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Post by Northern Exploration on Oct 21, 2008 9:30:18 GMT -8
Great shots Karl.
Normally the two ferries are identical. One must be in for refit before winter. The enclosed bow is necessary in the stormy winter conditions or ice chunks could get pushed onto the car deck. The river pushes the ice into piles sometimes and while not very strong they can get higher than the top of the hull.
Quebec has a number of ferries and some are much more tourist orientated. It is probably from a tourist route and it must be like BC Ferries - when one goes for refit another ferry is brought in for relief. This ferry is quieter during the day but during rush hours two are needed for commuters. It saves a lot of gas versus driving all the way to Ste. Foy to cross the bridge and then come back east to Levis. And if you know the schedule and arrive just in time for the crossing it saves time. If you had to wait for the one ferry to make a round trip it would be quicker to go around via the road and bridge.
The Coast Guard docks just upriver from the ferries always has some interesting coming and goings and happenings. They would be provisioning now to go out and lift the buoys before the ice build up late in the year. Then they would be busy cutting routes in the ice for non-ice strengthened hulls. The volume of shipping drops but still some ships come through. The refinery on the south side of the St. Lawrence up stream from Levis still receives tankers through the winter.
Except for the most servere winters the ferries have ice strengthen bows and plow through the flows real nice with lots of thuds and scraping as BCinNJ witnessed. The river flow usually keeps the ice somewhat broken up and large flows move slowly downstream. If you are there in winter, dress like an Inuit, and stand in the bow and watch. It is bitter cold in Quebec with usually a strong wind, damp from the water, and not as cold as the prairies but close!
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D'Elete BC in NJ
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Post by D'Elete BC in NJ on Oct 21, 2008 16:54:50 GMT -8
Great shots Karl. Normally the two ferries are identical. One must be in for refit before winter. The enclosed bow is necessary in the stormy winter conditions or ice chunks could get pushed onto the car deck. The river pushes the ice into piles sometimes and while not very strong they can get higher than the top of the hull. Quebec has a number of ferries and some are much more tourist orientated. It is probably from a tourist route and it must be like BC Ferries - when one goes for refit another ferry is brought in for relief. This ferry is quieter during the day but during rush hours two are needed for commuters. It saves a lot of gas versus driving all the way to Ste. Foy to cross the bridge and then come back east to Levis. And if you know the schedule and arrive just in time for the crossing it saves time. If you had to wait for the one ferry to make a round trip it would be quicker to go around via the road and bridge. The Coast Guard docks just upriver from the ferries always has some interesting coming and goings and happenings. They would be provisioning now to go out and lift the buoys before the ice build up late in the year. Then they would be busy cutting routes in the ice for non-ice strengthened hulls. The volume of shipping drops but still some ships come through. The refinery on the south side of the St. Lawrence up stream from Levis still receives tankers through the winter. Except for the most servere winters the ferries have ice strengthen bows and plow through the flows real nice with lots of thuds and scraping as BCinNJ witnessed. The river flow usually keeps the ice somewhat broken up and large flows move slowly downstream. If you are there in winter, dress like an Inuit, and stand in the bow and watch. It is bitter cold in Quebec with usually a strong wind, damp from the water, and not as cold as the prairies but close! I think I have a few shots of the summer ferry...shown in Karl's photos...on film...she was in for refit when I was there and the two winter ferries were on. |
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 30, 2009 12:30:30 GMT -8
Two videos of the Quebec Levis ferry in March 2008 to start off this thread  The Alphonse Dejardins Ice Breaking: Alphonse Dejardins arriving at the ferry terminal at vieux Quebec |
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Post by lmtengs on Nov 30, 2009 16:32:21 GMT -8
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Post by Northern Exploration on Nov 30, 2009 17:49:47 GMT -8
You can tell what the tide is doing by the direction the ferries point as they dock. If they are pointing the direction of the ferries in the video, it is mostly flow of the St. Lawrence River and the tide is going out. If the ferries point downriver the tide is coming in and you get turbulence from the incoming tide meeting the flow of the river.
A very frigid trip but standing in the bow or just off one side and seeing the ferry break the ice flows is very cool. Thankfully it is a short trip.
