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Post by Scott on Jun 24, 2008 16:44:19 GMT -8
Don't want to spoil your good story Neil, but I'm pretty sure you saw the Quadra Queen II on Saturday night and not the Tachek. We noticed the Tachek heading north to Port McNeill on Friday evening (on Siitech) and the Quadra Queen heading south through the Discovery Passage around 6:00PM Saturday evening. Anyways, seeing the Quadra Queen II off Hornby is probably an even more "significant" sight than the Tachek;) ferriesbc.proboards20.com/index.cgi?board=generaltalk&action=display&thread=2909&page=5
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Jun 24, 2008 18:14:10 GMT -8
Don't want to spoil your good story Neil, but I'm pretty sure you saw the Quadra Queen II on Saturday night and not the Tachek. We noticed the Tachek heading north to Port McNeill on Friday evening (on Siitech) and the Quadra Queen heading south through the Discovery Passage around 6:00PM Saturday evening. Anyways, seeing the Quadra Queen II off Hornby is probably an even more "significant" sight than the Tachek;) ferriesbc.proboards20.com/index.cgi?board=generaltalk&action=display&thread=2909&page=5No, that doesn't spoil anything. It was far too dark to tell which twin it was, but that would explain why it was going around that side of the island. Bit odd that it was so close to shore, though, and not out in the middle of the strait. Thanks for that info, John.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jun 24, 2008 19:10:15 GMT -8
Thanks John. I just posted (and deleted) a similar reply, re the QQII travelling down-the-strait on Saturday night.
Tachek vs Quadra Queen II. Not quite the same level of difference as between Seaspan International & Seaspan Corp though.....
Neil: thanks for sharing that great campfire story. QQII is Queen of the Marshmellos. And when those 1960's ships are retired, BCFS will need to build s'more of them. ;D
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Post by WettCoast on Jun 27, 2008 16:17:27 GMT -8
Tomorrow morning the WCK family will be heading out for parts much further north. We are heading for the Yukon & Alaska via the Cassiar route (Hwy 37). On the return we will take the AMHS route south from Skagway to Prince Rupert. We will be aboard the MV Columbia for most of the journey home. Yes, I will report back with photos and the cost of a litre of gas in Telegraph Creek.
I am hoping for a break in the weather which has been dismal her for most of June.
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Koastal Karl
Voyager
Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
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Post by Koastal Karl on Jul 2, 2008 9:44:58 GMT -8
Well I did a solo trip yesterday as I wanted to do a route 1 and 30 trip. So I left the house at 8:30am and drove out to Swartz Bay and took the 10am Queen of Saanich to Tsawwassen. I noticed at Swartz Bay the tides were really low and the angle of the lower and upper vehicle ramps were on a steep angle. The Foot Passenger ramp was almost level which normally it is on an uphill angle so that was a bit interest. Once onboard I went to the Cafeteria and had breakfast. A truck ferry was also leaving Swartz Bay. I wondered around the ship and checked out the car decks. The sailing wasent full as both decks had only about half a load of vehicles. We passed the Vancouver by Miners Bay as we slowed to wait for her to enter and about 10 mins later was passed the Nanaimo. Arrived at Tsawwassen at 11:40am where the tides there we low also. Also an interesting thing to note that the Saanich arrived at Swartz Bay via the Spirit's inbound route and we left via the Spirit's outbound route around Piers Island and I think that was due to low tides. Once at Tsawwassen I headed down and bought my ticket for the 12:45pm Coastal Inspiration sailing to Duke Point. The sailing from Tsawwassen wasent full which was nice. So much room on the Coastal's. We left Tsawwassen at 12:45pm and were in the dock at Duke Point at 2:30pm which was a 1hr and 45min sailing. One thing I noticed yesterday was there was alot of boats and pleasure crafts around I guess being Canada Day everyone was out on their boats. Nearing Duke Point the CI met up with the CR who was heading to Departure Bay, saw the Oaky in the distance heading to Horseshoe Bay, passed the Quinsam leaving Duke Point. The Inspiration blasted her horn like 5 times leaving Duke Point cause there were so many boats. The trip from Duke Point was full as the upper deck was full but I dont know about the lower deck as I dident check that out. We left Duke Point at 3:15pm and arrived at Tsawwassen at 5:15pm which took 2 hours going back so it was quicker going up to Duke Point probably cause the crew wanted to get home, lol! Well actually the CI was nearing Tsawwassen around 4:45pm but seeing she does the route quicker she end up arriving when the Spirit is leaving so she has to wait then it takes time for her to crawl into the dock. From there I noticed the Vancouver was running late so I went to the Quay to check out the departures and arrivals and yes she was 20 mins late. I