Queen of alberni to be stretched

[Mike M]

i was talking to a friend of mine. he works at bc ferries head office. he told me theyve decided to stretch the queen of alberni passenger deck to what the queen of surrey & the queen of oak bay have.

[Balfour]

It's about time they did something about the Queen of Alberni, this will definetly mean an improved experience for passengers on the ship.

[Curtis]

Well it looks like the Queen of Alberni will have done what most people on the topics about her suggested. Will it be done during her Mid Life Refit?

[Dane]

Wow, this could be good news if they actually cough out the money when it's go time, the Surrey almost didn't make it in, at all.

[Ian]

Thats great about the alberni, she will finaly fit in with the fleet.

[Koastal Karl]

Yeah it will be great about the Alberni. Finally she will have a larger passenger deck that dosent get so crowded when she is full up.

[Ferryman]

So seeming she's gonna have a passenger deck like Oak Bay now, are they gonna take her out of service for her refit in the summer of 2006 instead of the winter like the other C-Class? Because theres alot more work involved in doing that and they would need to move the bridges forward on both ends and then other things like more wiring and plumbing, and on top of all of that they have to make her have "the new west coast design" on the inside as well, oh and they would probably have to move the cafeteria to the 2nd of the ship (Vancouver side) like on the sisters. Then theres that hallway on the oneside that has all of the info brochures and the Chief Stewards office so they would have to move that as well to make windows along that part because on that one side, you sure notice hardly any windows at all. Here I'll post a floor plan of her deck and a picture of the side I'm talking about with the hallway.http://www.freewebs.com/ship_safety/ (At the bottom of the page theres a floorplan of her and the right end of the floorplan is the end that is facing you in the picture above it....I dunno it seems like a way bigger job to me than it would be to refit the other sisters and way more costly, seeming to just do the refit like on Cow and Coq was 30 million each.

[Doug]

I don't have very high hopes on this...but it could happen.

[clay]

Oh, the poor Alberni. Definitely the most butchered and modified boat in the fleet. What was once a beautiful, fast, graceful swan has become the ugly duckling of B.C. Ferries. So sad. I remember when she was launched with the Coquitlam and the Cowichan in 1976 (she was actually put on Tswassen-Swartz Bay initially, and I remember she used to avoid Active Pass on some sailings and route around the south end of Mayne Island for some reason) and I remember thinking how much nicer she looked than her sisters. I must say, whenever I go Tswassen-Duke Point, I always hope for the New West (?) because of the Alberni's lack of superstructure.

[NMcKay]

ack....they will just be extender her....they wont be moving the bridges....according to my info. they are just going to build an extension to the passenger deck. and leave the rest alone

[Koastal Karl]

The ugly duckling in the fleet I think is the Queen of Chilliwack. Not the Alberni. I dont mind the Alberni, she is smaller and it will be cool when they extend the passenger deck. I have never been on the Chilliwack but looking at it she looks kind of odd.

[Ian]

The bridges have to be moved. It will look awful if not and the bridge crew will not be able to see the bow. It should look like a proper c-class, i agree with "clay", alberni and chilliwack are the ugly ducks of the fleet.
Another option, strip her superstructure and rebuild starting from the hull up.

[Ferryman]

No I think her car decks are fine but I think they should rebuild from the upper car decks up, and still have the regular tipical C-Class look with the big rounded off corners on the windows, and the same looking bridges and a funnel thats like the other C-Class, just to make it like she was built like that. It was a good idea they didn't bother with the galley decks on the lower car deck because the Duke Point run was meant for the trucks to go on and have that bottom deck mostly for trucks and extra cars if theres room.

[Ian]

I hope she comes back looking like the queen of oak bay, thats all i am saying, nothin fancy.

[Queen of The North]

Yes, It is possible to Expand the Passenger deck of the Queen of Alberni, But it will be a very expensive refitt for the ship and I have to ponder what is the point when the vessle is 30 years old, By the time it is complete.

Now, If the passenger deck should be expanded to what you see on the Oak Bay and Surrey then the bridge at both ends WILL be moved closer to the ends of the vessle. ITs a given. Why I say this? To give the Master the best view possible. Out of all people aboard the master is the one who Must be able to have a clear view of the front.

[Queen of The North]

I went for a ride on the Queen of Alberni today and I talked to a crew person and there is no truth to the rumer that the Queen of Alberni's passenger deck is planned to be streched.

[Ian]

Aww, that sucks.

But it will still get a refit right. . . .

