Replacement for the Queen of Tsawwassen

[hergfest]

Since the Queen of Tsawwassen will be retired next year, the point was brought up which vessel will replace the Nanaimo and Burnaby during their refits. My guess is the Chilliwack, since she is the only remaining extra vessel with doors. She only has a 115 car capacity, but what else could they use? Plus there still isn't a replacement for the Wack in the near future.

[Balfour]

The 'Wack does seem like a reasonable replacement, another possibility could be the new MV Island Sky. It's hard to tell how that will work so I guess we'll have to wait until that time comes. Until we know for sure, one can only speculate.

[queenofcowichan]

Because of her open deck I doubt the Island Sky would be used in service on the open straight of Georgia runs Due to the fact the Georgia Straight is generaly takes the Brunt of winter storms.

If The open decks were not a issue, the Bowen Queen could easily replace the Cumbie while that ship with 127 car capacity could have been used on The TSwn- SGI and the PR-Comox run.

BC Ferrries will do doubt have to have a new ship suited for open waters built to replace the Chilliwack.

[Neil]

The 'Chilliwack could cover for the 'Burnaby on that run, but the 'Burnaby would have to come south to do the Tsawwassen- Gulf Islands route, as the 'Chilliwack is probably too slow to maintain the schedule.

[Retrovision]

hornbyguy said:

The 'Chilliwack could cover for the 'Burnaby on that run, but the 'Burnaby would have to come south to do the Tsawwassen- Gulf Islands route, as the 'Chilliwack is probably too slow to maintain the schedule.

Though we've seen - mind you, only for a few days - the Queen of Nanaimo replaced completely by the Bowen Queen recently on Route 9 (Tsa-SGI) with any and all service to Long Harbour dropped - during when TC allows the Bowen Queen to cross the Strait, granted - so I don't think we can put any lacking contingencies past BCFS at this point.

[Dane]

Back in the day the I was going to replace the BUrnaby's slot, so I would think that the ferry-who's-name-I-refuse-to-type could replce the Burnaby for when both the Burnaby and Nanaimo are out of service?

[Gunny]

How about the ol' Queen of Richmond. She should be available off of Route 31B.

Gunny,
Trying to keep a straight face.

[NMcKay]

im thinking that it would be the bowen queen... and then they would weld on a system similar to that of the klitsa (with the fold down door) and let it work that way

[Mill Bay]

In this regard, they may have committed a slight oversight in the design of the I ferry, because if it is intented to replace the Tsawwassen, they sort of didn't take into account the greater range of use the Tsawwassen has by being an enclosed car-deck vessel. With an open car-deck arrangment, "Island-what's-her-name" may actually have less functionality than the Tsawwassen, so they will probably have to end up building a replacement for the replacement with a design more suitable for crossing open bodies of water.

[Quatchi]

Hi

When I was at Earls Cove this today the attendant there told me that the Island Sky will be at Earls Cove-Saltery Bay permanently and that the Queen of Chilliwack will be doing the refit replacements for the Naniamo And Burnaby during the winter.

Cheers,

[Curtis]

All I know is next winter is going to be intresting for the Chilliwack. Going to be odd seeing a double ender on the Comox Route...and the Chilliwack returning to the Southern Gulf Islands.

[Hardy]

cadmunkey said:

When I was at Earls Cove this today the attendant there told me that the Island Sky will be at Earls Cove-Saltery Bay permanently and that the Queen of Chilliwack will be doing the refit replacements for the Naniamo And Burnaby during the winter.

This is kind of what I figured, but I kept my idle speculation to myself. This would make the most sense for several reasons.

'IS' would not need to come down for refits for the first little bit (we would hope) and other than routine maintenance, there is no real reason why they would have to shuffle another boat up there as a seasonal replacement.

Add to that, the described inability of the 'IS' to be placed on certain other runs, and you pretty well have a one-trick pony as far as she is concerned.

[Retrovision]

It should be mentioned that, as far as I remember, the IS was either intended for Bowen Island (Route #8, to Horseshoe Bay) or, when faced with what was likely predicted to be major local opposition, as an incentive to upgrade the Snug Cove Terminal on Bowen Island, which we know to be quite a long way off because of the stalwart NIMBYism of Bowen Islanders.

[Kam]

I just got back from a trip to Powell River today, and along with spotting the NORAD on sea trials

( pictures at: ferriesbc.proboards20.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=generaltalk&thread=1171510218&page=2 )

I bumped in to an off shift ferry worker out walking his dog along the beach. This fellow works the night maintenance crew on the Burnaby.

