My Route-40 trip was technically 2 trips:
- Port Hardy to Bella Coola (with stops at Bella Bella, Shearwater, Klemtu, Ocean Falls)
- Bella Coola to Port Hardy (direct)
However for passenger loads, it really was 3 distinct trips, and that is the point of my post. Each of the 3-experiences had a different impact on my enjoyment and expectations for the trips. And not all of them are what BCFS markets the Discovery Coast Passage as being.
I'll work my way backwards....
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The Bella Coola to Port Hardy direct day-trip is a European tourist trip. Every time I've taken that day-trip (this is my third time), this has been the typical crowd.
The passenger count was 117.
Group tours of Europeans, Euro families in rented motor-homes, Euro trekking couples and some single travellers. Also some Albertans. No First-Nations peoples at all....
Here's the typical morning line-up at Bella Coola terminal (the traffic assembles in town, at the Co-op I think. Then they are led the 5km trip to the ferry-dock in a convoy, led by a pilot-car).
Here is the crowd on the ship. Lots of attention to the outside viewing, lots of photography, ship-announcements to note the points of interest....
The cafeteria had carafes of red-wine at dinner-time.
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The Klemtu to Bella Coola crowd (Sunday afternoon to Monday morning) was 16 persons (plus a couple more who got on at Ocean Falls).
These included 4 Swiss ladies travelling through BC on an extended trip, an Aussie guy also doing an extended trip, 2 Irish men and their BC cousin doing an extended fishing trip, a Campbell River couple and their big trailer rig going to Anahim & Nimpo lakes, etc.
At this point of the trip, most of us 16 had acquainted ourselves with each other and the crew, and the Sunday evening was a great time for conversation and to enjoy the quiet as the ship sailed through Milbanke Sound at sunset and up Seaforth Channel at dusk.
For me, this was the absolute best part of the trip with the changing sky in the evening. Here are some of my favourite picture moments, in sequence, as I had my warm clothing on and spent a few hours outside on the top decks. (The volume isn't intended to be overkill. This was absolutely my favourite part of the entire trip, and these few hours of sunset and dusk are what I will return for, next year)
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The first 12 hours from Saturday night to Sunday morning were 215 passengers, most of whom were 1st Nations people returning to their homes in Bella Bella.
At approx 6:00pm at the Port Hardy terminal, I began to be aware that this would be a busy sailing. By 7:00pm the terminal was packed with people and many of the Bella Bellans were lining up at the passenger gate, over an hour before boarding time (in order to get a good sleeping spot).
So I moved my stuff into line, and I was maybe in 20th spot. At 7:30pm a downpour happened, and we all stayed in line, getting wet and saving our spots in order to get a good sleeping spot on board.
Meantime, those in vehicles unaware of the "great floor-space race" about to unfold were stuck waiting in their vehicles, and they (who were paying the highest fares, because of their vehicles) would board last and get the worst sleeping spots...
At 7:45pm, we were allowed to board early, and it was just like the great Oklahoma land-race. I made my way straight for the solarium, and I was first-there. I set up my bed on a nice carpet spot, length-wise, and built a wall of chairs around me.
Over the next 2 hours, between 8-10:00pm, more people came into the solarium, and at least 3 times I re-arranged my stuff to allow more people to my side of the solarium. The final move was to make it so that we could have 8 people sleeping width-wise on each side of the solarium. Yes, we were all side-to-side, with only less-than-a-foot between each person's sleeping bag. Very close, and all strangers to me.
The chief-steward came into the solarium a few times, looking for space to put people. Many announcements were made on the PA, asking people to use all the spaces available, and to only use what was needed for each person.
We finally departed 30-minutes late, at 10:00pm, with many people in the dark-solarium still setting up their sleeping spaces.
The Campbell River couple, who paid fares for 2 people plus a truck and travel-trailer (likely the top-fare on the ship, other than the drop-trailers) were forced to sleep on their air-bed in the hallway between the gift-shop and the ladies-washroom. People were bumping into them all night, and the hall lights were on all night. That's some sort of Discovery Coast experience, huh? And they paid the highest fares of the entire passenger load.
I didn't take any pictures, because people were trying to sleep and it was too crowded. But it was like an overcrowded BC hospital, with people sleeping in halls!
Up in the solarium, I had a poor time trying to sleep.
- I like space, and I was cramped.
- It was stuffy, with so many people near by, even with the small windows open and the doors ajar.
- Instead of sleeping length-wise with the ship and being rocked as in a cradle, the ship's rolling pulled my stomach up and down in my body as I slept with my head towards the port-side. 3 hours of Queen Charlotte Sound roller coaster.
- As people moved around at night to go down to use the washroom, each person let the solarium door slam, and it made a jolting sound each time.....which prevented sleep. At one point, the lady beside me angrily told-off the poor guy who happened to let the door slam.
- Some Bella-Bella teens were outside the solarium (just forward of the solarium in the sheltered nook) and had teeny yelling and talking for most of the night......which further hurt my chances for a sleep.
Washrooms were crowded and messy, with so many people on board.
I kept telling myself that it was only 12 hours that I had to endure and then the ferry load would be less people and more enjoyable.
In the morning, there were sleeping people everywhere on the ship, to stumble over. Not too many people were interested in the scenery or the trip itself (I was outside at 6:00am, trying to enjoy the dawn and sunrise, near Lama Pass).
After Bella Bella, the ferry was much much much more comfortable. The crowd of 215 might not seem like much, except for an overnight when people were all inside and taking up space for 12 hours.
This Saturday night experience (and also Friday night, coming down from Bella Bella) are not what the Discovery Coast Passage is marketed as, in the BC Ferries propaganda. It's as if a Mediterranean cruise included a leg where hordes of locals used the cruise as a commuting-vehicle to get from Corsica to Sardinia.
Yes, the Bella-Bellan's Friday & Saturday commutes provide BC Ferries with lots of revenue (even with reduced-fares for local residents), but the overcrowding isn't what is marketed to the high-fare paying tourists.
PS: Here's a pic of the tent, used by a smart guy at the aft-end of deck-4. He was a biker from Colorado.
PPS: there was no red-wine served in the cafeteria during this leg of the trip. But there were plenty of empty cans of Lucky beer on the outside decks on Sunday morning....
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The only thing in common with all 3 of the trip-segments, was that it seemed like I was the only male passenger who knew how to flush a toilet.
Discovery Coast Passage: Sleep in a crowded, lighted hallway and enjoy the sights of unflushed toilets. All for a premium price. Life on the coast.....