|
Post by Starsteward on Dec 20, 2020 12:32:16 GMT -8
What did you take pictures with before you had a camera? Before my birthday in July 2017 I did not have a photo camera, I had never taken pictures before at the time. My nana gave me a small medium grade pocket camera, in July 2019 for my birthday I got a Nikon D7000 to replace the pocket camera if that makes sense. In other words I did not take pictures of BC Ferries before August 3rd 2017, and I had no interest in BC Ferries before January of 2015, after one Youtube video about BC Ferries in January 2015, after that one video I was instantly hooked, and now I know everything. Everything?? Yikes!
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Nov 12, 2020 15:40:07 GMT -8
One just has to love the rather abundant use of 'barge-type' vessels that just need a concrete ramp to snuggle up to and maybe throw a line ashore too. Nothing terribly fancy about the plexi-glass waiting rooms either eh? Most of those videos were filmed when the seas were very manageable as many of the routes traversed by Caledonian MacBrayne can be extremely wicked. In viewing the videos, I noticed something a bit odd with regard to where certain flags were flying. Anyone else see what my need some clarification/explanation? It's nothing outrageous, just something I found rather 'quizzical'. One surely must love to dual naming of the Cal-McBrayne vessels...how Scottish of them eh?
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Nov 5, 2020 14:12:46 GMT -8
SO, how many of you are going for the preview??? I would love to film the expression on the face of a U.S. Border Official when they hear the response of their question: 'And what is the nature of your visit to the U.S. today? "I'm hoping to buy a ferry Sir". Now let your imaginations run wild
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Nov 3, 2020 16:27:35 GMT -8
When it's a slow day at the comedy store, it really IS a slow day at the comedy store.
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Oct 12, 2020 9:47:55 GMT -8
Lightning knocking out navigational systems? That sounds like something I haven't heard before. Any learned members ever hear of that happening to a BCFS vessel in the past?
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Sept 21, 2020 15:44:27 GMT -8
No, I should be sorry. I'm not asking you or BC to help bail out the MV Coho. I may at some point join in the ask BC to help bail out WSF Anacortes-Sidney run, we shall see. My intent was to insult my home state of Washington and the weak sauce politicians we have here who talk about climate change and then don't invest in addressing it. The "We" in we can do better was "We Washingtonians". I am truly, sincerely sorry if any Canadian felt insulted and I hope my sincere apology can please be accepted. Actually, while I'm usually onside with Starsteward's postings, I have to disagree with him on this. I didn't see anything in your post that was a knock on BC or Canada. And it may well be that our current government is more cognizant of the importance of BC Ferries, given where John Horgan lives. That's a good thing, when you look at the borderline contempt that was given to the operation by the previous Liberal government. It's wonderful to see that differences of opinions can, in this forum at least, be acknowledged, and celebrated as freedom of speech should be!
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Sept 20, 2020 14:54:05 GMT -8
Yes, BCFS has the keys to the Government of Canada's treasury for sure! Do you think the home addresses of the Premier and/or the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure had anything to do with this windfall? I think it was motivational for them and frankly the BC Government considering its capital depends on BCFerries. That was my point. Versus a Washington State Governor and State Legislature who seemingly... don't care sufficiently at best. So with a likely BC election starting any day now, I don't want to be partisan or personal. Helps when I have three contacts - two of whom I consider friends - running for three different parties. You entirely missed my point of sarcasm in my posting.
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Sept 20, 2020 12:16:47 GMT -8
Hearty congrats to BCFerries on landing the Covid19 aid! WELL DESERVED! Yes, BCFS has the keys to the Government of Canada's treasury for sure! Do you think the home addresses of the Premier and/or the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure had anything to do with this windfall?
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Sept 20, 2020 12:07:22 GMT -8
Interesting read (the article). It appears to be a worst-case-scenario plan. I think there is hope, and a good chance, that we can land somewhere north of these draconian cuts. Eliminating Southworth, for example: that's not going to happen, or shouldn't happen. Same with reducing Edmonds-Kingston and Seattle-Bainbridge to 1 vessel each. Naturally, I'm talking about post-COVID, not what we are enduring right now. On the surface, Sidney seems like low-hanging fruit, but again, I suspect that it won't go down without a fight. It's been saved before. I hope this is a worst-case plan also and something WSF would only do if defunded. I also hope my good acquaintance Assistant Secretary Scarton hands in her resignation if ordered to do this, the way another bad-azz female leader did in Seattle this summer. I do agree with the WSF staff that the fleet needs to get younger in average age and have backup boats. But dramatically eliminating service is not the answer. I hope my fellow forum members will please reach out to state legislators... With that, I really think without the state legislature passing a revenue package for WSF or a serious public-private partnership proposal; Anacortes-Sidney will be the first to go. There is quite the discussion on that route's forum. Finally, it is a sad commentary that we're having this discussion while BC Ferries on the 18th of September got financial aid to cover this year & next. Helps when the Premier and Transport Minister depend on BCFerries as they live on Vancouver Island. But WSF? Oh no... staring at the abyss. We can do better. The last paragraph of your above posting is inaccurate, non-sensical, and frankly offensive. I suggest you go back and do your homework on how the Government of Canada has handled a multitude of financial aid packages for air, land and sea transportation companies across Canada. So sorry we couldn't funnel a few bucks to WSF, and maybe a few seventy-five cent Canuck bucks to our pals at Black Ball to keep the 'Coho' afloat, but there's this line called the '49th'...Sorry
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Sept 17, 2020 12:51:59 GMT -8
Looks like she might have been sold. A post on the facebook BC Maritime site has a photo of her being towed, and on the sale site, it's listed as 'sale pending', as mentioned here a couple of posts back. Hopefully, more information to come. Following the tug’s AIS, she appears to have been towed to the wharf adjacent to the old mill north of Campbell River, alongside the Royal City Star. I cannot believe that the Royal City Star is still in Campbell River! She must be glued to the seafloor by now, as it has been eons since she got run out of the Royal City.
