John H
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Post by John H on Sept 23, 2022 23:11:23 GMT -8
Well it's been a "few weeks" since I've been on here, but it seemed like an appropriate time to come back. I was friends with Karl on Facebook so heard the news on there. I will miss following along on his adventures on the ferries and around BC. He was the epitome of a "ferry fan", going on ferry rides just for the sake of going on ferry rides. I know we've all done it, but he seemed to take it to a special level and never seemed to get tired of it. Like others have mentioned, he was part of this community before this forum existed and was a big contributor and helper from the start. Even though I have kind of drifted away from this forum over the past few years, I feel his loss and hope his family and friends will find peace and comfort at this time.
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John H
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Post by John H on Mar 30, 2020 20:33:39 GMT -8
I wonder about my younger daughter working in a retail environment these days. How are bus drivers viewing the danger level of their environment? Thanks for the essential work you do, John. Keep safe. I think among bus drivers there are as many different views as there are in the regular population. Some guys are really careful.. sanitize everything, wear face masks/gloves. Most seem to be a little concerned, but glad for the measures that have been put in. To be honest, in some ways the lack of traffic and drastic drop in passengers has made the job a lot less stressful. The only place in Vancouver where I've noticed a major lack of social distancing on board and on the streets is in the Downtown Eastside. Another new development... Coast Mountain Bus Company has been on a hiring frenzy for what seems like years. This week they've put all training and new hiring on pause because of COVID19.
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John H
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Post by John H on Mar 30, 2020 20:20:04 GMT -8
Where were you all? Hiding in your cars on the car deck?
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John H
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Post by John H on Mar 29, 2020 14:24:05 GMT -8
Last week there were schedule reductions from Tuesday to Friday. Out of the Vancouver depot the routes that were mostly impacted were routes like the #25 and #33 which have a lot of busses that come on for the morning and afternoon rush and because they go by a lot of schools/university. The #25 especially, goes from about 10 minute service on off peak to 5 or 6 minutes during peak. So some "trippers" (buses that come out of the yard just for the rush, and then go back when it's over) were cancelled. But, now it sounds like this won't be happening any more in order to make it easier to socially-distance on buses. This will be "encouraged" by about half the seats on buses being "closed" starting this week... and I've seen it on some buses already. For now, they want half-empty buses in order to keep everyone safe.
Like in WA, buses are now free. Passengers board from the rear doors. On the Nova's, the seats directly behind the driver are bagged and taped off. There's a new "red line" about 3 feet farther back from the original red line.
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John H
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Post by John H on Jul 18, 2019 16:30:24 GMT -8
My wife and I spent 3 nights on Saturna in May. It's very quiet... the only restaurant regularly open is the pub by the ferry. The grocery store runs out of some food - depends on the day of week. We stayed near East Point Lighthouse... spent a lot of time there, watching marine traffic and wildlife going by. The walk along the bluffs of Mount Warburton Pike is pretty spectacular - lots of feral goats wandering around. The walk down to the campsite and beaches Narvaez Bay is not too long and the beaches are very nice. Winter Cove has a walk but nothing spectacular. Depends what you're looking for whether you'd like Saturna or not I guess... I just enjoyed being away from the rush and bustle of the big city (I really noticed it when I got back!).
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John H
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Post by John H on Jan 16, 2019 21:35:50 GMT -8
VIA Rail is changing the schedule for the Canadian! Instead of leaving Vancouver in the late evening, it will be leaving Vancouver at noon - providing daylight service for a good part of the year through the Fraser Canyon, arriving at Kamloops around 9-10PM. I've always been disappointed that the Fraser Canyon portion was in darkness in both directions on the old schedule. It sounds like the reason for the change is that more time has been added to the trip to help alleviate delays that have become longer and more frequent. www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail/media-room/latest-news/44019/22-june-2018-via-rail-modifies-schedule-canadianThat didn't last long. Starting in May, the Canadian will be leaving Vancouver at 1500 (making the canyon part of the trip mostly in the dark). Also this year, unlike years past, there will be no third train running the entire length of the route in the summer. Instead there's a shortened version between Edmonton and Vancouver for the summer months.
