delivering the Orca
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Post by yak on Jul 5, 2017 17:56:02 GMT -8
I am curious about the claim that she will carry 60 "trucks" (whatever that means). I'd expect some heavy modification before that could happen (ie goodbye ramp decks).
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Post by yak on Jul 1, 2017 14:26:01 GMT -8
Celebrating Canada 150 and her last Canada Day with a bang the Nanny is going out well dressed thanks to the Captain and crew of C watch.
I have the express permission to share this moment from the crewmember in the photo
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Post by yak on Jun 29, 2017 19:46:47 GMT -8
Not a big fan of "AEQ" but I know that capacities have to be measured somehow, especially with a run like Route 9 where 100% of deck space reserved isn't uncommon. The Queen of Nanaimo has been run with a reserved AEQ of 180 and I've had loads where 170 cars have felt tight and I've had loads where I've nearly gotten 200 vehicles on after standbys. The flaw with AEQ on a boat like the Nanaimo is that length is only one important consideration. Height is really important too but a major factor on a full load is width. For 180+ to fit as advertised the ship needs the right mix of traffic. There are 20ft reserved vehicles that may be campers but count the same as a Mini or a Smart car as far as AEQ is concerned. Four lanes of traffic across on either side of the center casing is essential to achieving a full load but this is only possible if there is the right ratio of wide and narrow vehicles and a really good Deckhand splitting traffic at the stern of the vessel. Anyway, another reason for a shrinking AEQ other than the way in which the calculation is done is that some spaces are no longer used on a deck. For example, on the Queen of Nanaimo there was a time when the lane space on the adjustable ramps to Deck 3 were included as parking areas. Now cars are no longer parked on them (unless the C/O is cheating a little with an axle parked "over the hinge"... )
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Post by yak on Jun 22, 2017 12:10:24 GMT -8
Please feel free to put all of it to the test, as I'm sure there's bound to be an error or two to be found. Chris, the usage of the S Eagle seems lighter than I would have expected for the 'Holiday Monday' category. Maybe that is mis-titled and is just the schedule for 'regular' Mondays?. I believe in the past that holiday Mondays had the same schedule as for Sundays. I am not sure what the strategy is regarding Holiday Mondays but it looks like both runs will be doing heavy point-to-point lifts from one or two islands to the mainland rather than hitting four stops each. Anyway, Chris has it labelled right. Scanning through Chris's schedule it is essentially correct for all the days- he's got the right boats heading to the right places at pretty much the right times. My older schedule has a few slightly different arrival times and the missing departure time from Otter Bay on Sunday for Route 9 is 1130. Also, for whatever reason, on Saturday night Chris has the Nanny going back in time after tie up to redo the Eagle's afternoon run.
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Post by yak on Jun 17, 2017 14:37:52 GMT -8
The benefits of a better ship. Or just a newer ship. Would the Burnaby have sailed in that wind back in 1966? I think so. A lot has to do with confidence in the bow thruster as well. When the wind starts to pick up control of the bow is a major factor for the ferries. Back when bow thrusters were more of a luxury than a integral part of the way things are done a Captain may have been more likely to risk the approach into the terminal in less than ideal conditions; he'd also be more comfortable using the anchors to maneuver if necessary - something you don't really see these days. Nowadays the thrusters are considered a key piece of equipment on every approach. That's not to say that they are used on every approach but they are always on standby. One major difference between the Burnaby and the Nanaimo is that the Burnaby only has the original Caterpillar thruster while the Nanaimo has the Cat and a more powerful Mitsubishi that can be used in conjunction. Not only is more power available but if one thruster were to fail on approach there is at least some back up. As a rule the ship's weather matrix, a tool used to decide whether a sailing is a "go" or a "no go", reduces the maximum wind by 5kts across the board if the Mitzi is unavailable on the Nanaimo. The Orca's pods make this reliance irrelevant as there is ample power at either end of the vessel.
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Post by yak on Jun 17, 2017 14:18:16 GMT -8
Today I present photographic evidence of the problem with the Howe Sound Queen: Her weak deck can't handle a full load of weight. The photo shows the ship ready to depart Crofton, leaving a large truck behind on the waiting-line trestle. I was there watching, so I know that the truck arrived before the departure cut-off time. You can also see the vast amount of deck space open on the left-side of the photo. This open space extended almost the length of the ship. . by Mike Bonkowski, on Flickr ps: the shaking Crofton trestle always makes me feel uncomfortable, in a frightened way. My understanding is that it generally has more to do with how quickly she reaches her draughts when commercial vehicles are loaded; but the point stands that she is often sailing without a full car deck.
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Post by yak on Jun 16, 2017 17:09:18 GMT -8
Does BC Ferries have a plan B in case the Salish Eagle isn't ready to go by Wednesday? And once the Nanny is retired is she going to be the Salt Spring based vessel or the Tsawassen/relief vessel? I believe she gets moved to Long Harbour after the summer season. She will indeed be the SSI based vessel after the summer with the Raven being the relief/TSA vessel.
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Post by yak on May 30, 2017 23:01:10 GMT -8
On the 1920 Tsawasssn departure today it was announced that it was the final run for her captain who is retiring. I didn't catch the gentleman's name from the announcement but I thought I would pass it on. Erring on the side of privacy I'm not going to repeat his name but I will say that this particular Captain has been great to work with and that he is quite the storyteller. He's worked with the ferries for 38 years and spent time on the Queen of Tsawwassen before the Nanaimo. When finding your own way through a career at sea you appreciate what the experiences of people like this can teach you. During his informal retirement party onboard a few days ago some crew got him a cake that had a picture of the Queen of Nanaimo on it. I suggested that when the ship retires perhaps there should be a cake with a picture of him...
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Post by yak on May 24, 2017 14:26:20 GMT -8
One would ask: Are these sea conditions in BC worse than what the SALISH ORCA experienced on her ocean voyage from Poland? Passenger "comfort" and docking the vessel weren't really considerations when she was on her voyage. The ship is more than capable of handling the weather safely, and she did see worse on her voyage, but any ship will move in heavy seas and that is a recipe for disaster with paying customers aboard.
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Post by yak on May 18, 2017 12:04:07 GMT -8
my highschool graduation was on that ship. Wait. That's a thing? Yes, it was a controlled environment where they could keep the kids out of trouble (theoretically). After the ceremony in a gymnasium near the school they bused everyone out to Little River and we were frisked before hopping on the Burnaby. She cruised around until the next morning. I am not sure if they've continued the tradition but it was a regular thing when I went to highschool.
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