[Koastal Karl]

How's the ol Alberni these days?? She crowded when you went on her??? Well I guess it was just a rumor going around about her. Would of been nice if they had plans to extend her passenger deck. I guess any time I will go on her will have to be on less busy sailings. I dont like crowded ferries. But I cant really see them doing a mid life refit to make her look fancy inside like the Cow and Coq and still leaving her small passenger deck!

[Koastal Karl]

Wouldent that be the Cowichan crew on the Alberni?? How would they know what's going on with the Alberni? Maybe the Alberni crew would know, where would they be, on the Saanich right now??

[Dane]

I was just thinking the same thing, despite the fact I'm still cynical about it, generally I wouldn't expect to Naniamo crew for Route 2 to know.

[Ferryman]

They have to stretch her theres no question about it, lets still keep our fingers crossed that the route 2 people don't know and the Duke Point crew do.

[DougU]

Guaranteed they won't do it.

[Ian]

Pessimist

[Queen of The North]

Lets start at the begining of the day, I decided to just go for it and go for a ride, and I am glad I did.

I got to Departure Bay at about 9:30am this morning and while I was puting sugar in my coffee at the waiting room coffee shop I overheard the cashier talking to some of the Terminal Staff, apparantly she is a sub in from Duke Point for another person.

Just after 10am the Alberni's horn blew and moments later she appearred in the Gap. From What I could see The upper Car deck looked empty. She docked and the passengers boarded, Berth 3 with the overhead walkway. From what I could see Nothing new on the Queen of Alberni since I was last on her last March.

10:28am we began moving out of the dock. Yes, 2 minutes early. But as we went through the Gap and on towards Snake Island and Entrance you could tell we were in for a bumpy ride as there were lots of white Caps. The Queen of Saanich appeard as we were passing infront of Pipers Lagoon Park.

There were not too many passengers aboard actually, I guess maybe 200-250 ish. There were lots of seats available and hardly a line up for the Cafetieria. There were a few cars on the upper cardeck and lots of available space on the Main deck. I have seen more on the Mid ISland Express than what I seen today.

As we approached Midpoint, the ride was a little more comfortable but still rough. We passed the Queen of Coquitlam on our port side then made into Horseshoe Bay at 12:05. We docked in Berth 1 (the dock which the Capilano uses) and foot passengers were told to disembark via the Main Cardeck. The mv Bowen Queen was in Berth 3 (Langdale Dock).

Shortly after Footpassengers boarded via the Upper car deck and we departed right on time at 12:30. However we were on a "weather course" all the way back. Normally the ferries make a sharp turn to the starboard at Gower Point, about 20 minutes from HB. This trip we made a gradual turn, and were out towards UBC before we turned. It was bumpy comming back.

Not far out from Cape Roger Curtis we passed a south bound tug, then the Queen of Coquitlam and another tug was northbound in the distance then we passed the Deep sea "Saga Horizon" which was headed for Vancouver from the Nanaimo area.

At about 1:50pm we passed Entrance Island and Docked in Berth 2 at Departure Bay at about 2:10. Footpassengers disembarked via the main Car deck. They were doing some work to the ramp at Berth 3 when we arrived back.

Comming Back, was a little busier, but still lots of seats available. Noticed that the front row of traffic was Parked no further forward than where the front Escalators are. Yes, the Queen of Alberni still has her escalators.

The Crew person I was talking too basically told me that the Alberni will go in for a siminlar refitt as per her sisters, but there is absolutley no truth to the rumer that her passenger decks will be stretched. He (who looks like has a lot of senority)

The Duke Point to Tsawwassen run service demand is for the overhight capacity as per the Alberni. Unless there is a significant shift in Traffic demand, The Queen of Alberni will probably remain At Duke Point permanetly exept for the occasional move to fill in for ships in refitt. The Alberni carries the most amount of overhight vehicle which is needed on the Mid Island Express.

"What does the Departure Bay crew Know, as the Alberni is not their regular ship?" Too answere this is easy, Part time(casual) crew could get called in to work on either the Departure Bay or Duke Point based ships. As I have a scanner at home, you kind of get used to differnt master's voices and you can easily recanise it and it is not oncommon to hear the same master working on eaither run.

The Queen of Cowichan has been tied up at Berth 1 in Departure Bay for the past few days. She is to return on Friday.

It sure was nice to ride on the Alberni again.

[Queen of The North]

Yes, Cowichan crew on Alberni today.

Alberni crew on the Saanich.