Storms on B.C. Ferries

[Scott]

I tried this in the B.C. Ferries club but haven't had much response. Does anyone have some stories to share of being on a ferry in a big storm? I'd be interested to hear them. For inspiration, here's a link to a neat pic of a Spirit - class ferry in heavy seas:

community.webshots.com/photo/56751115/56751797occJwX

[marsbar1973yahooca]

I remember one Saturday morning on The Queen of Alberni I was on Leaving Departure Bay on the 5:15am sailing It was kind of a strange sailing I must say.

It was fine untill we made the turn around the North end of Newcastle Island after leaving dock, Then Wow it got rough.

The Cafeteria was closed for the first 20 or so minutes as the ship was bounced around and passengers were told to remain in thier seats. But not me, I was up on the sun deck as per my normal routine and quite enjoyed standing at the railing at the front of the ship. If you are familiar with the Queen of ALberni you know there is quite a distance between the Wheelhouse and the railing at the front, as opposed to the other C Class ships.

Anyway, I recall getting sea spray in my face. As the Front end of the boat crashes through the waves the Splash came right over the upper car deck and smashed against the forward Passenger deck windows and up to the sun deck. I love boats and this was fun.

When I did return inside the passenger deck, I found the Sea sick bags all through out the vessle.

The Funny thing is that as soon as we turned towards Tsawwassen at Entrance Island, It was like a normal sailing and the Cafeteria opened and it was time for my Sunshine Breakfast.

However as we got closer to Tsawwassen the dreaded anouncement came over the PA, that there was a possibility of us turning for Horseshoe Bay because of the Wind at Tsawwassen. But the wind died down enough for us to dock.

Several times I remember sailing on the ferries in bad weather, and remember seen some windows on the passenger deck boarded up because of rough weather on a previous crossing.


There even was one time I arrived at Tsawwassen terminal via Transit Bus to get the 8:15pm sailing back home. To no avail, all ships were staying put in port and all sailings for remainder of that nite cancelled due to sea conditions. There was not enough time to head for the last sailing from Horseshoe Bay.

Thank God for my Grandparents who were living in Surrey at the time.

If you want to hear some good weather related crossings I suggest some one who works on the Queen of Prince Rupert as the Queen Charllotes run is known for rough seas.

[Karl]

I remember a few times being on the ferry when it has been real rough. I remember one weekend last December going across on the Spirit of Vancouver Island to Tsawwassen it was quite rough, I think the return trip was a bit more rougher, we arrived at Tsawwassen for the 2:00 ferry on a Sunday afternoon and we were informed it was cancelled cause of the high winds, so we waited for the 3:00 ferry which was the larger Spirit of British Columbia, sitting in the van at Tsawwassen with the wind howling, we watched as the Spirit came in, it took like 30 minautes just to dock, at one point it was sideways across berth 3 4 and 5, trying to dock, the Coquitlam which I guess was replacing New West on the Duke Point run, was waiting out in the straight to dock, she came in, sideways, like the spirit, it was something to see them trying to dock in the wind, by this time they announced all ferries were on standby, about 3:30 we are waiting hoping to hear news that they get going again, we hear over the announcements that everyone bound for Duke Point return to vehicles for loading. We're sitting there thinking why is the smaller Queen of Coquitlam able to go and the larger Spirit of British Columbia is still cancelled? So anyway, a few minuates later they say if there is any passengers wanting to switch over to the Duke Point ferry who were going to Swartz Bay, to just pull out of line a make way to the to berth 3. Luckily we were on the outside lane. So we get on the Coquitlam, they tell everyone to stay seated as we leave the dock. We are pulling out and the ship is going up and down all you see is sky then water, some passengers were freaking out. But it seemed to calm down a bit heading to Duke Point, still fairly windy when we reached duke point. But halfway through the voyage we find out the Spirit left at 5:00. So then we had to drive down from duke point to Victoria with the power out until we reached Duncan. It was a quite a trip. For me it was kind of exciting!!