had thought of taking the 6pm but with her being late she would have more traffic. So I went for a walk down past berth 1 and sat on the beach down there for a bit and enjoyed the awesome weather. I headed back about 6:20pm to see how busy the 7pm was gonna be. It looked fairly busy so I decided to wait for the 8pm Saanich. Awesome sunset sailing going back and we passed the Nanaimo at Sturdies Bay, the Vancouver by Village Bay, the Mayne Queen by Pender and arrived at Swartz Bay at 9:40pm where the Cumberland was getting fueled up and dumb foot passengers were waiting to offload at the bow of the ship which bugged me as that happens everytime they come into berth 2 at Swartz Bay people think they offload the same place they board, lol! I left and went down to Point Hope Shipyards and saw the QQ2. Watched the fireworks then came home. These are some of the photos Queen of Vancouver passing us by Miners Bay Rusty railings on the Saanich Queen of Nanaimo Queen of Saanich leaving Tsawwassen as the Inspiration arrives Queen of Saanich leaving Tsawwassen Coastal Inspiration arriving at Tsawwassen Same photo I took before this time of the SOVI Awesome weather, perfect for cruising CI light load Queen of Alberni Sailboat and Queen of Oak Bay Coastal Renaissance heading to Departure Bay Something going on at Jack Point Park arriving at Duke Point Quinsam Coastal Renaissance leaving Departure Bay Queen of Saanich arrives at Tsawwassen Queen of Saanich Upper Deck Resturant Lounge at Sunset Queen of Nanaimo through the window of the upper aft lounge Passing the Queen of Vancouver off Village Bay That concludes the trip!
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Post by Kahloke on Jul 2, 2008 13:21:54 GMT -8
Great pics, Karl! You have some real beauties in there. It looks like it was a good day to be out ferry-hopping. I was driving up through a very hazy central Oregon yesterday. All the smoke from the California wildfires was being blown into Oregon - yuck!
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Post by BreannaF on Jul 2, 2008 16:46:27 GMT -8
I hadn't taken a day to ramble about the San Juan Islands in many years -- at least this was the first time since digital photography became the norm. I had spent a couple of days in Bellingham to take care of some business, and so I had the perfect excuse to go out and get my face sunburned on Wednesday, June 25. This was my first Walk-on voyage in the San Juans, we have taken the car on my previous trips. that option made it much cheaper to explore the scenery and the ferries, though. I took the Hyak on the 0845 out of Anacortes to Friday Harbor, where I spent some time exploring town and then just looking out over the harbor. That was followed by a trip to Orcas on the inter-island Evergreen State at 1420. I hadn't managed to ride an Evergreen-class in probably 20 years. I wanted to change that fate. And after doing everything one can possibly do in Orcas Village (that takes about an hour) I returned to Anacortes on the Elwha at 1620. I have been sorting through a lot of pictures, and will be posting a lot of them to my photo gallery in the next week (but nothing new there right this minute). I was getting a bit worried about the day when it all started in a thick fog. The point was to see a bit of scenery! Well, I got that soon enough as the for lifted to a nice sunny day. First ferry I saw was the Chelan coming out of the fog when I was parking in Anacortes: The Hyak came along next and I got on. It was interesting traveling through the fog, though probably not for the crew. It had been a while since I had seen a lookout posted on the car deck of any WSF ferry, but it's probably pretty common in the SJ Islands. The horn was sounding regularly, and then I heard another horn in the distance. It took a couple of times to even figure out which side it was on, but I got a foggy picture of the Sealth: Finally the fog parted and the Islands were in view. Soon thereafter, we were in Friday Harbor: There is a passenger ferry dock between the WSF slip and the marina. I think it is the one terminal in WSF where you are closest to the ferry sitting in the slip. Awesome close-ups to be had. And the Hyak leaving FH: A couple of pictures of the Evergreen State in Friday Harbor: While I was there, there were visits from the Victoria Express from Victoria and the Victoria Clipper III from Seattle: And the Elwha arrived in FH: We did get the Chelan trying to sneak by FH without stopping: I then took the Evergreen State to Orcas. I'll do the pictures of that later, but when we arrived at Orcas, the Chelan was in the slip: Evergreen State approaching the slip at Shaw Island: Evergreen State waiting for the Elwha to vacate the Orcas slip: On the Elwha, there's an opportunity to "steer" the ship! I got my turn, but not until the 6-year-old kid got to drive There's one at each end of the upper passenger deck: Too many scenic pictures to even decide on, but here's one of Kona Kulshan (aka Mt. Baker): And finally, the Sealth on a clear day: Like I said, I went crazy with the camera, but will let you know when I get some good ones in my photo album this week.
