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Post by Hardy on Apr 11, 2007 20:01:55 GMT -8
Wow ... delays, emergencies, broken boats galore!
QofCoquitlam has it's issues today with missed/cancelled sailings and then running behind. They even had to drag QofVan out to do a run.
QofSurrey ran behind all day....
QofNW provided marine assistance and ran behind because of that
QofEsq ran 30 mins behind almost all day...
And that is just the south coastal routes. Nevermind our ongoing NorthernSoniaAdventure ......
Hmmmmm .... and it isn't even Friday the 13th yet ......
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Post by Coastal Drought on Apr 11, 2007 20:07:03 GMT -8
Interesting... is all I have to say.
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Post by hergfest on Apr 11, 2007 20:27:11 GMT -8
Been a while since the Vancouver was on Route 2. Looks like she did one from Departure Bay before the Coq was fixed.
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Post by kieran h on May 16, 2007 16:08:07 GMT -8
omg i want down to the dept bay terminal to see all the comosion and and person was seriosly injeredon the queen of cowichan it was 5 mins in forunt of the coquitlam and i saw the coquitlam come into dept bay at about 10 knotssee this is where you need the pacific cats there extrely good at making up time oh well check the news channles a bit thats what im doing
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Neil
Voyager 
Posts: 7,307
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Post by Neil on May 16, 2007 17:05:28 GMT -8
Just speaking for myself here, but when someone makes zero effort to express himself intelligently, I have zero interest in what he's saying. Sorry for the crankiness.
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Post by Low Light Mike on May 16, 2007 17:14:49 GMT -8
Just speaking for myself here, but when someone makes zero effort to express himself intelligently, I have zero interest in what he's saying. Sorry for the crankiness. Thanks for speaking up about that post. I didn't want to be too hasty in deleting it (yeah, I'm always trying new things....). To the poster (that's you, Kieren h): please re-read your posts, and make any edits before you hit the "Post reply" button. Thanks. |
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Post by Hardy on May 16, 2007 17:24:11 GMT -8
Grumpiness of others aside for non-editted posts, I dumped the service notices for the above incident into the proper thread. I will post some of the "actual depart/arrive times" into this thread later in the day for some discussion. Cappy is having her usual poor day making no time up until her mid-day break, running 45 min behind. Route 2 seems to be doomed today with long line ups due to the medical emergency and the mechanical issue (Thank goodness it wasn't all the bad things happening to ONE boat, but rather it screwed BOTH of them up! LOL There's your silver lining!!!!). Oh well .... "Life on the Coast".....  |
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Post by Ferryman on May 16, 2007 20:04:20 GMT -8
After having a look through another BC Ferry discussion page, I read a comment made by someone who was on the Queen of Cowichan this afternoon. This person was on the 3:00pm sailing, right around when it got to the halfway point, the Ferry turned around, to head for Departure Bay. It was almost 5:00pm when they headed for Horseshoe Bay again. Apparently there was free pop and coffee for everyone, once they finally got going again.
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Post by Hardy on May 16, 2007 22:56:56 GMT -8
Just for reference, in this BAD DAY, here's some of the info off the website -- some just observations, other cut and paste.
QofEsq ran into some trouble on Rte30 and ran about 15 mins behind from mid day
Poor old Cappy though:
Horseshoe Bay to Snug Cove (Bowen Is.)
