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Post by Ferryman on Aug 6, 2007 23:40:02 GMT -8
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Post by Retrovision on Aug 7, 2007 0:02:37 GMT -8
Great photos, Chris. I can imagine that was an interesting situation to see play-out. Ferrygeeks stand out in the crowds when they suddenly run to the best viewpoint to get a few photos  . Same as prudent photographers |
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Post by Hardy on Aug 7, 2007 4:50:30 GMT -8
&%$@*&^@**!$%%%!!!!!!!
Explain THIS to me. There are NO scheduled extra sailings today on Rte-2 or Rte-3. In other words, the Esquimalt is sitting idle all day, and the Coquitlam is only doing 3 trips.
WHERE THE HELL IS THE EXTRA SUPPORT FOR RTE-30?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
This is just downright UNACCEPTABLE. THERE IS A BOAT SITTING IDLE AT LANGDALE, WHILE ONE ROUTE RUNS AT 50% OF ITS WINTER CAPACITY!!!!
Pull your heads out, they will get stuck up your arses if you don't!! OMG, are they ever challenged!!!!
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Post by Low Light Mike on Aug 7, 2007 7:03:27 GMT -8
Question to Hardy, and this is about your post's style, not it's content: - Are you normally this "loud" about these types of issues? I mean normally as in "real life" too. ie. Do you get worked up easily, or is it a slow-simmering process re an issue that makes your life difficult? Just curious, as I've been observing your posts made in the past 12 hours, and noticed the temperature rising as I've read through them. The latest post is the royal-flush of exasperation: - #$%&^$# keyboard-swearing - upper case yelling - the dreaded "r" word at the end (which I actually find somewhat offensive, as I've met and worked with many folks who are now called "mentally challenged", and this word to me is an intended insult by comparing a typical-person to that particular type of challenged person). So, just wondering if this is the result of pent-up frustration with a quasi-gov't service impacting your own work-life? Normally, we get your posts in good-humour, and fun. Is this particular issue a much more intense circumstance for you? ps: pardon my focus on your posting style, but the loudness of the last 12 hours' posts begs these questions. I'm simply reacting to your loud posts with curiosity. People's reactions to things like this Alberni-matter are interesting to me. |
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Post by hergfest on Aug 7, 2007 7:10:38 GMT -8
Looks like they did a lifeboat drill on the Alberni while she was sitting in the bay. Makes sense, you don't have anything else to do...lol
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Post by Political Incorrectness on Aug 7, 2007 7:13:12 GMT -8
Hardy, I feel your fustration, they are being ****ing stupid. That is how they usually are as you can tell they are not even willing to take counters and count cars waiting for a ferry to Tsawwassen and just turn people away just to list another sailing. Under the government system, this would not happen.
BCFS: making no sense of logic
BTW, fluge, I don't take offense to that word unless it is directed and somebody it should not be directed at. In this case, I believe hardy directs that at the upper management that should be focusing on restoring the route to full service sooner versus later and instead does the opposite. Especially since Hardy is a frequent user of the system if I am not mistaken?
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Koastal Karl
Voyager 
Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
Posts: 7,747
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Post by Koastal Karl on Aug 7, 2007 8:46:07 GMT -8
It really pisses me off and it's like BC Ferries dosent even care! Right now there is 1 sailing wait from TSA next sailing at 3:15pm to Duke! 1 sailing waits both ways on route 1 too. Maybe they should fire up the Tachek and take her to Langdale and the Nimpkish! lol! The Esquimalt needs to be on route 30 today not sitting at Langdale doing nothing and Departure Bay there is a 2 sailing wait right now and also a 2 sailing wait from HSB too!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2007 9:26:32 GMT -8
I did mean to say Esquimalt, thanks guys.
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Post by Ferryman on Aug 7, 2007 10:08:41 GMT -8
It's going to be just great trying to get home.....If I go back tomorrow, word will be out that there is 2 boats on route 30 again, so crowds might even out between Departure Bay and Duke Point. If I go back Thursday, there will start to be a new batch of people wanting to go to the Mainland for the Weekend. So many decisions......
BTW: that zodiak that was deployed off of the Alberni just went straight from the Ferry to the terminal, holding about 4 crew members who disembarked on to one of the ladders on the wingwalls. They were probably cafeteria workers who weren't needed for the rest of the day...
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Neil
Voyager
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Post by Neil on Aug 7, 2007 13:42:10 GMT -8
Given the fact that extra sailings have been provided many times in the past to cover lost sailings, might we not assume that there just might be a valid reason for not doing it this time, other than apathy or managerial mental handicap? Just suggesting.
By the way, P.I.- not to make a big deal of it, but 'challenged' is never an appropriate term to call someone, whether you think it fits or not.
