Koastal Karl
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Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
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Post by Koastal Karl on Dec 27, 2005 16:35:44 GMT -8
I was out at Swartz Bay around 3pm and there was currently a 3 sailing wait and they were lined up almost to McDonald Park. I thought that was the end of the line as I came around the corner by McDonald Park they were stopping more cars right by the sign that says conjestion ahead on your way into the terminal. Right now Tsawwassen is completely full the holding area and is a 3 sailing wait to Swartz Bay. I have never seen traffic for Duke Point lined up like that with also a 1 sailing wait. A 2 sailing wait to Horseshoe Bay and 1 from Duke Point to Tsawwassen and 1 from Horsehoe Bay and also Langdale to Horseshoe Bay has a 1 sailing wait. It is just crazy at the ferries today. Not a good day to travel and people are so stupid they dont listen as they all travel today which is why there are so many waits. People just dont get it.
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Post by Retrovision on Dec 27, 2005 19:07:04 GMT -8
Ahh, but unlike them, I chose to travel today; and, boy do I have a story for you folks. I'm currently tired from a long day of travel, but will go into full details later. I do have a question though... Has anyone tried the throughfare service offered by the supplemental sailings of the Bowen Queen?? (*incorrectly* (still) posted here: www.bcferries.com/schedules/notices/notice12190503.html) Well, let's just say that, atleast today, they were doing quite the oposite of BCFS's intention... Atleast I don't think it was their intention to have a total of 5 cars and one walk on for the entire first round trip today... Just wait 'til you hear the details... Between this and the Oct 10th incident, when not only did terminal staff I spoke with not know about the fact that the early morning sailing out of SB were still a go (as is printed in each and every All Routes Schedule), but the Tower wasn't even manned (!), I'm starting to see some pretty big holes in the new BCFS. |
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Koastal Karl
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Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
Posts: 7,747
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Post by Koastal Karl on Dec 27, 2005 19:19:35 GMT -8
I still cant believe there is a 3 sailing wait at Tsawwassen and it's 7:15pm but they have added an extra 8pm and 10pm sailings tonight along with the 9pm, but is that enough? lol!
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Post by Retrovision on Dec 27, 2005 19:48:17 GMT -8
that's huge... they should have travelled in the morning: the 8am QoVan out of TSA was quite reasonable in terms of crowds... The 2pm QoVan out of SB, though, was packed; and that's the QoVan, I can't imaginge how the Saanich looked at about the same time.
Karl, were you around SB anytime that the Bowen Queen was either departing or arriving? If you were, then you would know what I was talking about in my last post.
The discrepancy between the posted schedule of the Bowen Queen and how it actually played out made no sense to me: They were refusing to load *anyone*, *including* foot passengers(!), bound for Mayne (and they insisted that you take the next ferry... a ferry that would have gotten you there an hour or so later(!) while the Bowen Queen departs with literally *2* cars(!) and no foot passengers (!))... And that's not even my whole Story! (I've got pics to prove it)
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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 Dec 27, 2005 21:32:22 GMT -8
post the photos. I dident see the Bowen Queen at Swartz Bay cause I drove by around 3pm but I heard the Bowen Queen depart SB as I was listening to the scanner!
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Koastal Karl
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Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
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Post by Koastal Karl on Dec 27, 2005 21:36:25 GMT -8
My kind of sailing are like the last sailings tonight from Tsawwassen at 9:45pm Queen of Saanich and the 10pm Swartz Bay sailing on the Queen of Vancouver I think will be Ghost sailings tonight as all the traffic has been cleared out now. The 10pm sailings will be nice and quiet tonight! boy oh boy, that was some busy day today. Maybe the crew of the Saanich and Vancouver will celebrate the end of a busy day and just relax on the last trips back tonight! lol!
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Post by Low Light Mike on Dec 27, 2005 22:30:07 GMT -8
Aparantly the Q-Burnaby was full today for the noon sailing out of Powell River, and again on the 3:00 pm sailing from Comox.
It was 1/2 full on the 5:00pm out of Powell River tonight, which I was on.
The midship-lounge on the Q-Burnaby has an interesting quirk with the windows. The port-side windows are original looking, while the starboard-side windows are new, with white-frames. Must have been a refit thing.
On the Dec.24th sailing on the Burnaby, I had an excellent 15-minute conversation with a deckhand during the stormy sailing. We were standing at the open stern-doors on the car deck, and he explained lots to me about deck-plating, water controlling measures on the car-deck (ie. drainage valves), and explained the master's course-strategy for a windy day (how they hug the shores at Cape Lazo and at Texada. When we passed Vivian Rock, the ship did a hard turn to Port (announced on the PA by the master), in order to get shelter from the winds. It was the best conversation I've ever had with a ferry worker on board.
Later on that Dec.24th sailing, I went to the cafeteria, and they were on breakfast, but they made me a cheeseburger! (it was 11:30 am). That crew was excellent.
Another thing about the Burnaby: we were parked midship on the car-deck, and the engine-room fumes were uncomfortable for us.
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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 Dec 28, 2005 10:22:33 GMT -8
God dammit BC Ferries are stupid sometimes. They go from sailings every hour yesterday to every two hours today and it's 10:20am and there is a 2 sailing wait from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen. Same with route 2 there are no extra sailings today and there is a 1 sailing wait and also Langdale and from Horseshoe Bay to Naniamo. I mean they dont have to have sailings ever hour from each side but just a few extra sailings today would probably do it which they will probably end up adding anyways today!