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Post by Political Incorrectness on Jul 2, 2008 17:50:09 GMT -8
Good lord, the Hyak sure needs a paint job! Nice pics!
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Post by Barnacle on Jul 2, 2008 18:56:45 GMT -8
Good lord, the Hyak sure needs a paint job! Nice pics! Haven't you noticed that a boat needs to break down to get paint these days?
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Post by Coastal Canuck on Jul 3, 2008 21:47:18 GMT -8
I did a solo trip through the Southern Gulf Islands today. Pictures might come by the end of the weekend if my computer decides to be nice to me.
I arrived at Tsawwassen at 9:15 and bought a ticket for the 10:20 sailing to Village Bay and watched the Queen of Nanaimo (15 mins late) arrive in Berth 2, the Queen of Vancouver (10 mins late) arrive in Berth 4 and the Queen of Alberni (on time) arrive in Berth 3. I boarded the Queen of Nanaimo through the overhead walkway and then waited for the crew to figure out how they were going to load the car deck and then we left. we got to Galiano droped off about 40 cars, picked up 15 bikes and sailed to Mayne.
Once arrive at Mayne I waited for the Mayne Queen to arrive then got on the Mayne Queen and sailed to Swartz Bay. This sailing was full as they could not quite get a dump truck onto the ship and he had to back off.
then I bought a ticket for the 2:20 sailing to Pender Island aboard the Queen of Cumberland and sailed to Pender Island. this sailing was full and they had to use both platform decks so the sailing was 20 mins late. upon arrive at Pender I hiked up to the ticket booth bought my ticket for Tsawwassen and waited for the Queen of Nanaimo.
On this sailing the crew messed up when they loaded the car deck and they had some cars bound for Tsawwassen from Salt Spring in front of some cars going from Salt Spring to Pender so they had to call all the passengers for those cars and they had to move the cars. at Mayne Island the Mayne Queen pulled in beside us and then the crew had nothing to do so they had a fire drill. I could hear the Fire alarm on the Mayne Queen going off from the outside deck on the Nanaimo and some other people started to freak out so the captain had to go onto the P.A. and explain what was going on.
At Galiano Island the captain took a to wide of a turn coming from Active pass into Sturdies Bay and when got into the dock he couldn't get the bow of the ship to be in line with the ramp so he had to back out and come in again.
All in all the day was pretty good day but long, I must have set the world record for most times passing the Spirit of British Columbia though.
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D'Elete BC in NJ
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Post by D'Elete BC in NJ on Jul 10, 2008 12:41:28 GMT -8
Not a BCFS excursion, but my wife and I managed to get away to a local landmark this past weekend. Fort Delaware is located just south of Philadelphia on a 75 acre island in the middle of the Delaware River, and was constructed a couple of years before the US civil war. It was home to a huge number of Confederate war prisoners, and now houses on of the largest heronries in the US. A 360 degree panoramic compilation of the fort and surrounding grounds. This was all buildings during the civil war. Our ferry for the trip. Several random shots taken as we wandered around. One truly interesting feature of this building is how they collected drinking water. The walls and roofs of the fort are laced with pipes which channel any rainfall into a number of large cisterns located under the fort. This was done as the island is so low any well drilled would encounter brackish water.
