Post by Dane on Dec 20, 2008 23:23:37 GMT -8
On Friday, December 19th, 2008 I ventured out into the Southern Gulf Islands to visit some vessels that I often see but hardly ride, and to finally get out to Saturna.
The trip itinerary:
- 7am Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay
- 9am Swartz Bay to Mayne Island via Saturna arriving at 1055am
- 1155am Mayne Island to Long Harbour via Pender Island arriving at 110pm
- Saltspring Community Transit route 4 to Ganges for a one hour and twenty minute layover leaving on route 2 to Fulford at 310pm
- 350pm Fulford Harbour to Swartz Bay.
- 530pm Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen.
The itinerary went as planned with no notable delays.
The fare for that whole trip was $17, or about $2 less than a Route 1 round trip on its own! Thank you Gulf Islands discount fares. I budgeted for more than $17 as I didn't realise there was a vending machine for 50% off the next Route 1 sailing on the Skeena Queen. I knew that vessel had to be good for something.
So here is a trip report by sailing.
Route 1 Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay, 7am, Spirit of British Columbia.
This trip was uneventful and as a frequent user of the route there is not too much exciting about it. The most interesting part of the sailing was actually on shore where I ended up being the last person charged the fuel surcharge at BC Ferries as an omission kept it in place for Tsawwassen to Saturna through fares.
On board the three watches have all put up Christmas trees to be auctioned off for charity. All three are well done, but C Watch wins in my book with a festive Canucks tree featuring a scale Stanley Cup. And I don't even like hockey!
Arriving at Swartz Bay the connection time is a bit tough as realistically you don't get off the ferry at about 840, and then are confronted with a line at the ticket booths. Luckily the 7am wasn't busy allowing an expedient trip upstairs and I got my boarding pass to Saturna one minute before the 850 ticket cut off time.
Route 5, Swartz Bay to Mayne Island via Saturna Island, 9am, Mayne Queen.
It was my first trip on the vessel and I enjoyed it. I had previously been on the Bowen Queen (and plan to do that again in the next 10 days) and they are unsurprisingly similar. For those who have not sailed on the class they follow the same utilitarian design as every other vessel of the era and thus lack amenities like a roof, or door wells under 8 inches! It is actually a great vessel for viewing scenery and of course other ferries with its big clear, and clean windows. Deck 4, the higher of the two passenger levels actually affords 180 degree viewing at the fore end. It was -10 on the water so that was a nice feature.
Going towards Saturna I got to take in the lovely scenery with the 15 or so other passengers. My favourite non-Northern route continues to be Earls Cove to Saltry Bay though. I didn't get off at Saturna and we were literally there for 3 minutes. We lost about 10 minutes (the amount of time scheduled for the layover) to rough waters. Which reminds me that if you're easily sea sick don't take the Mayne Queen!
Leaving Saturna full advantage of the 1979 installed Z Drive technology is taken and the vessel turns on itself. Heading to Mayne was uneventful.
The design of the passenger spaces on the Mayne & Bowen Queens defies logic, but none the less they are certainly functional and useful even as they obviously are advancing in age.
Route 9, Mayne Island to Saltspring Island via Pender Island, 1155am, Queen of Nanaimo
After wondering the snow covered beach next to the terminal and making small talk with some locals for 45 minutes or so the Queen of Nanaimo arrived with a Spirit and WMG ferry in the background to add to the ferry nerd ambiance.
I always have good things to say on Route 9 as the crews are friendly and the vessel is well kept. I also think the partial interior job done two years ago was a good move as doing a "full" job would have been excessively expensive I am sure, and there was need for interior modification anyways with the new chutes. I also still chuckle with seeing the big empty Deck 6 area where the lifeboats once were housed.
Do they ever use the Deck 6 lounge?
On this sailing I also indulged in a "classic" cheeseburger and fries with a glass of engine oil Coke. It was magical, and accounted for 25% of my BC Ferries expenses for the day at $8.49, too much even though it tastes great.
