Queen of Saanich out of service

[Koastal Karl]

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Cancelled Sailings August 20, 2006- 8:50 am UPDATE
Posted August 20, 2006

8:50 am Update

Repairs to the emergency generator on the Queen of Saanich are ongoing. The 12 noon sailing exit Swartz Bay and the 2 pm sailiing from Tsawwassen are also cancelled. The Queen of Saanich is expected to resume service at 4 pm from Swartz Bay.

The Queen of Saanich is experiencing a mechanical problem with the emergency generator. As a result, the 8 am sailing from Swartz Bay and the 10 am sailing from Tsawwassen are cancelled. Engineers are working hard to fix the problem as soon as possible.


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This is not good. This is the second time this summer the Saanich has been out. I sure hope she is back for the 4pm sailing as I know Chris you have a reservation on that sailing. If it's not back your gonna have fun trying to get home, lol!

[Islander12]

I've got to work at 4 on the saanich so I'll let ya'll know what happened tonight.

Later

[visitor 2]

water pump pulley failure

[Koastal Karl]

There is a 3 SAILING WAIT at Swartz Bay thanks to the Queen of Saanich being out of service!

Aviod route 1 today as it is crazy busy!

[Balfour]

Chris is taking route 1 today on the 4PM sailing, out of Swartz, which is a Queen of Saanich sailing. Thankfully he has a reservation.

[Koastal Karl]

That's interesting the Saanich is sailing then now. When I went out to Sidney this afternoon the overhead sign said the 5 and 6 were full and the 7 was like 78% at 3:30 today and no mention of the 4pm on there,lol!

[kylefossett]

does anybody know anything about the incident last night on the 10pm sailing from tsawwassen to swartz bay last night. i went out to my boat and turned on the vhf around 1030pm and heard communication between thw saanich bridge and victoria coast guard radio, part of the conversation involved the bridge saying they have done a head count, also they tasked the ccgs cape kuper from ganges, pender coast guard aux, the coast guard hovercraft and a cormorant helicopter. this all happened just outside active pass. the cormorant was still searching at about 1200 am

[Ferryman]

Hey guys, just returned home from my trip to Sidney. I went over on the Saanichs 10:00am sailing yesterday, and returned home tonight, on the 4:00pm sailing. We were suprised to see on the sign a few kilometers South of Swartz Bay, a 3 sailing wait. But I must admit, I was prepared this time. I hapily told the traffic director I had a Reservation, and she told me to go down the shoulder of the highway, passing the huge long lineup, to the toll booth, to claim our Reservation. Once we arrived in the terminal, there was an announcement over the PA, that the Saanich was out of service, and won't be sailing at 4, and the next sailing would be at 5. So I went and found some picnic tables not far from berth 3, where the Saanich was sitting, and I all of the sudden started noticing that they were firing the engines up. Just minutes later, there was announcement, that there will be a 4:00 sailing, and it will be boarding shortly. Sure enough, at 3:50, we started boarding, and eventually left Swartz Bay at 4:15.
To add a bit to my story, with yesterdays sailing...
It was really windy out on the Strait, and the Saanich was rolling around pretty good. I ended up having to give an elderly man a helping hand, as he fell flat on his butt, right in front of me. Just minutes later, I felt a bump, and some sort of alarms started going off. They were only going off for a matter of seconds, but when I heard that, I immediately thought about the alarms the passengers on the North talked about. Yes, my heart rate rose dramatically, but went back to normal, once the Cheif Steward came on the PA, and said that there was water in the system or something, and the Engineers are working diligently to fix the problem. So I'm not sure if that small incedent contributed to todays sailing cancellations.
I knew the Saanich was having troubles, because I was driving around Swartz Bay looking for good spots for taking pictures of Ferries, and I immediately noticed that the Saanich was tied up. So I ended up phoning up Jordan to see what the deal was there. Sure enough, she was out of service, as noted above.
Anyways, quite the experience, pics will be posted tomorrow.

[Koastal Karl]

wow that's crazy! I noticed on Galiano on Friday it was pretty windy on the strait and on the Nanaimo to TSA Friday night it was a bit windy!

[Islander12]

Alright, here we go. The Saanich left at 4:20 due to the engines needing a few minutes to start up and having to single up at 4:00. Not sure exactly what the problem was mechanically but they were waiting for parts for most of the morning. Final sailing left tsa at 10:25. Due to the heavy traffic, both spirits did extra round trips, although the SOVI was about 45 minutes late leaving tsa at 9:00. Gong show to be short.

As for last night, a passenger on the saanich said they heard someone saying something from the water, so they did a standard turnaround and head count and looked for the guy for a while but nothing was found. She was late about an hour and a half last night, and about an hour tonight...again, gong show.

[Ferryman]

The 'Saanich at Swartz Bay yesterday afternoon.


The 'Saanich, firing up her engines, for the 4:00 sailing.

[NMcKay]

those older boats just need some more TLC than the new boats.

[Curtis]

Very nice shot of the Smokestack though

[Koastal Karl]

Do they have to warm up the engines for long or could they fire them up at like 3:30 then sail at 4??

[Ferryman]

I would imagine that they would have to warm up the engines for a while, to ensure everything is operating properly. That picture of the smoke coming was actually the engine starting up at 3:42. Then we ended up leaving at 4:15 or so.