He claims that the Chilliwack can’t be used at the little river terminal because her legs hang down too low. If they wanted to use the whack they would need to do some serious dredging.

Now this is the part that I have an extreme amount of difficulty swallowing:
Apparently at extreme low tide the Burnaby’s bow will actually touch bottom near the ramp.

Like I say, I have a lot of difficulty with that one..

But this the other piece of interesting scuttlebutt from this fellow: the Queen of Saanich is being considered for relief duties!

Go figure that one out..

[Nick]

I wouldn't be surprised about that bow thing. It is not far from the shore where it sits there, and it wouldn't be all that deep. The bulbous bow on those ships do stick down a fair bit, and the ocean floor there is most likely fine gravel or sand, so it wouldn't do any harm. It probably doesn't happen very often, just on the extreme low tides in the summer.

[WettCoast]

I had speculated some time ago about BCFS's using a double car-decked 'V' as a relief vessel for the Nanaimo and Burnaby. I think that some forum members thought that suggestion rediculous. But it looks as if it could happen. I guess they would sail with an empty upper car deck.

I do not think that the the open car-decked I Class type vessel is suitable for fall/winter use on long open Georgia Strait crossings.

[Quatchi]

I cant see how the Chilliwack couldn't get into Little River. The Burnaby has a draft of 5.12m while the Chilliwack sits at 4.2m including the Legs and the Keels sit at 3.8 m. Also those legs are about 20m back from the bow. Now I don't know the exact conditions at the Little River terminal and I don't know the exact profile of the Burnaby, but it looks like there should be no problem for the Chilliwack to get into Little River. Although if the legs did hit it would be really bad.

Cheers,

[hergfest]

I would think that the Saanich would have a lower draft than the Burnaby would. Plus the Vs had bulbous bows put on them, where I don't think the Burnaby or Nanaimo had this done. Plus the Saanich has to burn more fuel than the unlifted Bs.

[Dane]

I am becoming increasingly alarmed at how many "plans" the V Class seem to be in. Not because it brings itno question each of the varied rumours we've been privvy to, that's just part of the game; but rather, it does send a signal that these vessels are likely here to stay for awhile and I think that is a very bad thing. I know we all love the Vs, but they'll be our Steal Electrics a lot faster - they've recieved half the major rebuilds.

[Hardy]

wetcoastkidjst said:

I had speculated some time ago about BCFS's using a double car-decked 'V' as a relief vessel for the Nanaimo and Burnaby. I think that some forum members thought that suggestion rediculous. But it looks as if it could happen. I guess they would sail with an empty upper car deck.

I do not think that the the open car-decked I Class type vessel is suitable for fall/winter use on long open Georgia Strait crossings.

If they run out of 'B'-s and have no suitable vessels for the route, then BCFS will have no alternative but to run something like a 'V'with the top deck empty. It would not be the end of the world to do this, but it sure would not be very economical.

As to open vs enclosed deck boats, I think that BCFS should have looked at this a little closer, unless there are some more replacement plans that are already in the pipeline that we do not know about (I find that hard to believe, as we seem to know almost everything!). They hit their marks with the Coastals, making sure that they were inter-operable on their intended routes, but I think that the 'IS' is just a "make do" type vessel produced quickly and auspiciously 'cheaply' with limited versatility. Then again, there is nothing wrong with building route-specific ships, as long as they are suited for it, and as long as somewhere in your fleet you have coverage and alternatives for your other routes. As I say, we might be passing judgement on the 'IS' without knowing what else is in the pipeline for when she will need to run replacement duty.

[Curtis]

It Would be Kind of rediculous to Run a V Class on Route 17 not so much on Route 9 but then again, that would be just...Awesome.

[Scott]

Didn't you hear? The AWESOME new changes at BC Ferries... all the Gulf Islands will be outfitted with double deck ramps;)

[Quinsam]

Well, I suppose that will be an advantage. Meaning that any new vessels that have to be built to run to the gulf Islands will not have to be restricted to single deck vessels. But, surely not entirely all of them? Fulford Harbour and Descanso Bay for example, they're too small to accommodate anything much larger than the Skeena Queen.

[Nick]

I'm pretty sure John was being sarcastic. :-)

[Mill Bay]

coxnnick said:

I'm pretty sure John was being sarcastic. :-)

Maybe not... maybe they plan to double-deck the Skeena too...