Sailing time: 20 minutes Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Vessel Scheduled Departure Actual
Departure ETA or
Arrival Time Status
Queen of Capilano 6:05 AM 6:07 AM 6:24 AM On Time
Queen of Capilano 7:05 AM 7:13 AM 7:31 AM On Time
Queen of Capilano 8:05 AM 8:21 AM 8:38 AM Operational delay
Queen of Capilano 9:05 AM 9:25 AM 9:43 AM Operational delay
Queen of Capilano 10:05 AM 10:37 AM 10:57 AM Operational delay
Queen of Capilano 11:05 AM 11:47 AM 12:06 PM Operational delay
Queen of Capilano 12:05 PM 12:53 PM 1:14 PM Operational delay
Queen of Capilano 2:35 PM 2:35 PM 2:52 PM On Time
Queen of Capilano 3:35 PM 3:41 PM 3:57 PM On Time
Queen of Capilano 4:35 PM 4:39 PM 5:06 PM On Time
Queen of Capilano 5:35 PM 5:45 PM 6:01 PM Operational delay
Queen of Capilano 6:35 PM 6:45 PM 7:01 PM Operational delay
Queen of Capilano 7:35 PM 7:54 PM 8:10 PM Operational delay
Queen of Capilano 8:35 PM 8:44 PM 9:01 PM On Time
Queen of Capilano 9:35 PM 9:37 PM 9:54 PM On Time
And then there is our winner, Rte2 Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay
Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay
Sailing time: 1 hour 35 minutes Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Vessel Scheduled Departure Actual
Departure ETA or
Arrival Time Status
Queen of Coquitlam 6:30 AM 6:38 AM 8:12 AM On Time
Queen of Cowichan 8:30 AM 8:35 AM 10:42 AM On Time
Queen of Coquitlam 10:30 AM 10:46 AM ... Operational delay
Queen of Cowichan 12:30 PM 1:51 PM 3:26 PM Mechanical difficulties with vessel
Queen of Coquitlam 3:00 PM 3:06 PM 5:06 PM On Time
Queen of Cowichan 5:00 PM 6:59 PM 8:31 PM Operational delay
Queen of Coquitlam 7:00 PM 7:34 PM 9:11 PM Operational delay
Queen of Cowichan 9:00 PM 10:52 PM ETA: 12:27 AM Operational delay
(and it seems that their website won't update the other way so I cannot post that)
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Post by Hardy on May 17, 2007 15:11:56 GMT -8
Well, QoVan is helping out not only Tsa<->SB, but also Tsa<->DP today -- that's the only good news.
The Cappy is still hobbled, and Horseshoe<->Departure is still having trouble with the 2 C's Cow and Coq. Both are behind again due to "Operational Issues". I have not seen yet whether it is boat or terminal trouble. Tough luck on those runs again today, 2nd day in a row. I can only imagine the CHAOS coming this weekend.
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Post by Northern Exploration on May 17, 2007 15:28:40 GMT -8
Seems something must be up at Horseshoe. Too bad the West Van Web Cam of horseshoe bay didn't show more. Maybe the upgrading of the berths is getting in the way.
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Post by Hardy on May 17, 2007 20:22:55 GMT -8
From bad to worse. I can understand medical issues, but two days in a row on the same route, on the same boat ..... Sailing Delay - Medical Emergency Updated 5:35pm Please be advised the Queen of Coquitlam's 5 pm sailing from Departure Bay was delayed due to a medical emergency. As a result, the vessel is expected to sail approximately 30 minutes behind schedule for the remainder of the evening. For up-to-date sailing times for this route tonight, please check the current conditions page on our website. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank our customers for their patience this evening. link at: www.bcferries.com/print/schedules/notices/notice05170703.html------------------ This almost makes you wonder if there should not be more medical trained personnel and equipment onboard BCF fleet .... Does anyone know if they have a portable automatic defibrillator on board any of the vessels? What is the highest medical/FA training that the average crew members on the major routes would have? |
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Post by Ferryman on May 17, 2007 21:06:42 GMT -8
BC Ferries actually installed portable automatic defibrillators on all of the major vessels I believe, a year or two ago. I remember seeing a news release for it.....hmm...let me see.....Ah! Here it is....201 news releases ago, November 18, 2004. www.bcferries.com/news/files/04-086aed-ib.pdf I wonder if BC Ferries will actually get to utilize the helipads on the Super C's, in case of a medical emergency, to prevent the ferry from having to turn around. I can remember in December 1999 (two weeks before Christmas..) my Grandfather had major chest pains while taking the 12:45pm sailing, Queen of Alberni over to the Island, when we lived over there. He had suspected he was having a heart attack on board the Ferry that day, but was too embarrassed to say anything, and make the Ferry turnaround, to find out it was a false alarm. The next morning we ended up having to get him rushed to Nanaimo General Hospital, due to a heart attack. He survived the whole ordeal, and wasn't able to head back home on the Mainland until New Years Day. |
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Post by Scott on May 17, 2007 21:18:33 GMT -8
I was at Horseshoe Bay this evening and I can understand how one ferry getting off schedule has and will continue to cause chaos at Horseshoe Bay. They only have two berths operational at the moment and I could tell that when the Coquitlam and the Surrey arrived within minutes of each other and the Capilano was due any minute that things were going to just get worse. Especially since it looked like sailing waits to Departure Bay... leaving the crews no time to catch up at all.
