Why are they replacing the Chilliwack?

[Ferryman]

Woah! That is really strange! If anyone of those ferries starts to sink, it would go down fast within a number of minutes. Well, if I just happened to go on a WSF for whatever reason, and that happened, I would hope I was one of the first to grab a Life Jacket.

[NMcKay]

it all has to do with regulations, they arn't allowed to be like BCF with the long cables and life rafts. the rafts MUST be launched from the cardeck, and in my opinion, that makes sense, i would not see very many conditions in which launchin from the Pax deck would be better than launching from the car deck.

[Dane]

brianwilliams said:

Q of Chilliwack has many faults, but food is not one of them.

We're comparing apples to oranges. All the complaints about food were tied to it being on Earls Cove-Saltry Bay... you're talking about it in Northern service when she is much better equipped and has substantially more crew. Currently I believe there is 1 "cook" and a cashier.

[Mike C]

ferryman said:

Woah! That is really strange! If anyone of those ferries starts to sink, it would go down fast within a number of minutes. Well, if I just happened to go on a WSF for whatever reason, and that happened, I would hope I was one of the first to grab a Life Jacket.

This is why every time I/we go on a BC Ferry, we always hear "DING DONG! This is an imporatant safety announcement required by Transport Canada Marine Services." It's the same on every BC Ferry, the SeaBus, WSF and probably in Harbourlynx.

[Deleted]

i live on beach dr in nanimo and you can see departer bay ferry terminal its a ten minute walk too the bech ive tacken some pictures of esquimalt and new ones of bowen i have a new web site called bcferryboy.piczo.com it doesnt have much yet but it coming along. all these web photos you get its awsome.
they shouldent sell the queen of chilliwak just give it a mid life refit sheeesh

[Quinsam]

kieran said:

they shouldent sell the queen of chilliwak just give it a mid life refit sheeesh

Well, that is what I would do, not only the Chilliwack, but a small one to the Mill Bay as well.

[Doug]

The Mill Bay is WAY past mid-life. If it were a person, it would be like 100 years old by now...ready to be sent to the grave (or should I say scrapyard).

[Quinsam]

Not a mid-life, a small refit, to rid of the rust and have small upgrades

[Curtis]

They've got to do about a million things to the Chilliwack then like streach her passenger areas so there is more space for passenger amenities and that would make her sun decks more open spaced

[SHipbuilders daughterwife]

I was on the Queen of Chilliwack in the late 80's--early nineties. She was on the Swartz Bay-Pender Island run.
BCF has just acquired her and I think that they were working out the bugs. She did have quite a few problems(such as the doors on the car deck not closing properly), and I remember her being out of service for a few days and inconveniencing a number of people. (Some of the people who live on Pender Island, work and go to school on Vancouver island.) She is an interesting ship to be on, as people have said.

[Neil]

Omigawd. There must be some safe medication that can be prescribed for OMBD- Obsessive Mill Bay Disorder.

[Balfour]

LOL! I think we finally diagnosed what Harry has, and why he loves the Mill Bay so much.

[Quinsam]

Correction... Not love it, like it,

[Neil]

Oh no. It's worse than I thought. He's in denial.

[Starbucks Queen]

hornbyguy said:

Omigawd. There must be some safe medication that can be prescribed for OMBD- Obsessive Mill Bay Disorder.

Yes - a ticket to Europe so he can try the "real" seagoing ferries and forget about the old barge soon.

- OK in case it´s not your most generous day, a trip on a WSF ship should easily be able to do the job and make him forget the stupid (and soon scrapped) thing

[Neil]

Quinsam Teen, I just want you to know that when I give you the gears about the Mill Bay, I don't mean anything nasty by it. Being devoted to the Mill Bay is pretty harmless compared to, say, stealing hubcaps or knocking off SevenElevens. I also don't want you to get angry, and use your computer skills to get back at your tormenters by inventing some horrible Mill Bay virus, infecting all our computers, so that no matter what we try to post on this board, all that comes up is, SAVE THE MILL BAY.... SAVE THE MILL BAY.... SAVE THE MILL BAY.....
So, no hard feelings, eh?

[Doug]

"But the Mill Bay only uses a barrel of fuel a day! That's less than the "V"s!"

And the "V"s hold, what, 20 times as many cars and passengers as the Mill Bay? Seeing BC Ferries' direction on the six routes they are looking at, the Mill Bay is done for within the next five years...to the scrapyard...finally.

[Doug]

I will word the last words like Harry has previously....

Oh poor thing, there goes 2 old ships.

1. The Sidney
2. The Victoria
3. The Mill Bay

[Quinsam]

hornbyguy said:

Quinsam Teen, also don't want you to get angry, and use your computer skills to get back at your tormenters by inventing some horrible Mill Bay virus, infecting all our computers

What a good Idea! I might try it.
On second thought, no. I do not know computer programming. YET.

[Neil]

Ooooh.... 'YET", he says. Be afraid, MillBay haters. Be very afraid. The poor Mill Bay, it seems, is to ferries what Surrey is to respectable places to live.

[ed]

brianwilliams said:

Read, if you have time, the Estonia story. It is heart-wrenching; for ferry enthusiasts, it's our worst nightmare. Start here: www.onnettomuustutkinta.fi/estonia/index.html

Estonia's justice minister Rein Lang just announced that he wants the international inquiry into the sinking of the Estonia ferry in September 1994 reopened.

Seems a committee has determined that there are several failings in the investigation. The bottom of the ship's hull was never examined or filmed in its entirety, interviews with survivors were flawed and a number of issues around the diving work on the wreck were unclear.

====================================================================================

Back in 1995 a working groug on RoRo passenger ferry safery for the nothern route did model testing carried out at BC Ocean Engineering Centre to investigate the potential for bow scooping on the Queen of Chilliwack as she is the same closed shelterdeck type of RoRo as the Estonia.

That's also the time when they welded the bow visor shut on the Queen of the North.

[Retrovision]

I'm sure that many of you have seen this before, but i thought it appropriate to post the link now.

There is quite a comprehensive 3D CGI video clip that was made for the investigating body (the Joint Accident Investigation Commission) showing what they found happened just before the sinking of the M.V. Estonia to the bow visor and ramp.

For me (a layman on the subject), atleast, this was quite an eye opener. I now wonder what measures were taken aboard our northern-vessels (especially the QPR and QotN) for TC to have allowed the doors to be un-welded (was it TC that mandated the welding of the bow doors, or a safety measure implemented by BCFC?).

Here's the link:
www.onnettomuustutkinta.fi/5974.htm

[Low Light Mike]

thanks for the Estonia link. It's kind of scary to watch, and the real event was obviously a tragedy.

[tyty]

tsawwassenterminal said:

For me, this was quite an eye opener. I now wonder what measures were taken aboard our northern-vessels (especially the QPR and QON) for TC to have allowed the doors to be un-welded.

Both vessels had a second set of bow doors installed inside the ferry itself. These would prevent water penetration if the bow visor were to fail like it did on the Estonia.

tn