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Post by Starsteward on Feb 10, 2018 0:36:33 GMT -8
I didn't know where to put this question, since we have sections for ships and terminals, but not routes. Does anybody know how crewing on the northern routes works? I'm guessing that the Nimpkish's long ten hour layover at Shearwater westbound is for crew rest. I always assumed that the long layovers at Skidegate were also for mandated rest, but I note that the stop can be much shorter. An upcoming round trip from Prince Rupert is nineteen hours, with a five hour layover at Skidegate. Do they carry more than one full crew on board? Likewise, a voyage on route ten can be as much as 20 1/2 hours, making for a shift of at least 22 hours... how is that covered? Don't know about the Nimpkish. I assume there are hours of rest built into the schedule. The route 10, 11 and old route 40 ships operated as "24 hour" vessels. While passenger amenities and the crew required for those still operate on semi-normal daytime hours, the operational, watchkeeping, crew will work 12 hour shifts, and there are enough personnel on board to cover 24 hour continuous operation. There may be fewer crew on duty during the "low" hours, but it will still be enough to ensure the safe operation of the vessel. For example: (and I'm making educated guesses on these numbers based on sources such as the QotN TSB report) At any given time there will be two navigational officers and two quartermasters (deckhand specifically tasked to bridge watchkeeping duties) covering bridge duties. They will relieve each other for meal breaks and, in the case of the quartermasters, conducting fire/security rounds. In the engine room will be at least one watchkeeping engineering officer and at least one ERA/oiler. Each of these positions will be duplicated so that one person is sleeping while the other is working. When loading/unloading is to happen in the off-hours, I would imagine this would be accomplished by paying overtime to the "off watch", or arranging split shifts. If I recall correctly, normal watches are 0600-1800 and 1800-0600. Hope this does something to answer your question... wish I had more specific information. The 'Queen of the North' and the 'Queen of Prince Rupert' utilized two separate watches, A & B, which rotated every two weeks, (back in the day, every second Thursday). Change-over days were loooong, and tiring, especially during the Summer schedule. (This was before both vessels were manned out of Prince Rupert.) Crew members from the Lower Mainland travelled to Departure Bay and met up with the two crew buses that would start out in Victoria. The we happy lot, would sit back and enjoy the long trip to Kelsey Bay with a brief coffee and loo stop at the bus depot in Courtenay. The Bridge/Deck/Engine room members did work on a 24 hour clock, the Catering department worked whenever needed during the 2 week rotation. That said, the Stewards always had a chance for a wee nap in the afternoon, between serving lunch and preparing the dining room for dinner. Usually, catering crew could hit the rack by 23:00 hrs. unless one was, ...nah, never mind There was a Night Cook and a Night Steward on duty from about 23:00 hrs. to 07:00 hrs. to meet the needs of Bridge, Deck and Engineering folks whilst the rest of us slept.
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Neil
Voyager
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Post by Neil on Mar 25, 2018 19:47:20 GMT -8
The current service notices page mentions the project to rebuild the Ocean Falls berth, due to the imminent arrival of the Northern Sea Wolf. Total cost: $6.8 million. Total number of vehicles departing Ocean Falls in 2017: 78. It would be nice to think that traffic was increasing, but the year before, the figure was 79. I'm not going to be one of those reactionary types who rail against pampered ferry dependent coastal residents, so I'll just say, "Hmmh".
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Post by Low Light Mike on Mar 25, 2018 20:14:25 GMT -8
The current service notices page mentions the project to rebuild the Ocean Falls berth, due to the imminent arrival of the Northern Sea Wolf. Total cost: $6.8 million. Total number of vehicles departing Ocean Falls in 2017: 78. It would be nice to think that traffic was increasing, but the year before, the figure was 79. I had similar thoughts. A few things to keep in mind: - The dock at Ocean Falls is old, and hasn't had much work since the 1996 start of Route-40. I'm sure it is older than that. - There are foot passengers that arrive/leave Ocean Falls for tourism, at various lodges/houses. The ship needs a place to berth, even for passenger traffic. The dock at Shearwater is similar in its primitive condition, as is the dock at Bella Coola.