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Post by Hardy on May 18, 2007 14:54:31 GMT -8
Re: Medical equip. Thanks for confirming what I thought to be true regarding the auto-defib's.
In addition to these very necessary units, I am still curious as to what level of medical training and compentancy the crew do indeed have. My point thru all of this, is not to belittle the medical issues that passengers may have whilst onboard, but rather how these passengers can receive the best attention possible. While a proper hospital, fully equipped and staffed, is always the best option, I question turning a ferry around when it is "Half way".
As heli-lifts are not always practical, and tend to be dangerous AND expensive, my query is whether or not it would be better to push on to destination, rather than return to origin.
I also accept and understand that crews cannot necessarily be trained up to EMT standards, when you can be an HOUR from shore, I would think that having some advanced medical training, at least enough to stabilize a patient and prepare them for further transport would be the most prudent case.
Examining the bottom line for a minute: Sure it costs more to train these crew and retain them, but how much revenue is burned up when you need to turn around the Queen of Cowichan half way from Dept to Horseshoe and then run behind all day?? Just dollars and cents revenue, customer satisfaction be damned, just MONEY wise? Then count in the hassle and aggrivation for those passengers on board also and all the others that are going to be delayed.
Again, don't mis-construe what I am saying -- I would never compromise someone's health for the sake of money; I am just taking the big picture approach and playing devil's advocate to make my point.
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,307
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Post by Neil on May 18, 2007 15:19:31 GMT -8
There really isn't any feasible alternative to getting the ferry back to the vicinity of the nearest hospital in a medical emergency. No amount of training can make up for hospital facilities in many critical situations. Look at land based paramedics; they're highly trained, but the goal is still usually to get the patient to the hospital as quickly and safely as possible.
As for the cost, I think we can be certain that an organisation as slavishly devoted to the bottom line as BCFS has crunched the numbers, and determined that the cost of having crew with advanced medical training, and more medical equipment, aboard all ferries, is way higher than occasionally having to turn the boat around. Not to mention that probably every paying customer, including me, wants to be assured that if they have a medical emergency, BCFS is more committed to getting them to safety than they are to maintaining a schedule.
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Post by Dane on May 18, 2007 17:28:07 GMT -8
Just as an aside, generally a heart attack, even on a BC Ferry, won't justify a helicopter unless someone immediately volunteers to pay for it.
The Super Cs helo-pad ability has a lot to do with the RCMP/ERS/DND from what I understand.
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Post by Coastal Canuck on May 18, 2007 18:11:23 GMT -8
well today is going from bad to worse... Sailing Delays - Operational Posted May 18, 2007 Updated at 2 pm Please be advised the Kuper is operating approximately 15-25 minutes behind schedule between Chemainus, Thetis Island, and Kuper Island due to operational issues. The vessel is not expected to be back on schedule before the end of the evening. We would like to apologize for any inconvenience experienced as a result of these delays today. Prince Rupert - Mid Coast - Port Hardy Posted May 18, 2007 Sailing Delay - Operational Updated at 3:20 pm on May 18th Please be advised the southbound departure from Prince Rupert was delayed approximately one hour today due to operational issues. The Queen of Prince Rupert is expected to arrive at Klemtu at 11:15 pm tonight, with an estimated sailing time from Klemtu at 11:45 pm. Passengers are asked to be ready for departure 90 minutes prior to the estimated sailing time, as the ship may make up time en route to Klemtu. The Queen of Prince Rupert is expected to be back on schedule for its arrival into Shearwater on Saturday morning at 2:45 am. We would like to apologize for any inconvenience experienced as a result of the delays tonight. Sailing Delay - Operational Posted May 18, 2007 Updated at 5:45 pm Please be advised MV Quadra Queen II is currently operating approximately 30 minutes behind schedule due to operational issues. The vessel is not expected to be back on schedule before the end of the evening. We would like to apologize for any inconvenience experienced tonight as a result of the delays Sailing Delays - Queen of Cumberland Posted May 18, 2007 Updated at 6 pm Please be advised the Queen of Cumberland is approximately 20-25 minutes behind schedule between Swartz Bay and the Southern Gulf Islands due to operational issues. The vessel is expected to sail behind schedule for the remainder of this evening. We would like to apologize for any inconvenience experienced as a result of these delays Sailing Delay - Operational Posted May 18, 2007 Updated at 6:30 pm Please be advised the Queen of Surrey was 30 minutes behind schedule for its 4:30 pm and 5:30 pm sailings due to operational issues. The vessel is not expected to be back on time before the end of the evening. We would like to apologize for any inconvenience experienced as a result of the delays today. so what vessel isn't running behind schedule  |
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Post by Hardy on May 18, 2007 18:19:32 GMT -8
Ah yes, the long weekend begins with a bang.