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John H
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Post by John H on Nov 20, 2018 22:02:41 GMT -8
Does anyone have any insight on how the cars might be transported to the mainland, since I'm sure most of them are not ultimately destined for Vancouver Island? The processed vehicles will leave Nanaimo the same way that they arrived; by car-carrier ship, other than the few (relative to the total for the overall Canadian market) that are destined for Vancouver Island dealerships. Do you know what will be going on at the processing centre? Just wondering what needs to be done in Nanaimo that necessitates offloading and reloading cars.
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John H
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Post by John H on Nov 19, 2018 20:57:20 GMT -8
A new vehicle processing centre is coming to Nanaimo. Not sure why this was mentioned on the radio today, maybe construction has started recently. Sounds like new European-manufactured cars destined for Western Canada will soon be shipped directly to Nanaimo. Previously, they were shipped to Halifax and transported across the country from there, I'm assuming mostly by train. It seems Nanaimo will become the new distribution point for Western Canada. Interesting that they built it on the Island. Does anyone have any insight on how the cars might be transported to the mainland, since I'm sure most of them are not ultimately destined for Vancouver Island? www.nanaimobulletin.com/news/construction-proceeding-on-nanaimo-vehicle-processing-centre/
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John H
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Post by John H on Oct 9, 2018 21:10:11 GMT -8
Queen of Nanaimo Coastal Celebration Mayne Queen
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John H
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Post by John H on Sept 1, 2018 19:57:50 GMT -8
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John H
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Post by John H on Aug 31, 2018 16:10:38 GMT -8
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John H
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Post by John H on Jul 25, 2018 18:40:27 GMT -8
15 years? Anyone going to say anything? Older than Facebook!
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John H
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Post by John H on Jul 25, 2018 18:33:25 GMT -8
Did they hire a new person to fill in the "Status" column of the "Departures" section of the Current Conditions Page:
Here are a few of the reasons for delays tonight:
"We are loading and unloading multiple ships"
"We are loading as many vehicles as possible"
"Helping customers who need assistance boarding"
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John H
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Post by John H on Jun 26, 2018 21:08:19 GMT -8
VIA Rail is changing the schedule for the Canadian! Instead of leaving Vancouver in the late evening, it will be leaving Vancouver at noon - providing daylight service for a good part of the year through the Fraser Canyon, arriving at Kamloops around 9-10PM. I've always been disappointed that the Fraser Canyon portion was in darkness in both directions on the old schedule. It sounds like the reason for the change is that more time has been added to the trip to help alleviate delays that have become longer and more frequent. www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail/media-room/latest-news/44019/22-june-2018-via-rail-modifies-schedule-canadian
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John H
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Post by John H on May 29, 2018 21:54:08 GMT -8
According to the Departures page, today there was a 2:30PM from Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay, a 5:30PM from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale, nothing from Langdale back to Horseshoe Bay, and a 7:30PM from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay.
The unscheduled 2:30PM sailing from DB to HB has been consistent so far. It does seem like a long time for a ferry to be sitting in Horseshoe Bay doing nothing: from approx. 4:15 to 5:30.
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John H
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Post by John H on May 25, 2018 19:48:01 GMT -8
Re: Route 2 and 3 current schedules. . . The current schedule is quite interesting for the supplemental vessel (usually the Coquitlam). On weekdays it only shows this boat doing a 530pm Route 3 sailing from Horseshoe Bay and a 730pm Route 2 sailing from Horseshoe Bay. No other sailings listed. Given this ferry sleeps at Departure Bay, this boat either does 2 MD sailings or 2 deadheads. I would have to think they're always MD sailings, but why wouldn't they simply include those sailings on their weekday schedule? I find this quite strange. Very interesting indeed; Looking at todays departures page the Coquitlam does a 1000/1215 round trip from Dep. Bay to HSB and back. So she is in Departure Bay around 1400, but she doesn’t have any scheduled sailings back to HSB despite having a 1730 sailing from HSB to Langdale. This leaves her in Langdale with no scheduled sailing back to HSB for her 1930 trip home to Dep. Bay. Just an update, going by current conditions. As was mentioned she did the 1000/1215 (as scheduled), then a 1430 (not scheduled) to Horseshoe Bay, a 1641 to Langdale (normally the Queen of Surrey's sailing which was cancelled due to the Surrey running late), a 1745 from Langdale to Horseshoe Bay and a 1930 (as scheduled) from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay. Hard to tell from today what the normal set up will be since the Route 3 schedule was messed up due to the Surrey running so far behind. At least for today, it looks like there was some flexibility with how the Coquitlam was used - maybe that's the reason? It does seem strange to have only those two scheduled sailings that Dane mentioned though.