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Post by Northern Exploration on Jul 10, 2008 13:28:28 GMT -8
Great pics. That little ferry is so tall with a narrow beam looks like it would really rock and roll . Much further upstream from there is where George Washington crossed the Delaware. The drive is very scenic through the area they call the gap. I was telling BCinNJ that the first time I saw it I couldn't believe it was the same place. The river is quite narrow there compared to the depictions in paintings you see. The paintings make it look more like where the fort is where the river is wide and the water is always a bit stormy looking . Now there we have a lot of artistic license at play. Kind of funny considering our post card discussions lately .
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Post by Alex on Jul 11, 2008 12:15:40 GMT -8
Well, I did a solo trip through the Gulf Islands yesterday, emphasis on Salt Spring. I wanted to check out Ganges and spend a few hours there. So I took the 8am Saanich sailing from Tsawwassen. At about 7:30 the sign on the highway said 45% full, and onboard there was a fair bit of empty space on the upper car deck. As I was heading to the Berth 5 waiting room, I noticed a boat tied up in Berth 4. Turns out it was the Alberni, having mechanical troubles. The CI was loading in Berth 3. I boarded the Saanich and headed straight for the cafeteria and got me and All Aboard breakfast, as I was pretty hungry. Halfway through the meal I noticed that the ship was rolling pretty good in the berth, and I suddenly became worried about seasickness. As we headed out, the ship was definitely rolling a fair bit, all the way across the strait. I felt ill for a few minutes, but I headed out on deck and felt much better. I got a good shot of the CI leaving Tsawwassen. After crossing the strait, we passed the Queen of Nanaimo, just leaving Sturdies, heading for Tsawwassen. A few minutes later, we passed the Vancouver just as we were entering Active Pass The rest of the trip was quick and uneventful. Took a tour of the lower car decks and hung out on deck. When I got to Swartz Bay, I bought my ticket to Fulford. While waiting for the ferry, I talked to a guy who had also been on the Saanich, and had lost his breakfast due to the rolling of the ship. He said he wasn't alone. Anyways, the Skeena unloaded and then sat there for like 15 minutes before letting us board. She's an interesting ship, for sure. Those passenger lounges are pretty funny. I spent most of my time at the front of the ship. We had to slow down to let the SoVI pass in front of us before we could speed on to Fulford. In Fulford, I caught the bus to Ganges, which was cool. Salt Spring is an amazing place. The feel of it was so...serene. And interesting. I'd love to live there. I wandered around Ganges for a while and grabbed some lunch at a restaurant called Shipstones with a nice patio. Neat town. I decided to head to Long Harbour early (catching the bus for the 3:30 Nanaimo sailing) because I was getting bored being alone, and I didn't want to miss the 4:25 sailing in case it might be sold out or something. Waiting for the bus, I started talking to a gu who was living on Pender and was in Ganges for the day. Another guy (a local) wandered by with a cat on a leash resting on his back/backpack. The guy was pretty interesting. Apparently his cat had gone missing for a week, and he'd just found him. At Long Harbour I just found a table in the shade and read for an hour or so. I then caught the 4:25 sailing of the Bowen Queen, since it was a non stop trip to Tsawwassen, and because I wanted to be on the Bowen Queen crossing the strait. The Bowen was neat because it does a really right turn, to swing around into the berth at Long Harbour, and then reverses the turn on the way out, passing on the opposite side of the little island there than the Nanaimo on the way out. She's a good little ship. As we approached Active Pass, I expected to see the Saanich near there. I found out later she had cancelled a few trips, so that explains why I didn't see her. After we passed through Active Pass, we hit the rough seas again. The waves were heading south, so we were rolling very heavily. It was extremely difficult to even walk anywhere. But I just anchored myself on the upper outside deck, and held on to the railing and had a great time! The Vancouver was behind us, but managed to catch up to us and pass us just before Tsawwassen. I then headed off at headed home. All in all, a good day! Not too hot, a nice breeze, and good BC scenery. The remainder of my pictures can be found here: s245.photobucket.com/albums/gg41/alex4life_02/Salt%20Spring%20Trip/
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Post by kylefossett on Jul 11, 2008 14:46:56 GMT -8
alex, go to saltspring in december, january, or february when it is grey and miserable. you may change your mind on wanting to live there
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Post by Alex on Jul 11, 2008 18:18:46 GMT -8
alex, go to saltspring in december, january, or february when it is grey and miserable. you may change your mind on wanting to live there Haha, at that time of year it's grey an miserable on the mainland too! I found the community in Ganges and the rest of the island to be interesting. Lots of cool stores and whatnot, and the people seemed very friendly. And I actually don't mind the rain and the winters in southwest BC. There's a sort of charm here, even on the worst day.
