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Post by Quinsam on Apr 12, 2005 7:17:23 GMT -8
looks strange doesn't it?
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Post by cascade on Apr 12, 2005 8:50:14 GMT -8
Why is there no real "True" routes into the States from BC? Yes we have the WSF working out of Sidney - but why not something from Vancouver or Victoria - yes again there are a few vessels working this route.
The biggest trading partner BC has, is with the Yanks - so why not bigger ferries going back & forth with cars & passengers - regular service - like from Nam to Van. This has been a quesation I have asked over the years - we seem very good at Island to mainland - but have not opened up any sort of traffic with are southern neigbours - why not?
My eyes have been open up here in Europe with the massive amounts of trade between all the different countries - and here we also have a lanaguage problem
It is not just something new - like 9/11 ect...but appears over the last 50 years to be still a problem. We truck a lot of stuff on the roads - so why not transport stuff from the Island - directly to the american market via a ferry service.
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Post by kylefossett on Apr 12, 2005 14:49:25 GMT -8
er, 55 minutes, but that is depending on traffic conditions, or crofton is nearby isn't it? Crofton to Vesuvius and Fulford Harbour to Swartz bay 50-65/70 minutes.  assuming there is no wait at crofton here are your times to get to swartz bay this way crofton- vesuvius 20 minutes vesuvius-fulford 20 minutes (if no traffic in ganges or no oldtimer driving up fulford ganges hill) fulford- swartz bay 35 minutes. but depending on which ferry you get from crofton depends on either a 15 minute wait or 75 minute wait at fulford. put your money on the longer wait if in the summer so you are looking at a travel time of about 2 1/2 hours and you also have to pay at crofton to get to saltspring and this approx $20-$25. take the malahat to swartz bay or go to duke point if i needed to go to the mainland from duncan/cowichan area |
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Post by Quinsam on Apr 12, 2005 16:14:19 GMT -8
are you just trying to avoid the older vessels?
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Post by cascade on Apr 13, 2005 8:05:38 GMT -8
It's not a bad route - as that is the way the Highways people re-routed the traffic when the Malahat was closed in 2001 for 23 hours.
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Post by NMcKay on Apr 13, 2005 9:46:30 GMT -8
The Vic Clipper operates from Downtown Victoria to Downtown Seattle. is that close enough?
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Post by cascade on Apr 13, 2005 10:51:59 GMT -8
My comment as to why there hasn't been any "real" routes over the years between us and the people south of the Line. Yes I am aware of a few passenger only - single vessel / car ferries. But surely over the last 50 years someone or government body - person would have seen that a water route opens up a massive amount of possible trade between the two of us.
30 plus years ago - when we use to go on Hol's to the States there was no problem with getting across - enfact we didn't even take or have our passports with us. It was very long car ride - where a water route would have been quicker and more interesting.
Now post 9/11 - they seem to want to fingerprint everyone and check your inside leg measurement - way over the top. Is it making them any safer ? I doubt it. Sorry for this next bit - but in Europe there is a very strong anti-Bush - American feeling running through Europe, and has been for a number of years - back to when he first got in.
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Post by Quinsam on Apr 18, 2005 17:30:39 GMT -8
I would like to know who is voting for a new ferry like the Quinsam to work with mill bay when the malahat is closed by an accident or because of heavy snowfall!
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Post by harbourlynx on Apr 18, 2005 17:38:27 GMT -8
i quite agree,thats a very good suggestion i think and maybe name it starship and paint its name in purple beacause i mean engines are girls you no.
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Post by Balfour on Apr 18, 2005 17:40:43 GMT -8
They probably wouldn't name it starship because a BC ferry needs a name that is relevant to the BC Coast.
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Post by Curtis on Apr 18, 2005 17:46:36 GMT -8
Yeah that wouldn't work
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Post by Quinsam on Apr 18, 2005 18:00:09 GMT -8
she is only 9.
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Post by Quinsam on Apr 18, 2005 18:01:37 GMT -8
How about Patrica? after patricia bay, hey! how about have Patricia run to patricia bay in the summer?
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Doug
Voyager 
Lurking within...the car deck.
Posts: 2,213
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Post by Doug on Apr 18, 2005 20:43:17 GMT -8
MV Patricia Bay Queen (wherever this "Patricia Bay" is).
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Post by Balfour on Apr 18, 2005 20:46:27 GMT -8
Patricia Bay is on the Saanich Inlet side of the Saanich peninsula.
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Post by cascade on Apr 19, 2005 5:41:20 GMT -8
Pat Bay was one of the 8 possible options for the Mill Bay route ie From Mill Bay to Pat Bay.
Pat bay was an old naval base during the war time - after they kept the large Mars Water bombers based there. People also lived there during the war period and after. Now UVIC has a campus there and the Coast Guard park a few of there vessels there. I think it is now a "government"wharf - Federal - maybe.
Also for you sailors - Pat Bay is a station on the weather map.
We use to call route 17 (Motor) - the "Pat Bay Highway"
So as for a name of a vessel - ferry - Yes I do like it - but I also like using old names from the days of 1720's when Vancouver Island was first put on the map - these name have not been used.
