Howe Sound Queen - slow, late, and overcrowded....

[Low Light Mike]

I commuted to Salt Spring from Nanaimo on each of Monday, Tues & Wednesday this week. I took my car on the 7:30 am sailing from Crofton each day, and returned around 5:00.

I must say, the ferry travel was very frustrating, for the following reasons:

1) Howe Sound Queen has an obvious mechanical problem, resulting in a slower speed. Crossing time was 30 minutes, compared with usual 20minutes.

2) Lots of traffic demand during peak commuter times. this was compounded by lots and lots of heavy trucks: it looked like there was a dump-truck convention on Salt Spring. The 6:30 am sailing (new, with the summer schedule starting Tuesday) only took a few vehicles, according to the toll-booth guy......so the bulk of the morning commercial traffic still took the 7:30 am sailing.

3) Late afternoon sailings from Vesuvius were way behind schedule. It's frustrating to stop a job early, pack up gear, and drive to ferry landing according to the schedule, and then to wait an extra 45 minutes for the ferry.....45 minutes that I could have spent working & getting my job done sooner.

4) Wednesday experience: Arrive at Crofton at 7:00 am, for the 7:30 am sailing. Informed by the ticket-booth-guy that the sailing was already full, because of weight, not because of # of cars. Those heavy dump trucks were on the jetty & resulted in the sailing being deemed "full" because of weight, not because of deck space. So I had a prime spot on the Crofton jetty for the 8:30 am sailing. Guess what? after only the 2nd round-trip of the day, the vessel was already 20 minutes behind schedule. When we arrived at Vesuvius, the return traffic was lined up on the road, as the holding lot was more than full.

Daily commuting can be frustrating.

Also, as a further treat, the Howe Sound Queen has a female deckhand that works the morning shift, that has the meanest looking face I've ever seen (pardon the hyperbole). Angry, unhappy, vicious, mean, not a hope of a smile. So of course & I smiled & waved as I drove off......

[Quinsam]

maybe they need a bigger vessel, like Quinsam there, with a capacity of 85 cars approx, and the Howe sound Queen can be used as a relief vessel.

[Political Incorrectness]

maybe the Cap could go over to Vesuvis.

[Balfour]

The Cappy might do, but she's needed on the Bowen Island run. A sailing wait is fine for Peak hours on a run anyway, and the Vesuvius isn't too crowded very often.

[Koastal Karl]

That run is usually never that busy most of the time. I dont know if they would need the Cappie, all year round! I remember a few times when the Bowen was replacing the Skeena on the Fulford run I went over to Saltspring and barely made it on the second to last sailing that day! I had a small car back then so I managed to get squeezed on! Also I rmember one time when the Skeena was on the run it was backed up the road out of Fulford! So I left and went to Vesuvius, and got on! I think someone said about there usually arent sailing waits from Fulford when the Skeena is on the run, well the odd time there is! I think this was a Saturday too when they had those Saturday markets in Ganges so that could of been one of the reasons!

[Balfour]

If it gets busy, the can get the Skeena Queen up to 23 knots. They did that last August when I was leaving Saltspring to go home, They did a 28 minute trip, instead of 35.

[YZFNick]

Everyone has it all wrong. We do a three ship shuffle (if a new ship for Bowen Island suddenly appeared out of thin air). Cap to Quadra Island, Powell River Queen to route 5, one of the Bowen or Mayne Queens over to Vesuvius. The Howe Sound Queen can then ... I don't know, uh ... be scrapped.

[nolonger]

nick said:

Everyone has it all wrong. We do a three ship shuffle (if a new ship for Bowen Island suddenly appeared out of thin air). Cap to Quadra Island, Powell River Queen to route 5, one of the Bowen or Mayne Queens over to Vesuvius. The Howe Sound Queen can then ... I don't know, uh ... be scrapped.

My point exactly. Nobody thinks. Yup a new ferry will just magically appear out out of nowhere.

[NMcKay]

if the skreaming Queen had proper engiens and props, she could do 25 Knots easy

[YZFNick]

You guys need to work with what you have. Sometimes a 35 year old boat doesn't run perfectly. I personally don't see much incentive for a corporation to spend 30 million on a new boat so that a slightly more reliable ship would take over a money losing route.

