Fastcats May Compete with BC Ferries!!

[Doug]

Third Beach, 2007?

[Retrovision]

lol

[Doug]

That is, in fact, a real fast ferry wave on Gabriola Island.

[Dane]

tsawwassenterminal said:

"I assume the terminal will be aprox. 1 Km east of Lonsdale Quay"

You're speaking of them using land at the old Vancouver Shipyards? (where the cats are currently mothballed) Or just east of there, where the tracks end (I remember seeing a real estate sign near that parcel of land)?

Yes. I believe they own all of the land there, still. I may be incorrect though. It's more than suitable in terms of land area for linging up no more than 250 cars and I think the City/District (I think it's still the City) would love (and need ) the extra tax revenue after all that property was re-evaluated to be worth substantially less.

[Retrovision]

"after all that property was re-evaluated to be worth substantially less."

I didn't realize that. Maybe that has something to do with the timimg behind the re-development of the old Burrard Drydock lands. And speaking of which, WMG is going to have to get moving on their terminal (in relative terms, that is), as I'm sure that many of the people in those new highrises will have something to say against the terminal once they're living there.

[kylefossett]

apparently a senior engineer from bc ferries who was involved with the fastcats has taken a position with washington marine group(wmg). according to the report on ch news tonight wmg is still looking at selling the fastcats but if this does not happen then they will start running between vancouver and nanaimo

[Koastal Karl]

They are on the local news about it tonight. I saw it on CH and will be on Global too.

[Ferryman]

Yeah, I just saw it on Global. It was quite suprised with the plans they were saying today. They would plan to use two of the cats to run all of the time, and of course the third one would be a backup in case one of them breaks down. Also, the third one may also be used on a different route, but they never said which. WMG also said their prices would be compareable to BC Ferries. So they would be the same as, or a bit more than BC Ferries then.
Also, like what Kyle mentioned, the Senior engineer joined WMG. I'm going to watch the News at 11 to record the article because they showed some good footage that I remember them showing back when they were in service, even the fastcat Tsunamis crashing a boat against a rock cliff by that park, I forget what it's called..Lighthouse park or something...Jordan help me out..haha

[Quinsam]

dougubell said:

Third Beach, 2007?

That is a nice wave, I'll look forward to that on the west beach in stanley park.
I'll build a wall of sand, driftwood and stones, and see what the wave does, might make a lake where the Castle is supposed to be!
I'll post a picture soon

[Retrovision]

I doubt we'll be seeing waves like that after the fastcat fiasco. I got the impression from the story in the Globe and Mail that slower speeds (presumably upto and above around 20 knots) would be maintained throughout the voyage.

[Quinsam]

This is the beach: pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/harrydouthwaite/album?.dir=1985

[Ferryman]

Speaking of wake, here is a website of an experiment comparing the wake of the Queen of Coquitlam with a Fastcat, and also several WSF.
www.dot.state.ak.us/stwddes/research/assets/pdf/fhwa_ak_rd_02_04.pdf

[roeco]

A downtown Vancouver-downtown Nanaimo service may be a good idea, but I wonder if they ever thought of a downtown Vancouver-downtown Victoria service I think that would do much better and they could use the old Victoria Line dock near Ogden Point if its still their! No one does that service, everyone does Van-Nanaimoso why not be different?? Any thoughts?

[Political Incorrectness]

There is already a service which is the Harbourlynx that travels between Naniamo and Vancouver. Unless you are talking about a car service. Why not downtown Victoria-Downtown Vancouver? Distance is too far.

[roeco]

I wonder exactly how much further it would be for the fastcats to run dt Van to dt Victoria? If they used some of their speed I think they could easily do it in about 2 hrs or so. If u figure how long it takes to drive Van to Tsawassen take the ferry to Swartz Bay then drive to Victoria it would be shorter!!

[Ferryman]

That sounds like a good idea to go to Victoria. But would the Fastcats even be able to Navigate around the Gulf Islands? But they were considering a second route sometime in the future maybe if they even decide to go with the Nanaimo route. I think it would be a good test to see how successful WMG will be even operating a Car Ferry Service in competition with BCF. But then again, another option to Victoria would take alot of stress off of route 1 in the peak seasons.

[Koastal Karl]

Well the old Princess Margurite dock is gone. It's not there anymore besides I dont know if it would work during the summer months having a ferry in there as there are Cruise Ships, some 3 at a time in Victoria and that place can get really conjested so I doubt it could from Ogden Point. The whole area there was redone for a cruise ship terminal.

[Political Incorrectness]

Victoria would be a half hour more from Tsawwassen, maybe more. From Van to Vic would be 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

[Quinsam]

North Van to Duke Point is a good Idea, as there never was a NV to Duke Point run.
And the Terminal in North Van, under the Lions gate bridge is a type of dike, that could be built into a terminal, or maybe even a route under the Lions gate Bridge from somewhere near Ironworkers Memorial Bridge

[Ferryman]

ferrymaniac101 said:

Victoria would be a half hour more from Tsawwassen, maybe more. From Van to Vic would be 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

I would say somewhere between 2 to 2 1/2 hours would be about the amount of time it would take, of course depending on the speed.
I remember going on the HMCS Calgary from Canada Place to CFB Esquimalt in like 4 hours I think. But it only took that long because the Crew were doing some demonstrations of what the ship was able to do, like man overboard. But seeing the wash and wake that came from that ship was compareble to the fastcats, pretty scary to see, but neat. But of course those ships are monohauled unlike the fastcats, so the wake is alot wider with the cats.

[Koastal Karl]

But do we need another route from Naniamo to Vancouver cause I mean Duke Point to Tsawwassen isent that busy and we have route 2 also from Naniamo. I dont think it would be all the popular, but that is just my opinion.

[Retrovision]

ferryman said:

That sounds like a good idea to go to Victoria. But would the Fastcats even be able to Navigate around the Gulf Islands? But they were considering a second route sometime in the future maybe if they even decide to go with the Nanaimo route.

How about Downtown Vancouver to Swartz Bay? If WMG didn't want to have to deal with BCF and their busy terminal, then all WMG must do is revamp their own berth next door.

[Quinsam]

good Idea, Pacificats Explorer and Discovery said to Duke Point, then the Voyager to Swartz Bay

[Scott]

Another route is possible, but if you're going to provide a reliable service on one route, you probably need the extra ferry as a back up.

[Dane]

I actually agree with JL Kid's previous posts on this board that a Victoria service may not make as much money as Naniamo service. Some reasons:

- BC Ferries owns the tourist traffic. While I know that it's easy to lure them BCF provides relativly good service at a cost that's always going to be competative;
- If you're in a hurry to Victoria, you can afford to fly via the three types of air routes;
- There is more air route infastructure at low costs;
- Navigating the islands, while easily possible would be an unneeded expense and time consumer for WMG.