Again this sailing was pretty tame but obviously was a packed house when it left Tsawwassen.
We were about 5 minutes late into Long Harbour. It wasn't too chilly at this point which was nice, I would guess -3 or so. Here I caught the semi-new bus service to Ganges which turned out to be a private shuttle for $2! After a conversation with the driver I found out that my ride was not typical, and most trips are in fact packed. This would turn out to be true when I went to Fulford; every seat was occupied. The buses themselves are Ford frames like Vancouver had until recently with, get this, leather seats and seat belts! BC Transit cares about me!
In Ganges I visited my third favourite book shop (Number 1 is in Nanaimo, 2 is in Parksville) and got a book titled "Head On" about politics and major transportation planning in BC from Confederation until 2003. It is well written for the most part and I think the assessments of BC Ferries were fair, if not going a little easy on them.
By 340 the bus had gotten me to Fulford Harbour.
Route 4, Saltspring Island to Swartz Bay, 350pm, Skeena Queen.
I have such mixed emotions about this vessel... On one hand the utilitarian approach saves money but it also sucks to be a walk on passenger. There are 280 seats on the vessel, but given their design I am sure a realistic seated capacity is half of that.
The sailing itself sucked. It was insanely cold, and I have a high tolerance for cold weather. The passenger lounges were also not as warm as a normal person would expect, particularly given she is the fifth newest vessel in the fleet!
The Skeena Queen is also operating on a reduced license for the next 3 months, not too sure what the story is there.
We arrived at Swartz Bay on time. Thank goodness!
Route 1, Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen, 530pm, Spirit of British Columbia.
Spirit of British Columbia, whatever. ha ha. It was a really busy sailing, and it was incorrectly announced at Swartz Bay that the sailing would be 2 hours. This was not the case.
On this sailing I also received a pack of Tic Tacs in liue of a fuel surcharge refund from earlier in the day which I was incorrectly charged. I also had a chance to see Karl on board and get a distant and quick look at the new Queen of New Westminster.
All in all it was a good trip.
The trip itinerary:
- 7am Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay
- 9am Swartz Bay to Mayne Island via Saturna arriving at 1055am
- 1155am Mayne Island to Long Harbour via Pender Island arriving at 110pm
- Saltspring Community Transit route 4 to Ganges for a one hour and twenty minute layover leaving on route 2 to Fulford at 310pm
- 350pm Fulford Harbour to Swartz Bay.
- 530pm Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen.
The itinerary went as planned with no notable delays.
The fare for that whole trip was $17, or about $2 less than a Route 1 round trip on its own! Thank you Gulf Islands discount fares. I budgeted for more than $17 as I didn't realise there was a vending machine for 50% off the next Route 1 sailing on the Skeena Queen. I knew that vessel had to be good for something.
So here is a trip report by sailing.
Route 1 Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay, 7am, Spirit of British Columbia.
This trip was uneventful and as a frequent user of the route there is not too much exciting about it. The most interesting part of the sailing was actually on shore where I ended up being the last person charged the fuel surcharge at BC Ferries as an omission kept it in place for Tsawwassen to Saturna through fares.
On board the three watches have all put up Christmas trees to be auctioned off for charity. All three are well done, but C Watch wins in my book with a festive Canucks tree featuring a scale Stanley Cup. And I don't even like hockey!
Arriving at Swartz Bay the connection time is a bit tough as realistically you don't get off the ferry at about 840, and then are confronted with a line at the ticket booths. Luckily the 7am wasn't busy allowing an expedient trip upstairs and I got my boarding pass to Saturna one minute before the 850 ticket cut off time.
Route 5, Swartz Bay to Mayne Island via Saturna Island, 9am, Mayne Queen.