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Post by lmtengs on Nov 30, 2009 18:11:01 GMT -8
A very frigid trip but standing in the bow or just off one side and seeing the ferry break the ice flows is very cool. Thankfully it is a short trip. I did just that. It was negative 12 the day I was out on the boat. |
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Post by D'Elete BC in NJ on Dec 1, 2009 4:24:09 GMT -8
A very frigid trip but standing in the bow or just off one side and seeing the ferry break the ice flows is very cool. Thankfully it is a short trip. I did just that. It was negative 12 the day I was out on the boat. 28 below (with the wind chill), and it never seemed to stop snowing.   |
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Post by lmtengs on Dec 1, 2009 7:13:38 GMT -8
I did just that. It was negative 12 the day I was out on the boat. 28 below (with the wind chill), and it never seemed to stop snowing. Yuck. I don't know what it was with wind chill when I was out, but certainly not that. The coldest it eveer got for us was -24 at our lodge |
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Post by Kahloke on Dec 1, 2009 19:40:24 GMT -8
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Post by plansea on May 21, 2010 11:49:02 GMT -8
The "LOUIS JOLLIET" is a former 1938 Davie built Quebec City side-loading ferry boat rebuilt as a cruising vessel  M.V. Alphonse-Desjardins  Taken from MV Arctic as we passed Quebec City |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2012 6:13:36 GMT -8
Here are a few photos of the Québec City/Lévis ferries taken yesterday... They are owned and operated by the provincial govt, their website is traversiers.gouv.qc.ca Sister ships:  Lomer Gouin en route to Levis:  Alphonse Desjardins coming toward us:  Close-up:  Notice the foot passenger ramp onboard the ship. There is one on each side. That's all for now! |
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Post by Northern Exploration on Mar 18, 2012 11:47:06 GMT -8
You can tell whether the river water is flowing downstream or whether the tide is pushing up the river by which way the ferries face to dock. In your picture they are pointing upstream as you look across to Levis. If you are still there the crepes at Au Petit Coin de Bretagnne are amazing . One in the old town on St. Jean just inside the gates/wall, one on Grand Allee just downhill from the Loews Le Concorde, and one in St. Foy by the shopping malls, Place Laurier. Big square crepes not the soggy rolled types. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2012 13:24:15 GMT -8
If you are still there the crepes at Au Petit Coin de Bretagnne are amazing . One in the old town on St. Jean just inside the gates/wall, one on Grand Allee just downhill from the Loews Le Concorde, and one in St. Foy by the shopping malls, Place Laurier. Big square crepes not the soggy rolled types. Thanks for the suggestion! I'll have to stop by there one of these days. And yes, the river was flowing downstream... The ferry departing the North shore goes with the current until nearing the dock on the South shore, then it does a hard-a-starboard dock as it is a side-loading operation. |
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Post by D'Elete BC in NJ on Mar 20, 2012 3:01:23 GMT -8
You can tell whether the river water is flowing downstream or whether the tide is pushing up the river by which way the ferries face to dock. In your picture they are pointing upstream as you look across to Levis. If you are still there the crepes at Au Petit Coin de Bretagnne are amazing . One in the old town on St. Jean just inside the gates/wall, one on Grand Allee just downhill from the Loews Le Concorde, and one in St. Foy by the shopping malls, Place Laurier. Big square crepes not the soggy rolled types. Damn you for making me drool so early in the morning! ;D |
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Post by Northern Exploration on Mar 20, 2012 6:38:40 GMT -8
You can tell whether the river water is flowing downstream or whether the tide is pushing up the river by which way the ferries face to dock. In your picture they are pointing upstream as you look across to Levis. If you are still there the crepes at Au Petit Coin de Bretagnne are amazing . One in the old town on St. Jean just inside the gates/wall, one on Grand Allee just downhill from the Loews Le Concorde, and one in St. Foy by the shopping malls, Place Laurier. Big square crepes not the soggy rolled types. Damn you for making me drool so early in the morning! ;D I specifically made that post, or repost of what has been said before, thinking you would cut into your beach time to respond . |
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Post by D'Elete BC in NJ on Mar 20, 2012 16:32:28 GMT -8
Damn you for making me drool so early in the morning! ;D I specifically made that post, or repost of what has been said before, thinking you would cut into your beach time to respond . With any luck my tan should be to full summer strength by Friday... |
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Post by Northern Exploration on Mar 21, 2012 8:46:24 GMT -8
I specifically made that post, or repost of what has been said before, thinking you would cut into your beach time to respond . With any luck my tan should be to full summer strength by Friday... With the 26C tomorrow my sunburn will be in hot pursuit. |
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2012 8:00:42 GMT -8
Here's a photo of the M.V. Radisson, a relief vessel for Quebec's ferry system. It spends most of its time tied up as shown in Quebec City. The Radisson is the oldest, built in 1954.  Note again, the O/H walkway is on the ship. I believe this is standard across the fleet. Could this Thread be permanently renamed "Quebec Ferries"? I don't think I should create a new one for just a few photos of other ferries than the ones that operate in Quebec City. |
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Post by Low Light Mike on May 5, 2012 9:40:59 GMT -8
Could this Thread be permanently renamed "Quebec Ferries"? I don't think I should create a new one for just a few photos of other ferries than the ones that operate in Quebec City. done. |
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Post by Northern Exploration on May 5, 2012 17:41:27 GMT -8
Unlike BC Ferries, they keep the extra oldest ferry the Radisson, in reserve so when one of the two newer ferries is either in refit or has a mechanical issue, it can be pressed into service. During the day both ferries aren't really needed but certainly during rush hour both are quite busy.