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Post by Shane on Dec 28, 2005 11:19:13 GMT -8
Outside Swartz Bay just after 11:10.  |
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Koastal Karl
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Post by Koastal Karl on Dec 28, 2005 11:22:16 GMT -8
yeah they finally looked at the traffic situation and added a 12pm both both sides and a 2pm and also the Esquimalt is sailing at 11:30am on route 2.
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Post by Shane on Dec 28, 2005 11:23:48 GMT -8
Its not only bad at Swartz Bay.
Look outside Departure Bay.
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Post by Retrovision on Dec 28, 2005 15:10:21 GMT -8
God dammit BC Ferries are stupid sometimes. They go from sailings every hour yesterday to every two hours today and it's 10:20am and there is a 2 sailing wait from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen. Same with route 2 there are no extra sailings today and there is a 1 sailing wait and also Langdale and from Horseshoe Bay to Naniamo. I mean they dont have to have sailings ever hour from each side but just a few extra sailings today would probably do it which they will probably end up adding anyways today! Please excuse the term, but BCFS needs to 'get their sht together'. The money spent on fuel and crew on the almost *completely* empty supplemental sailings of the Bowen Queen could have been *much* better spent on adding sailings to routes 1, 2 or 3 (or anywhere else for that matter). I was quite surprised yesterday at the apparent financial incompetence of BCFS' handling of the Bowen's extra sailings, let alone the customer relations nightmare that presented itself between the mis-information that's *still* online, and the treatment of foot passengers. Because it's unrelated, I won't even get into the atitude problem of one particular staff member that I unfortunately had to cross paths with; but all tolled, for someone not in the know, it could have been quite an unpleasant experience. |
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Post by Shane on Dec 29, 2005 20:13:47 GMT -8
Tsawassen is awefully busy tonight.
Its only 8 o'clock and the 9:00 pm sailing to Swartz Bay is 100% full and the 11:00 pm is 88% full.
Theres is 1 sailing wait for cars and oversize vehicles.
I bet people are gonna be camping out at the terminal tonight.
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Post by Shane on Dec 29, 2005 20:31:08 GMT -8
Its 8:30 now and there's 2 sailing waits for cars and 2 sailing waits for oversize vehicles and the 11:00 pm sailing is 100% full.
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Koastal Karl
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Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
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Post by Koastal Karl on Dec 29, 2005 21:12:53 GMT -8
Obviously if the Queen of Saanich is doing the 11pm sailing something is wrong with the SOBC and I assume it aint windy there as the Saanich wouldent be doing the sailing. It is crazy windy here right now!
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Post by hergfest on Dec 29, 2005 23:45:10 GMT -8
The SOBC didn't do the 9pm sailing from Swartz Bay, the Sannich did. Maybe she is better in bad weather?
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Post by Political Incorrectness on Dec 30, 2005 0:45:46 GMT -8
No the Saanich is much older than the SOBC, she can not stand a 50 km/h gust. There has been no service bulletin, why would the Saanich do better in bad weather if the SOVI was traveling too?
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Doug
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Post by Doug on Dec 30, 2005 0:55:52 GMT -8
Any ferry can handle a 50 km/h wind. Hell that's just a breeze on the ocean. The average winds on the Strait of Georgia are probably between 15 and 20 knots. When it gets a little choppier it can reach 35, although in some cases it has passed 60 in VERY rough conditions for the average Strait of Georgia weather. This is when the ferries won't sail (due to the docking, NOT the sailing) Gusts, apparently, have reached 180 km/h at times, but is rare. When you suspect it is windy on the water, or if is windy at your place, log onto weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/marine/index_e.html . |
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Doug
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Post by Doug on Dec 30, 2005 1:13:01 GMT -8
And here is the briefing for the Hecate Strait:
Forecast:
Storm warning continued.
Southeast gales 45 to storm force 55 knots easing to southerly 30 to gales 40 near midnight and to southerly 20 to 30 overnight. Winds backing to easterly 15 to 25 Friday evening. Rain tapering to Showers Friday. Seas 4 to 6 metres building to 8 metres over Southern sections tonight. Seas subsiding to 3 to 4 metres Friday morning.
Outlook. Winds strong easterly backing to moderate to strong northerly.
The Rupert is in for a beating....
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Post by Shane on Dec 30, 2005 7:09:29 GMT -8
Things are looking pretty good this morning.
The Tsawwassen to Southern Gulf Islands route already has 2 car waits and 2 oversize waits.
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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 Jan 3, 2006 11:04:45 GMT -8
Looks like there are some leave behinds from the 11am from Swartz Bay. They should get the Esquimalt down to Swartz Bay ASAP in case they need her to do extra sailings while the Saanich is running. She is schedule to sail from Swartz Bay on Friday so they should be bringing her down this week. Right now the SOVI is sitting at SB.
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Post by Retrovision on Jan 3, 2006 15:58:43 GMT -8
I guess that they'll be full overnight at SB when berth two is shut down tomorow. Saanich in 1, Esq in 3, and Cumbie and Mayne in 4 and 5. It'll be interesting to see the berthing conflicts, when you've also got the Skeena Queen in there, at peak times.
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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 Jan 4, 2006 18:25:17 GMT -8
Looks like the Bowen Queen is full for the 6:30pm departure to Otter Bay as there is a 1 sailing wait. Even on the Gulf Islands we have delays now with the Cumbie out of service.
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Post by kylefossett on Jan 7, 2006 12:53:08 GMT -8
1 sailing wait coming from swartz bay for the 1 pm sailing. i didn't know the hillary duff concert was that popular. harry are you going to it
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jan 7, 2006 17:50:48 GMT -8
......back in the mid '80's, I took a ferry on the Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay run. It was the day of an Ozzy Osbourne concert.
The ferry was full of metal-heads. It looked like a Port Alberni town-hall meeting.
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