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Mill Bay
Voyager
Long Suffering Bosun
Posts: 2,887 
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Post by Mill Bay on Aug 7, 2007 14:42:08 GMT -8
Pull your collective heads out of your collective rectums and give the people of BC the ferry service they deserve and have been paying thru the nose for. Damnation -- I've filled up the voicemail already on the one admin number I know has voicemail. How bloody stupid do you have to be to be BCFS management? Crafty and savvily stupid, running by a budget that has been the responsibility of the province historically and no longer has that kind of oversight; the irony of this being in that the party in power actually profited at the polls enough to carry their mandate through today. I was hearing about this in traffic reports all day long yesterday I also want to reiterate that there is no reason why we should give the 'whatever it is' ferry company a break on this. Despite the fact that extra sailings have usually been provided in the past, why weren't they offered this time. This is not the time to worry about contingencies and saving money. When the situation is critical, any company should be expected to provide its service to the public first! ...And worry about balancing the costs later. I know that sometimes you just can't beat the odds, but to have a major mechanical failure this soon after a major upgrade would logically point to certain glaring errors in the process. If the necessary work had been seen to and carried out properly, then the ship would have had all the chances of pulling through the weekend cleanly and there would be no need to worry about lost sailings or the lack of extra ones, because the service would have been operating properly. The ferry service in BC is not something they can just play around with simply because they style themselves as a private company... They are offering a public service, and the service has to be there, which means it does not really matter how flashy they made the interior of the ferry look, because if it isn't operating correctly then there is obviously a problem. If the service isn't there, the service isn't there. For any company that offers a service to the public, the general rule is that when the service is not acceptably up to standard or is generally below standard, the company is responsible to correct the problem. If something goes wrong by accident, that's what corporate insurance is for... If something goes wrong because of deliberately not bothering to adequately maintain the vessels providing the service, then it is unquestionably the company's fault, no excuses. The short of the matter is that, if BCferries in fact simply did not bother to do adequate upgrades, overhaul and preventative maintenance to all mechanical systems, but instead spent money on making the ship pretty, then the company has outright failed to do its job in offering acceptable service to the public and should be penalized accordingly. I know this is a big if, and that some of us are more than a little bit cynical about these things, but it does seem fairly obvious that something was left undone, then there should most definitely be repercussions of some form or another. Either through fines or sanctions of some sort, or even with outright legislation. Safe, secure and reliable operation should be the first priority of this ferry service, and if they are deliberately trying to side step that responsibility, then perhaps the company should be removed from its position of trust, and the responsibility of providing the service giving to others more knowledgeable and responsible and worthy of trust to provide such an important service. Whatever we might say about cost overruns, it is obvious that a supposedly independent run ferry corporation knows how to make money disappear just as well, if not better, than a provincially run ferry service with even poorer offerings to show for it in the end. They've built themselves a nice pyramid, but if they want to run everything with a top-down style of management, then when the Queen of Alberni breaks down, David Hahn should be the first one inside the engine room with a wrench to fix the problem, simply because he has been made the first person, and the problem is undoubtedly the responsibility of some human being, so some human being should repair it. |
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Post by Alex on Aug 7, 2007 15:51:54 GMT -8
I was stuck in this mess! Me and my friends were in Tofino for the weekend. Man, imagine trying to divert 2 other cars from Duke Point to Departure Bay with a mad scramble of cell phone calls and crazy car maneuvers! Anyways, we got to Departure Bay at about 12:30 in the afternoon, and didn't get on until the 4:30 sailing, which I think was the Coquitlam. Like someone else mentioned, one of the berths at Horseshoe Bay was screwed up too. We docked, and a few of the overheights went out, and then they stopped everyone, and then nothing happened for a bit. Then there were some announcements that I couldn't hear, and we backed out of that berth and into the next one. Very interesting. But overall, a very busy and annoying experience!
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Nick
Voyager
Chief Engineer - Queen of Richmond
Posts: 2,080
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Post by Nick on Aug 8, 2007 15:55:21 GMT -8
All of the ships that have undergone MLUs, have all had the money spent up top. I have been all over these ships for work, most recently the burnaby, and none of them has had any major work done to the mechanical systems of the ship. The burnaby's engine room didn't even have fire equipment set up in it's proper place and it's been in service for over a month.
I am personally very angry at BCFS for this lack of forthought. When a primary vessel has to be pulled from service on the busiest weekend of the year, there's something wrong.
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Post by Coastal Canuck on Aug 9, 2007 15:25:36 GMT -8
according to the RBI the Queen of Alberni will be returning to service on Sunday with the 5:15 am sailing from Duke Point to Tsawwassen  |
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Post by hwy19man on Aug 9, 2007 15:27:21 GMT -8
I'll keep on saying it over and over again but, with the peak summer season upon us and in the midst of a long weekend , Murphy's Law strikes again!!  Hopefully this will be it for breakdowns this month. |
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Post by Coastal Drought on Aug 9, 2007 15:37:48 GMT -8
I wouldn't count on it Hwy19man.
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Post by Hardy on Aug 9, 2007 18:52:03 GMT -8
As long as they don't have to pull the Alberni out to fix the showers when they get clogged ....  Seriously though, my best bet is going to be that it is a Rte-1 vessel that goes tats-up next. Maybe the Vancouver or the SoVI .... |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2007 10:02:39 GMT -8
The Alberni is back, I saw her arrive and leave fulled loaded at Tsawwassen, Monday afternoon.
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Post by Coastal Canuck on Aug 14, 2007 10:26:52 GMT -8
The Alberni is back, I saw her arrive and leave fulled loaded at Tsawwassen, Monday afternoon. she has been back since Sunday |
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Post by Mike C on Aug 14, 2007 20:21:49 GMT -8
This is funny - I noticed on the 3rd and 4th she ran over an hour late, but on the 5th she was right on time -  - I guess it was a birthday present to me ;D or was it just luck  - hopefully both |
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- I guess it was a birthday present to me ;D 
- hopefully both