[Karl]

I fogot there was another time on the Spirit of Vancouver island going to Tsawwassen on a Sunday afternoon in the winter, I think I had gone over for the afternoon, for something. I was deciding at the time whether go or not when I got out there, they said keep your reciept in case they had to cancel, but I got on and we left and just out around Beaver Point Saltpring, it got quite rough, and that was just through the gulf islands. Then we rounded the last turn in active pass I remember looking out and thinking, "oh my god" This is crazy. Big white caps out on the Straight, got a ways out there and the ship started to shake as we started hitting the swells, rolling up and down, it was crazy, people reamained seated till we docked. And as I can remember the return trip in the evening on the Spirit of Vancouver Island, that was still a pretty rough trip, she was the only ship running on the Swartz Bay run cause I think one of the smaller queens was replacing the other spirit which was in refit. So this was definately and overcrowded ferry, every possible floor space was taken, going back the ship was up and down up and down, course it was dark though you couldent see anything. To windy to go out on deck, could hardly walk around it was so rough as there telling people to stay seated, but not me, but I saw a few people who looked seasick. But as I remember standing mid ship by the cafateria and I could feel this cool breeze, later did I realize when we docked at Swartz Bay one of side windows in the forward lounge had blown out, and was all boarded up. Another wild trip on a BC Ferry!!

[ferryfreak]

one time i talked with the captain on the queen of surrey and he said he used to work on the queen of prince rupert and he said that it got so rough the the waves would be coming over the wheelhouse

[ferryfreak]

oh yeah one time i was going from powell river to texada and it was realy windy. when we left powell river(my home town) my dads truck was up on the front left side where they tie the bow line and the ferry pulled out before they untied the bow line so the ferry had to reverse back in so we were a few minutes late
then once we got out on malaspina strait the wind were coming from the southeast so the waves were hitting are truck but once we got into blubber bay the ferry missed the dock and partly damaged it so we had to reverse ot of the bay and come back in again and this time we made it.and when we were coming in i asked one of the crew members what was going on and he said they were training a new captain

[kwunaguy]

Hey Guys! It's fantastic to find other people who
find ferries as interesting as I do.
Re. STORMS ON THE B.C. FERRIES;
A few years ago My wife and I and our four kids were
sailing to the Queen Charlottes on the "Queen of
Prince Rupert" It was a night sailing so we got a berth
with four beds ; if you ar familiar with the QPR these
larger berths are below the car deck about at the water
line. Anyway, about two hours into our sailing I woke up
to a large BANG that sounded like a huge sledge hammer hitting the side of the ship. I also noticed that
the ship was rolling alot and the ship would rear up and
Bang, the loud bang would sound again. I finally realized that we were in rough waters and the BANG was simply the bow slapping the water when it would
come down into the water.
I could'nt sleep so I got dressed (which was actually
quite difficult becouse of the movement of the ship) and
made my way to the upper levels of the ship so I could
take a peek outside to see what it was like out there.
I tell you, I could barely make my way up the stairs it
was so rough; it reminded me of something you would see in a movie. When I finally got to the Lounge deck
I made my way towards the door to the outside deck.
I took a look outside the window and could see nothing but darkness. So I went to open the door and a large
spray of water came crashing against the door. Needless to say I was'nt going outside. As I made my
way back to our berth I could hear the water hitting
the front windows of the forward Lounge.
Before I got off the ferry in the morning I talked to a
crew member who said that the QPR has stablizers
and is one of the few ferries in the fleet that can sail
in gale force winds, if it has to, and that it was not uncommon for the Hecket Strait to be very rough becouse it is so shallow and windy. It was a great
and exciting experiance.

[marsbar]

I live for rough weather on the ferries! Especially when you get home, you still feel the effects of the ships movements.

Anyway just a little off topic but related to ships and rough weather I would like you to refure to the Yag vessles on my fotopic group so that you know what Kind of ship I am talking about in the next paragragh.

These boats are not all that big realy, they are only about 75 feet long and were built in the 1950's and are mainly used by the Navy for officer training and are on occasion loaned out for weekend cruises to the Sea Cadets.