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John H
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Post by John H on May 23, 2018 20:10:00 GMT -8
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Post by John H on Feb 4, 2018 15:52:05 GMT -8
Is there a reason why, over the years, the time between sailings on Route 2 continually gets longer? It's never happened on Route 1 - they've always been every hour (or two) on the hour.
Example. In 2003, Route 2 departures were 6:30, 8:30, 10:30, 12:30, 3:00, 5:00, 7:00, 9:00. That's a 2 hour turn-around time.
Then by 2010 (not sure exactly when it changed) up until quite recently, during the busy times it's been 6:20, 8:30, 10:40, 12:50, 3:10, 5:20, 7:30, 9:30. That's a 2 hour and 10 minute turn-around time.
This new schedule that has started, for the winter schedule is 6:15, 8:25, 10:40, 1:00, 3:20... it gets more complicated in the afternoon because of the ferry switchups. But now the turn-around time is between 2 hours and 10 minutes and 2 hours and 20 minutes (longer mid-day).
Is it taking longer to load cars? Are the ferries going slower? Are they building more time into the schedule to improve on-time performance?
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John H
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Post by John H on Jan 27, 2018 23:50:28 GMT -8
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Post by John H on Dec 24, 2017 15:21:40 GMT -8
Saw it on Friday tied up just east of the "Skybridge" Skytrain Bridge on the Surrey side.
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John H
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Post by John H on Dec 24, 2017 15:19:08 GMT -8
Neat video of the Cow getting all Christmas-y! 🎄 Traveled on the QUEEN OF COWICHAN last night and enjoyed the solarium for part of the trip. You can kind of see in the video that there's a plastic wall/curtain covering the open end, enclosing the solarium except for the one side door. There are Christmas lights strung up along the inside and there are heaters on the ceiling creating quite a nice area - fresh air, not too cold, and almost empty - no one else ventured outside. The metal benches now have soft covers and there are some semi-comfortable wooden chairs to sit back in. Not sure if they've done it other years and if it's the same on some of the other ships, but it's quite a nice idea and looks pretty at night. Sorry, no pictures.
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John H
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Post by John H on Dec 21, 2017 8:38:40 GMT -8
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Post by John H on Dec 11, 2017 22:09:37 GMT -8
NORTHERN SEA WOLF is showing up on Marine Traffic offshore of San Diego with an ETA of December 14th (Thursday) for Vancouver. Does anyone know where the specific destination is? Just a minor correction. It was "Vessel Finder" that was giving an ETA of December 14th and the destination of Vancouver, but it now says the 15th and Victoria. Marine Traffic is also giving an ETA of December 15th and Victoria.
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John H
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Post by John H on Dec 11, 2017 18:49:42 GMT -8
NORTHERN SEA WOLF is showing up on Marine Traffic offshore of San Diego with an ETA of December 14th (Thursday) for Vancouver. Does anyone know where the specific destination is?
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John H
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Post by John H on Nov 14, 2017 21:28:31 GMT -8
Wow, Much watch, HORN Action, Check out how this Turkish Ferry, mv Osten Spirit made her Grand Arrival at the Ship Breaker Yard in Turkey. Now this is How a ship should make her final Landing, and I do mean LANDING. Reminds me of the Spirit of British Columbia, has similar specs and only 6 years older. I'm thinking the SOBC will be around for many years to come. Seems like we have a different "idea" in this part of the world on what constitutes an old ferry.
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