At least there are 3 boats on Rte30 ... lol Probably a good thing seeing that there are no res spots available on that route either, and Rte1 looks overbooked too.
Rte2 continues to run behind ... and it is only Friday ....
Wooooo-freaking-hoooo!
<sorry about the heavy sarcasm>
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Post by Dane on May 18, 2007 19:15:34 GMT -8
You know it's not that bad... lol
Thanks to BC Ferries diligent efforts to keep the website up to date we just know what's going on system wide, whereas we didn't even two years ago.
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Post by Retrovision on May 18, 2007 19:52:07 GMT -8
Ah yes, the long weekend begins with a bang. At least there are 3 boats on Rte30 If you consider 1 roundtrip as having an extra vessel. - Oddly enough people were being advised by City TV's Breakfast Television this morning that the only major route with bookings left available was route 1. - But seriously, I'd say the ferries are doing quite well for the volume they have to deal with today, no doubt due to the diligent efforts of crew and terminal personnel, let alone having no Oaky and the (probably) unexpected volume shift of foot passengers to Tsawwassen from Horseshoe Bay due to the Greyhound strike and PCL being the only non-transit coach company operating to the Island. |
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Post by Coastal Canuck on May 18, 2007 20:00:06 GMT -8
maybe just maybe PCL should have coaches go on the Duke Point route or something to Nanaimo because of the Greyhound strike (as I just heard of it now)
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Post by Retrovision on May 18, 2007 20:08:34 GMT -8
maybe just maybe PCL should have coaches go on the Duke Point route or something to Nanaimo because of the Greyhound strike (as I just heard of it now) But that would give people the impression that the road between Duke Point Terminal and downtown Nanaimo can actually handle buses, and people might actually start asking why there has never been any sort of bus connection to/from the terminal, not even transit   |
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Post by PCL Driver on May 23, 2007 22:02:10 GMT -8
maybe just maybe PCL should have coaches go on the Duke Point route or something to Nanaimo because of the Greyhound strike (as I just heard of it now) If PCL did that, we'd be picketed by the ATU members at Greyhound. Both of our depots (Victoria and Vancouver) are run by Greyhound. At present, Greyhounds Island division ( Actually named Vancouver Island Coach Lines, using Greyhound Buses and driven by members of the CAW) is still operating, so we have access to our Victoria Depot, But the Vancouver depot is shut down, so we're loading off the street in front of the depot. Also, about 5 years ago, PCL did operate trips from Nanaimo to Vancouver (YVR) (via Duke Point) 3 days a week. I seem to remember that on our best day we carried 10 people, and were empty most of the time... |
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Nick
Voyager
Chief Engineer - Queen of Richmond
Posts: 2,080 
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Post by Nick on Jun 19, 2007 11:57:21 GMT -8
I probably shouldn't drag a thread this old up again, but I thought I should respond to the level of medical training onboard each vessel.
I know that on the major vessels, there are at least 2 crew members with Occupational First Aid level 3. That is the minimum requirement by TC. Also, I think that most of the crew has at least OFA level 1.
For those interested, the upper deck 7 on the spirits is also capable of landing a helicopter in an emergency situation
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