On one such trip in the late 1980's I can remember it been so rough heading north bound for the Southern Gulf Islands from CFB Esquimalt that most people were sea-sick. There was only about 15 of us onboard and I was having the time of my life. I could not understand how a sea cadet could be sick on a boat.

I was not content in remaining in the aft cabin, I am adventourous and wanted to have some fun, I climbed the stairs and could not make it too the front of the boat as it was out of bounds. So I went down the stairs just forward of the funnle and into the forward cabin and walked as far forward as I could. I remeber there is another Ladder on the front wall and a hatch just above the ladder. on either side of the Ladder were bunks. wow! THis is Fun!! As I felt the bow of the vessle come out of the water and crash down again. At the same time it was rolling side to side. It was impossible to walk in a straight line that day.

We eventulay made it to a safe morage for the nite.

[Koastal Karl]

Check this out I found

www.citytel.net/~bleslie/Queen%20of%20Prince%20Rupert.html

Anyone like to be on this ferry?? This would be a wild ride!

[NMcKay]

my most memorable Ferry Crossing was on the Harbourlynx, we were out in the straight and you would look out the window. and well...the horizon would dissapear, all you would see was sky, or Water. and well. Peter came on the PA (captain of HL) and said that he was going to steer a weather course, but he'd just speed up when we got to calmer areas, and we just barely made it in on time.

[Doug]

The roughest ferry trip I have been on was last February, coming back from Long Beach.

We got up early on a Saturday last mid-February hoping to make the 7:45 sailing from Tsawwassen-Duke Point. We were out of the house and heading for Tsawwassen at approximately 6:30. It was rainy and when we got down to the Cloverdale Flats it got fairly windy as well. It was even windier around Ladner and Highway 17. We figured that the wind was coming from the Ocean and we were in for a windy crossing, but we were wrong. The rain and wind started laying off when were just heading out on the Tsawwassen Causeway. It's quite nice in Delta in the early morning, you can see the Alex Fraser Bridge and the lights flashing, its a nice sight. Also the Roberts Bank Port's lights are quite nice, not knowing that it is three kilometers out in the water. Anyways, we got there about five or 10 minutes before the Queen of Alberni was arriving. Right on time, and no waits. But to me, that isn't the best because I don't have a chance to walk around the Terminal and watch the ferries come in. But we were on immediately, and to our surprise, the ship was only half full. We were out of the Terminal in minutes, and this would be my first time on the Alberni. ;D The rain was minimal, but there was almost no wind on any part of the voyage. I had some belgium waffles onboard for a breakfast. Anyways, we got over to Duke Point on time and we were on our three-hour drive to Long Beach.

Coming back was another story. It was pouring when we left the hotel at Long Beach (this was Monday) and it only got worse as we headed through the mountains. We were going back to the Mainland via Departure Bay on the newly refurbished Queen of Coquitlam. The east coast of the Island was less rain, more wind. We got to Departure Bay just as the Queen of Coquitlam was finishing unloading, again, right on time. But today, I wouldn't want to walk around the Terminal for two reasons:
1. pouring rain, and
2. Departure Bay only serves one route.
We got on the Coquitlam and I was amazed. Unfortunately I couldn't enjoy the departure because I had to use the bathroom. But we were out in the Strait in a matter of minutes and the ship wasn't rocking...more bouncing. Within approximately 10 or 15 minutes you couldn't see Vancouver Island or Gabriola. I think the new seats are way more comfortable than those old '60's seats. The new motion sensors in the bathrooms are also nice. I liked the design of her cafeteria and snack bar as well. All of these things combined makes her my favourite ship of the fleet. ;D We had a White Spot regular meal while onboard for food/drink. I remember passing the Harbourlynx and later on the Queen of Oak Bay. The seas seemed to calm down as we entered the Queen Charlotte Channel and further on into Horseshoe Bay. It was a pleasure to sail on the Queen of Coquitlam, not only the ship, but the storm as well.

If you want to go on a ferry when it's rocking, go on the Queen of the North. She starts rocking after she gets into the Queen Charlotte Sound (the OPEN ocean between the northern end of Vancouver Island and the southern end of the Queen Charlotte Islands).