I'm sure they've run the numbers. It's probably cheaper for them to pay more for repairs, pay out overtime for late sailings, and deal with some complaints than to buy a new ship and not even guarantee that the new ship will fix all those problems. Ferry hassles are a part of living on an island.

The 'hurry up and wait' way of doing things with the ferries will likely never go away. Down the road I'm sure BC Ferries will have reserved, assured loading for all their routes. Enough people would pay a premium to get on the sailing they desire.

[NMcKay]

yeah. But i think by then several operators will take over where BCF couldn;t succeed

[Curtis]

nick said:

Everyone has it all wrong. We do a three ship shuffle (if a new ship for Bowen Island suddenly appeared out of thin air). Cap to Quadra Island.

I though the Capi couldn't handle the route she would just head down the channel

[hergfest]

Service Notice on the Problem, it is a few weeks old i believe:
Howe Sound Queen Service Update

After a complete investigation, BC Ferries engineers have ruled out mechanical problems with a clutch in the Howe Sound Queen’s main propulsion system. However, a minor vibration in the vessel’s gearbox will continue to be monitored.

Over the past week, the Howe Sound Queen ran up to 30 minutes late while the investigation was underway. Customers can still expect sailing delays of up to 5 minutes as engineers monitor the gearbox vibration.

We thank our Crofton—Vesuvius customers for their patience and look forward to restoring regular service as soon as possible.

Current sailing information for the Crofton – Vesuvius route is available by calling Crofton terminal at [phone], from the BC Ferries website at www.bcferries.com, or by calling our toll free Info line at 1-888-223-3779 between 7:00 am and 10:00 pm.

BC Ferries regrets any inconvenience experienced by our customers.

[BrianWilliams]

Yes, there is a Dump Truck Convention on Salt Spring Island.

Channel Ridge and some other McMansion subdivisions are under construction on the island, and there will be more.

Simple answer? Require the developers to hire a private barge service to bring their Vancouver Island gravel to Salt Spring. Crofton-Vesuvius is a subsidized BCF route, and should not be abused for developers' profit.

[Low Light Mike]

Brian, your idea is good. The Islands-Trust should have no problem making new rules re development.....that's what they do best (depending on your point of view).

[SUP]

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[BrianWilliams]

"Howe Sound Queen has a female deckhand that works the morning shift, that has the meanest looking face I've ever seen (pardon the hyperbole). Angry, unhappy, vicious, mean, not a hope of a smile. So of course & I smiled & waved as I drove off......"

Jeez, that might be the same tough broad who smacked our car's hood to stop, while offloading at Crofton. She glared at me, to kill, while she directed a Thrifty reefer out of the adjacent lane.

Our dog Bo was hanging his head out the window on that side. The witch from hell turned into a soft-hearted beauty in a sec. She nuzzled Bo, he licked her face, and she *smiled* ...at him, not me.

[Political Incorrectness]

going off topic John needs to make this forum so that everyone must be a member otherwise we are going to get one ton of spam

[Quinsam]

BCFerries needs to do something about that witch!
I'm not going on HSQ untill they deal with her, she might just work so she can sneak kids from their parents, while working on the decks, she must like dogs if she smiled at Bo.

[QueenofEsquimalt]

Complain. I did about a witch on the Queen of Nanaimo and I got a food vocher.

[Quinsam]

I heard about that, but is there a cheif steward onboard the HSQ?

[Ian]

On smaller ferries usually the chief steward is more of a glorified deckhand, actually a chief steward that helps do a lot.

[kylefossett]

why would you replace the howe sound queen which holds 70 cars with the bowen queen which holds 70 cars. same capacity. it would not surprise me if the howe sound queen went into deas in september for repairs if there is a mechanical problem with her. she didn't seem to be running behind that bad this weekend. i can watch her from my cabin and she seemd on time. she is fine for the route she does

[Low Light Mike]

Bowen Queen would be a step backwards, because of a lower truck-carrying capacity. ie. the one-lane wedge in the middle of the ferry on the Bowen-Queen, compared with 6-tall lanes on the HSQ.


Kyle: why did the Vesuvius Inn close down? Now you've got to drive to Mobey's for a cold one.....

[Quinsam]

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

That might be a signal that the witch from HSQ is on here!!!