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Aug 29, 2020 12:15:37 GMT -8
In 1974, did Princess of Vancouver end it's auto and passenger service or did it continue till the ferry was retired? A buddy of mine worked on her. I believe that she had car service to the end of her career at CP. Vehicles looped around. The Princess of Vancouver never carried cars on her lower deck. Vehicle traffic loaded via a side-loading ramp in Vancouver and Nanaimo onto an upper deck. Crew cabins were beneath the rail/main deck. Yeah, try sleeping when rail cars are shunting two feet above ones' head! My experience(s) during, as the song goes: 'In the Summer of '65'
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Aug 26, 2020 10:11:57 GMT -8
Not holding my breath on this ..yet again.
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Aug 5, 2020 9:36:56 GMT -8
i saw the same news clip. they used that same youtube video. its shocking how fast the freighter was travelling at the time. its shocking the victoria also 'bounced' quite a bit backwards after absorbing the impact. starsteward: you wrote something really nice about the crew, but in that same news clip, that survivor says things were entirely opposite. im really sorry, and i dont want to slag anybody, certainly never the men and women of any crew, but im more inclined to believe his version of events. can you provide more insight to reject his memory? What 'version of events' referenced by this passenger are you more inclined to believe? I'm not rejecting his (the passenger's) memory as I'm not God so please help me out here.
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Aug 2, 2020 13:55:31 GMT -8
Thanks for mentioning it. Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay, but only made it half-way.... Luckily we weren't following 'Pandemic' travelling rules at the time as the car decks would have been packed with drivers/passengers!
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Jul 28, 2020 13:03:39 GMT -8
On board the Cowichan this morning. What is the meaning of the first word on the second-last line? com-mi-nute From the Latin 'comminutus': to lessen :to reduce to minute particles: Pulverize Linguistics genius at work in the bowels of the BCF organization.
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Jul 28, 2020 12:54:30 GMT -8
Missed this when I first looked at the July Western Mariner. Forum members posted above about her time at Allied, with photos, and we knew about her propeller replacement. Here's the full summary of the work, from WM. ...hull and sea valve inspection, anodes, propulsion shaft service, inspection of new propellers, tank and interior compartment inspections, installation of new manholes and hatches, anchor windlass service, hull steel repairs, piping system repairs, modifications to the exhaust system, and full coating renewals.Hull steel repairs? Full coating renewals? Like she's been in service for so long since they last did stuff like that. A cool looking little vessel, but, what a money pit. The Greeks 1 BCFS 0 I hope the sellers included a bottle of Greece's finest white or red vino.
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Jul 16, 2020 10:07:56 GMT -8
Quadra Queen II is currently moored at Blubber Bay on Texada right now but will not be put into service today due to unknown reasons. Salish Eagle will be making stops at Texada today on it’s trips between Powell River and Little River. What a mess! www.bcferries.com/bcfservicenotice?id=7960 I think if I was the Minister of Transportation, responsible for the operations at BCFS, I would be 'requesting' some explanation as to why this new vessel is experiencing this sort of problem and whether or not we are likely to see this occur with the other new vessel? The constituents of the ridings involved with this "inconvenience" deserve an explanation as they had high hopes for their new vessel eh?
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Jul 10, 2020 11:17:57 GMT -8
Was construction started to any degree on this vessel and if so what the heck does Flensburger do with it? Talk about a 'barebones' construction. She was launched on 12/14/2018: From October 2019: This vessel could maybe be a bargain for an operator that requires a rather large LNG ship to its fleet. Probably too big for BCFS to consider, and they don't need such a vessel right away, but they do have a history with Flensburger. Think a European operator may be in for a big boat at a reasonable price?
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Jul 9, 2020 14:20:59 GMT -8
Was construction started to any degree on this vessel and if so what the heck does Flensburger do with it? Talk about a 'barebones' construction.