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Post by kylefossett on Jul 11, 2008 18:43:42 GMT -8
alex, go to saltspring in december, january, or february when it is grey and miserable. you may change your mind on wanting to live there Haha, at that time of year it's grey an miserable on the mainland too! I found the community in Ganges and the rest of the island to be interesting. Lots of cool stores and whatnot, and the people seemed very friendly. And I actually don't mind the rain and the winters in southwest BC. There's a sort of charm here, even on the worst day. having lived there on and off since 1995 and over different times of the year i can tell you that that charm and friendliness is a little lacking by february. on the mainland you have other activities. saltspring just got an indoor pool. the bar staff gets to know the locals real well.
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Post by Scott on Jul 17, 2008 18:12:49 GMT -8
Last night I took a round trip on Route 1... the Queen of Vancouver to Swartz Bay and then the Spirit of British Columbia back home. Beautiful evening for a ferry trip. A few things I noticed:
The captain of the Queen of Vancouver spun the ship before even clearing the "walls" of berths 4 and 5. There was barely room to do it, but he managed.
Halfway across the Strait I noticed the Spirit of British Columbia emerge from Active Pass and make a beeline for Tsawwassen. Meanwhile the Queen of Nanaimo left Galiano Island and meandered off course slightly to the north. Then there was an announcement about a pod of orcas coming up and so we slowed down to watch the show... which was pretty good.
Swartz Bay is "infested" with rabbits. I hadn't noticed this before, but there were at least three that I saw. The funny part about it was that there were two of them just lying on the roadway in front of the ramp at Berth 3 between the Skeena Queen unloading and loading. A terminal attendant almost had to kick them to get them to move.
We passed the Seaspan Doris in Active Pass on the way home and it was getting dark out. But I noticed (I think) that there were trucks and trailers on top of the ferry's superstructure... do they have two-level ramps at Seaspan? We also passed the Spirit of Vancouver Island, which seemed completely empty... couldn't spot one person on her. The SoBC was pretty empty too... I don't think they even used the upper car deck.
As we neared Tsawwassen, it seemed to me we were heading straight into Berth 3 where the Coastal Inspiration was sitting... but the captain just cut the engines and the wind blew us perfectly into Berth 5.
I picked Wednesday night because I figured it would be one of the quieter nights on Route 1. It's a spectacular cruise, especially in the evening on a nice day. Probably my last trip on the Queen of Vancouver... it was nice to hear her horn one more time.
Below are all the photos I took on my trip:
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That's right, I went without a camera;) Reluctantly but I tried it out. It was nice in a way... a bit more relaxing I think, but I still wish I had it quite a few times:)
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Post by Northern Exploration on Jul 17, 2008 18:41:11 GMT -8
If I close my eyes your pictures look even better John. Thanks for the travelogue or I may not have been sure what I was seeing.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 17, 2008 21:47:05 GMT -8
We passed the Seaspan Doris in Active Pass on the way home and it was getting dark out. But I noticed (I think) that there were trucks and trailers on top of the ferry's superstructure... do they have two-level ramps at Seaspan? I think that Doris has an internal elevator that is used to move trailers to/from her upper deck. The elevator looks a bit like the one on the stern end of the AMHS Tustumena (if I recall correctly....)