It was my first trip on the vessel and I enjoyed it. I had previously been on the Bowen Queen (and plan to do that again in the next 10 days) and they are unsurprisingly similar. For those who have not sailed on the class they follow the same utilitarian design as every other vessel of the era and thus lack amenities like a roof, or door wells under 8 inches! It is actually a great vessel for viewing scenery and of course other ferries with its big clear, and clean windows. Deck 4, the higher of the two passenger levels actually affords 180 degree viewing at the fore end. It was -10 on the water so that was a nice feature.
Going towards Saturna I got to take in the lovely scenery with the 15 or so other passengers. My favourite non-Northern route continues to be Earls Cove to Saltry Bay though. I didn't get off at Saturna and we were literally there for 3 minutes. We lost about 10 minutes (the amount of time scheduled for the layover) to rough waters. Which reminds me that if you're easily sea sick don't take the Mayne Queen!
Leaving Saturna full advantage of the 1979 installed Z Drive technology is taken and the vessel turns on itself. Heading to Mayne was uneventful.
The design of the passenger spaces on the Mayne & Bowen Queens defies logic, but none the less they are certainly functional and useful even as they obviously are advancing in age.
Route 9, Mayne Island to Saltspring Island via Pender Island, 1155am, Queen of Nanaimo
After wondering the snow covered beach next to the terminal and making small talk with some locals for 45 minutes or so the Queen of Nanaimo arrived with a Spirit and WMG ferry in the background to add to the ferry nerd ambiance.
I always have good things to say on Route 9 as the crews are friendly and the vessel is well kept. I also think the partial interior job done two years ago was a good move as doing a "full" job would have been excessively expensive I am sure, and there was need for interior modification anyways with the new chutes. I also still chuckle with seeing the big empty Deck 6 area where the lifeboats once were housed.
Do they ever use the Deck 6 lounge?
On this sailing I also indulged in a "classic" cheeseburger and fries with a glass of engine oil Coke. It was magical, and accounted for 25% of my BC Ferries expenses for the day at $8.49, too much even though it tastes great.
Again this sailing was pretty tame but obviously was a packed house when it left Tsawwassen.
We were about 5 minutes late into Long Harbour. It wasn't too chilly at this point which was nice, I would guess -3 or so. Here I caught the semi-new bus service to Ganges which turned out to be a private shuttle for $2! After a conversation with the driver I found out that my ride was not typical, and most trips are in fact packed. This would turn out to be true when I went to Fulford; every seat was occupied. The buses themselves are Ford frames like Vancouver had until recently with, get this, leather seats and seat belts! BC Transit cares about me!
In Ganges I visited my third favourite book shop (Number 1 is in Nanaimo, 2 is in Parksville) and got a book titled "Head On" about politics and major transportation planning in BC from Confederation until 2003. It is well written for the most part and I think the assessments of BC Ferries were fair, if not going a little easy on them.
By 340 the bus had gotten me to Fulford Harbour.
Route 4, Saltspring Island to Swartz Bay, 350pm, Skeena Queen.
I have such mixed emotions about this vessel... On one hand the utilitarian approach saves money but it also sucks to be a walk on passenger. There are 280 seats on the vessel, but given their design I am sure a realistic seated capacity is half of that.
The sailing itself sucked. It was insanely cold, and I have a high tolerance for cold weather. The passenger lounges were also not as warm as a normal person would expect, particularly given she is the fifth newest vessel in the fleet!
The Skeena Queen is also operating on a reduced license for the next 3 months, not too sure what the story is there.
We arrived at Swartz Bay on time. Thank goodness!
Route 1, Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen, 530pm, Spirit of British Columbia.
Spirit of British Columbia, whatever. ha ha. It was a really busy sailing, and it was incorrectly announced at Swartz Bay that the sailing would be 2 hours. This was not the case.
On this sailing I also received a pack of Tic Tacs in liue of a fuel surcharge refund from earlier in the day which I was incorrectly charged. I also had a chance to see Karl on board and get a distant and quick look at the new Queen of New Westminster.
All in all it was a good trip.