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Jul 6, 2020 15:19:09 GMT -8
Now, I have a money saving idea for the BC Government. Get the ship yard that is currently building the new 'Island class' vessels for the BC coast to prefab an additional one, but not to assemble it beyond 'chunks' that can be shipped by container via sea & rail/road for assembly on the shore of Kootenay Lake. The Island class vessels and this Kootenay Lake vessel seem to be fairly similar in form, function & capacity. If the draft of the Island Class is too deep to be used on Kootenay Lake during low water level periods, then there won't be much to gain from any potential savings if the ferry isn't usable year-round, like the Osprey 2000. If it is to be a replacement for the Balfour, then it needs to have a similarly shallow draft. Who gets the 'better-looks' award here, the 'Island-class vessels or the ' Osprey'?
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Jul 6, 2020 15:12:04 GMT -8
QPR would have been perfect for this route. The ramps on either side of the car deck could have been loaded as per farthest destinations, leaving as much of the main car deck for high density destination vehicles. The 'QPR' certainly had viewer-friendly amenities, big forward windows in the dining room and forward lounge. Great outdoor viewing space, especially the walk-around deck below the bridge. Lots of stateroom space until it got savaged years ago but maybe not that many rooms would be necessary for this route.
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Jun 30, 2020 12:26:10 GMT -8
This mechanical failure appears to be something that hasn't happened since the vessel went into service so no doubt the engineering folks at BCFS will be taking a long look at what caused this failure to occur. The troubling part of this story is the length of time it took to get tugs to come to the assistance of the 'Renny'. As someone pointed out, the vessel could have drifted into very deep water where her anchors, if deployed would have never reached the sea floor. On the customer relations side of the incident, it does appear that passengers were not well served upon getting ashore but the slow response by tugs was basically the culprit causing such a delay. I'm not sure how BCFS will sort this all out with disgruntled passengers in the long run, but suffice to say that everyone should keep in mind that at the end of the day, there were no injuries, all passengers were never put in any real danger and folks must remember that whenever one travels by any mode of transport, things can go wrong on a scale of 1 -100 and hopefully the outcomes of every incident is minimal. And, no folks there isn't customer relations guidelines that apply to BCFS operations as there is when one looks at what airlines must do when passengers are inconvenienced. The loss of engine power on BCFS's Lower Mainland routes is a better bet than falling 30 thousand feet out of the sky eh?
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Jun 24, 2020 8:49:32 GMT -8
Routes 2 and 3 had their schedules revamped a couple of years ago to increase in-dock time and improve on time performance. It looks like they were reverted to the old schedule for now. I'm guessing the expanded schedules have required overtime, which the company was probably trying to avoid right now.... though the busy sailings are causing delays and overtime anyways, at least on fridays and sundays. There definitely needs to be more sailings - I think all routes to Vancouver island sold out last Friday evening, thus a lot of sailings have been added this weekend. BC ferries probably didn't get the chance to hire and train the many many seasonal staff this year like usual, so even if demand requires use of the usual summer schedule, they probably won't have the staff for it. But don’t vessels have crew just in case they need to replace another vessel or move vessel. BC Ferries could use those crew to add more sailings. Your response to 'arrrrmatey's' posting leads me to wonder if you have any idea of the process BCFS must go through to secure enough trained staff to meet the fleet-wide requirements to crew vessels almost or equal to Summer crewing levels? Please re-read your one-line response as you seem to imply that somehow the small number of crew needed to replace another vessel or move a vessel would be a sufficient number of qualified crew to sprinkle around multiple sailings, which I 'think' denotes more than ........
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Jun 22, 2020 14:17:04 GMT -8
Even though I agree with the writer's proposal, I think the governments of all countries should come together and create a new organization such as we do with NATO and WHO for example to create protocal as to address the needs of cruise ship passengers and arranging for their quick and safe transportation to their countries. And to manage what to do with all of these ships stuck out at sea, and their crews. Under this new organization nations can come up with a new set of Industry wide rules and regulations that all ships must adhere to. If a cruise line fails to meet up to these requirements they could be banned from entering any country. I commend your ambitious and well-intentioned proposal for the establishment of such an organization, however I wouldn't bet anything substantial on that concept becoming a reality any time soon. A less complicated model might be to mandate that cruise line companies who operate fleets under the 'flags-of convenience' countries be denied entry into U.S. and Canadian ports of call. Imagine the riotous scenes in the boardrooms of many of the existing cruise line companies when they sat to discuss such an edict from our respective governments! Oh but to be a fly on the wall! Bluntly, if governments of the so-called 'developed world' were to exercise their powers to protect and enhance the human rights of all sea-farers, we could weed-out those companies who profit from unscrupulous human rights practices. In a re-organization of exiting fleets, what would the Carnival Corporation do with companies such as Holland-America Lines which register all their vessels in the Netherlands port city of Rotterdam.?
|
|
|
Post by Starsteward on Jun 22, 2020 13:46:35 GMT -8
Has anyone heard of any up-dates to this unfortunate incident?, or have I been asleep at the switch?
|
|