Getting back to the main link - thread - it would make a route - but as explained in the past the road network - from Pat Bay Wharf onto the Highway 17 is very small - plus it goes across First Nation Land - and in past they promised to close the road - due to speeding. They would have to be routed around the Airport - Karl - your better to explain the airport - and the side roads- here...
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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 Apr 19, 2005 8:49:19 GMT -8
Are we talking about a route to Pat Bay from Mill Bay??? Well basically I dont know where a ferry terminal could be at Pat Bay as there is one spot but it is the floatplane dock where they keep the floatplanes. Mills road is from the Pat Bay Highway at the intersection into Sidney then changes to Beacon Ave on the Sidney side. Mills road goes right down to West Saanich Road. Also there is another road on the other side of the airport which again goes to West Saanich right by the float plane dock. That road goes by the Jaun Air, Spit Fire Grill up to, the main entrance road into the Airport Terminal. Then that road connects to another road which connects to the Pat Bay. Now that road that the airport road into the terminal connects to also connects to West Saanich also which would be another direct route to the highway from Brentwood. Sorry if this is confusing I cant remember the names of some of the roads, I am out there all the time but never pay attention to the road names. Well I will check today cause I will be out there. Now if there was a terminal at Pat Bay I guess the most direct route could be Mills Road on the north side of the airport as the other route goes by the terminal and there is alot of traffic going that way. Mills Road would be good if people were heading to Swartz Bay or they could go down West Saanich then McDonald Park road over the overpass then onto the highway and into Swartz Bay. Oh wait, Mc Tavish Road, that just came to me, that might be the one from the highway that connects to West Saanich, the one that you turn onto and then right off again cause the other road right there as soon as your turn left from the highway. Hope that is not too confusing.
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Post by cascade on Apr 20, 2005 6:54:35 GMT -8
Karl - The sea route would be from the current Mill Bay terminal - direct line across to the current Pat Bay docks - federal wharf area. The main problem I can see is getting the car traffic - off the ferry and on to a road network - going where? You will notice that the wharf complex goes out a distance due to low level slope.
One route would be around the current airport terminal route - then out to Beacon Ave - hence either way to Swarta Bay or Victoria.
The West Saanich road - is a bit old and small - lot's of dip's on it ect.... but one route back to Victoria - if that is where you want to go - then why take the ferry in the first place. Short cut to the Airport or for a crossing to Vancouver - if you live mid-island.
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Post by CN2972South on Apr 21, 2005 20:59:08 GMT -8
Patricia Bay was also the site of the first Canadian National Railway barge slip on Vancouver Island. The CNR later built barge slips at Point Ellice, Cowichan Bay, and Ogden Point to serve their rail network on the Island(now the Galloping Goose, Lochside Trail, and Trans-Canada trail). CNR abandoned the Pat Bay barge slip, although the wharf is still there and the Pat Bay rail line north of McKenzie Ave in 1931. The dock at Cowichan Bay is the only one left. For 40 years CN used the Canora, originally designed to carry passenger trains from Vancouver to Pat Bay, it never saw a paying customer as CN used it to haul freight cars(BTW, if you ever want to see railcars being loaded and unloaded off a ferry, go to the E&N Railway's Wellcox yard downtown Nanaimo on a Monday Morning) Canora leaving Ogden Point in the 1960's.  |
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Post by Curtis on Apr 21, 2005 21:08:51 GMT -8
Intresting photo
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Post by NMcKay on Apr 21, 2005 21:14:44 GMT -8
definitly. Ive never even heard that story
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Post by cascade on Apr 22, 2005 7:27:52 GMT -8
I do remember that rail ferry link, At the bottom of our property in Sidney, there was the old rail lines that CNR used. We live near to where the old "Sidney Brick Works" where. (Pat Bay highway was at the very end of our property) As kids we played on the disused rail lines.
My mother use to come over from Vancouver - while she was a student at UBC on the rail barge ferry - as they had cheap fares and you could sleep on them. That was back in the mid 50's. Her family lived in Sidney - and as it stopped at Pat Bay Wharf - was easy for her father to come and pick her up. The other ferry runs where by CP and very expensive for a student.
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Post by Curtis on Apr 22, 2005 7:43:04 GMT -8
I wonder how do the old ferries compare to the new ones
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Post by cascade on Apr 22, 2005 7:49:05 GMT -8
The old ones had wooden interiors and the safety level where not as there are today. I guess to sum it up - they had character. Like cars - you either liked the older models - but the newer ones may have more buttons and are easyier to drive - but filled with plastic bit's. Sole less...
My parents do a lot of cruising - about 6 months of the year - and they don't like the new vessels - as they lack any "character", so always go on the smaller older - slower cruise ships - and they get to meet people - as these ship only take around 300 people or less. Safety wise - they are now just as good - as the new ones.
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Post by NMcKay on Apr 22, 2005 15:30:57 GMT -8
Yeah. i actually got to go on the CP Carrier princess. she has faux wood on the interior, and was very cozy.
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