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Koastal Karl
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Post by Koastal Karl on May 5, 2012 19:09:18 GMT -8
I have been on those ferries before when I went to Ottawa to visit a friend we went to Quebec and we got to take those ferries! I think we just took the one boat the newer one both ways but they were pretty nice for a short little 10 min crossing! On the way back it was dark which was neat to see all the lights of a different city!
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Post by Deleted on May 6, 2012 14:01:47 GMT -8
Unlike BC Ferries, they keep the extra oldest ferry the Radisson, in reserve so when one of the two newer ferries is either in refit or has a mechanical issue, it can be pressed into service. During the day both ferries aren't really needed but certainly during rush hour both are quite busy. I should mention that the Radisson operates as an extra during the summer months on the L'Isle-aux-Coudres - Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive route during the summer. She is rarely used on the Quebec-Levis route, and, to my knowledge, it has been awhile since that has happened. In most, if not all cases, the much newer Felix-Antoine-Savard (built in 1997) replaces a vessel when it goes for refit. That being said, the Radisson only fills in when the Savard is not available and one of the ships goes unexpectedly out of service during a weekday. Finally, if one ship on the Quebec-Levis route needs to go out of service for a day or two, it'll be done on a weekend. The other ship will assume service with a frequency of 60 minutes on each side. |
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2012 16:32:43 GMT -8
Photo Heavy PostWell, I got to ride the Radisson last Wednesday. Northern Exploration: you are correct, an information board I read onboard the vessel said that it IS the ship that replaces the Lomer Gouin and Alphonse Desjardins during their refit times. Apologies for the confusion on my part. Here are a few photos that were taken by my cell phone, so excuse the quality. I wasn't aware of the ship change until the day it happened, so I took a trip just in case this change was a one day thing. If the Radisson is still on the route tommorow, I'll take a trip to get some better photos with my camera. Anyways, here they are: Arriving, it's pouring rain, and I have to hide my phone right after I take a photo:    Forward outside deck:  Lifering:  A rather small wake:  The vessel even has a small snack bar, something the other boats don't have. Since the route normally doesn't have a snack bar, there's no reason to open it up:  Looking forward, port side:  Lomer Gouin passing us: -Not the greatest day to ride the ferry    Port side forward lounge - the washrooms cut right through the centre of the forward lounge as shown here  Looking aft, starboard side:  That's all for today...cheers!
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Post by Koastal Karl on May 12, 2012 6:48:48 GMT -8
Does she ever load from the Bow or is do they just use the two side loading ones??? I see that one has a gate at the bow so I was just wondering. Seems like they have three places they can load vehicles from on that boat! I have been on the other boat but not the Raddison.
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Post by Northern Exploration on May 12, 2012 10:33:32 GMT -8
Does she ever load from the Bow or is do they just use the two side loading ones??? I see that one has a gate at the bow so I was just wondering. Seems like they have three places they can load vehicles from on that boat! I have been on the other boat but not the Raddison. Because of the tides and river flow, side loading is only ever used on the Quebec-Levis run. Only during the very brief slack tide could front loading be tried. A considerable amount of current goes by and it would be near impossible to keep the ship at the dock. The front gate could only be used on another route. SCCommuter no probs, I thought maybe your information was more up to date than mine. It has been a few years since I have been to Quebec City. I keep sending people to my favourite places there and my urge to visit is at an all time high. If it isn't like a day like your ferry ride, a drive around Il d'Orleans is great. There is a little wood boat museum on the south west side that actually still has a workshop for building dorey type boats. A couple great restaurants and lots of farm markets to buy a picnic lunch. grrrrrrr. |
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