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D'Elete BC in NJ
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Post by D'Elete BC in NJ on Jul 18, 2008 7:35:45 GMT -8
If I close my eyes your pictures look even better John. Thanks for the travelogue or I may not have been sure what I was seeing. lol...personally, I thought his photos were all very dashing...
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Post by Curtis on Jul 18, 2008 23:18:38 GMT -8
Greetings from Victoria!
I'll give you a recap of my day. This morning we boarded the Queen of Burnaby, for th first half uneventful, the second half I got up to the bridge for the first time, looking back that was rather boring, the crew didn't talk to me much. Then we got off at Little River, drove down the Island, went to Woodgrove, then made our way out to Duke Point Where I got off. After a short wait at Duke Point the CI arrived and and the camera began a clicking. I think I ended up being either "Drunk on Ferries" or I came down with "Ferry Fever". The CI I must say was Eye Popping. Especially Deck 7 sinc I still havn't been up there on a Coastal. Overall was a great time, loved every minute of it. Liked the "Coastal Sensations" menu, I had the Steak Sandwich. Then we arrived at Swartz Bay for the "Highlight Trip" on the Saanich Personally I suspected it to be my first/last time on her. But as of now I'm wrong since I'll ride the Saanich on Sunday. Here's why. As we we're coming into Swartz Bay two crew members tracked me down and gave me a BCF Hat. They were trying to track me down the whole trip since I was taking photos. So Sunday's line-up, the Queen of Vancouver, followed by the Queen of Saanich. Might be able to get up to the bridge now. Well anyway, I'm gonna call it a night. More updates to come soon...
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Post by kev on Jul 23, 2008 6:05:43 GMT -8
hey everyone, man, i havent been around here much. been crazy busy the last little while, but anyways, il be on the 8:30 sailing out of departure bay this morning, thought id atleast post it and see if anyone else would be on it. gotta scope out the waters for that time of year again yup, this sunday, the bathtub race!!! ;D (but staying on topic) yeah il be coming back tonight on a later sailing, just thought id post it and catch up with everyone here. after this weekend i hope things slow down. cheers- Kev
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Post by Starsteward on Jul 24, 2008 9:16:47 GMT -8
John H's comment about the Master of the Queen of Vancouver spinning the old girl around before clearing the berth 4 & 5 'walls', reminds me of the days when Master's up at Horseshoe Bay used to go astern and 'spin' before clearing the 'point' and then going 'ahead' while they were still about a third of the way inside the Bay. Yup, we used to actually head out of Horseshoe Bay and make the turn ( with a nice starboard lean ) and get out around the point and be off and running to Departure Bay. Ah, those were the crazy days, lol
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Post by SS San Mateo on Aug 3, 2008 19:15:45 GMT -8
I did a trip on the Tahlequah - Pt. Defiance route on 7/26 to get pictures of the Sealth while she was down there. The 1'st part of the trip involved taking the #118 bus (first trip of the morning, leaves at 8:25 am). Turns out I was the only one on the bus. Trip was more or less uneventful and on time. Time for a few pictures... Time to head over to Pt. Defiance... Rather light load (less than 1/2 full)... Freighter at anchor... Now arriving at Pt. Defiance... M/V Sealth at Pt. Defiance... Afterwards I headed up to Ruston to get pictures of a condo project... After that I stopped at the Ruston Inn for breakfast (scrambled eggs, toast, hash browns, a small slice of watermelon, and coffee). After a quick stop to get something to drink, I headed back down the terminal for the 11:00 back to Tahlequah. Sealth over at Tahlequah... and arriving at Pt. Defiance... Time to head home... Not as many vehicles this time... Freighter anchored off Muary Island... Now arriving at Tahlequah... Delapitated pier (abandoned since the early-mid 80's) near the Tahlequah dock... At one time there was a small grocery store in this empty spot... It closed sometime in the late 80's and the building was demolished last year.
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Koastal Karl
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Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
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Post by Koastal Karl on Aug 6, 2008 21:30:10 GMT -8
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