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Post by WettCoast on Mar 25, 2018 20:32:17 GMT -8
The current service notices page mentions the project to rebuild the Ocean Falls berth, due to the imminent arrival of the Northern Sea Wolf. Total cost: $6.8 million. Total number of vehicles departing Ocean Falls in 2017: 78. It would be nice to think that traffic was increasing, but the year before, the figure was 79. I'm not going to be one of those reactionary types who rail against pampered ferry dependent coastal residents, so I'll just say, "Hmmh". The amount of money spent on northern berths in recent years has been rather impressive. This spending has been necessitated in part by BC Ferries choice of vessels to serve on the northern routes. The decision to go with ships that require Euro style berths may make sense in some ways. but it has been a costly one to make the various northern berths compatible with the ships. I assume (hope) that the NSW will have no problem docking at the existing berths in Port Hardy, Bella Bella & Klemtu (and presumably Prince Rupert & Skidegate should it ever go there) that have already had much money spent on them to ensure compatibility with the NorAd & NorEx.
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,175
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Post by Neil on Mar 25, 2018 21:35:35 GMT -8
The current service notices page mentions the project to rebuild the Ocean Falls berth, due to the imminent arrival of the Northern Sea Wolf. Total cost: $6.8 million. Total number of vehicles departing Ocean Falls in 2017: 78. It would be nice to think that traffic was increasing, but the year before, the figure was 79. I'm not going to be one of those reactionary types who rail against pampered ferry dependent coastal residents, so I'll just say, "Hmmh". The amount of money spent on northern berths in recent years has been rather impressive. This spending has been necessitated in part by BC Ferries choice of vessels to serve on the northern routes. The decision to go with ships that require Euro style berths may make sense in some ways. but it has been a costly one to make the various northern berths compatible with the ships. I assume (hope) that the NSW will have no problem docking at the existing berths in Port Hardy, Bella Bella & Klemtu (and presumably Prince Rupert & Skidegate should it ever go there) that have already had much money spent on them to ensure compatibility with the NorAd & NorEx. At the risk of being gratuitously controversial, I'm wondering why there was no rethinking of how BC Ferries serves the central coast. The project at Ocean Falls appears to be a complete rebuild, to serve a community with a year round population of about fifty... the same as Keats Island, and with little prospect of growth. Meanwhile, a much larger community at Hartley Bay makes do with a passenger only connection to Prince Rupert. Ocean Falls is, as I understand it, pretty much non-native, whereas Hartley Bay is otherwise. And I suspect that there are a number of other First Nations communities on our coast with populations greater than fifty, who would perhaps benefit from an investment of $6.8 million in transportation. BC Ferries still operates under the construct put in place by the former government. I'm not advocating, as some do, to return ferries to the highways portfolio, but perhaps there should be a broader conceptualizing of how a large amount of infrastructure money is spent.
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Post by WettCoast on Mar 26, 2018 8:02:32 GMT -8
Meanwhile, a much larger community at Hartley Bay makes do with a passenger only connection to Prince Rupert. Ocean Falls is, as I understand it, pretty much non-native, whereas Hartley Bay is otherwise. And I suspect that there are a number of other First Nations communities on our coast with populations greater than fifty, who would perhaps benefit from an investment of $6.8 million in transportation. A few years back I visited the FN community of Ahousaht on Flores Island (west coast of Vancouver Island). As far as I can tell they get nothing (or close to nothing) from the BC Government in the way of a ferry/ water taxi connection between their community and nearby Tofino. I wondered then, & I continue to wonder, why some communities get so much gravy while others get so little ...
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Post by Starsteward on Mar 26, 2018 14:33:05 GMT -8
Meanwhile, a much larger community at Hartley Bay makes do with a passenger only connection to Prince Rupert. Ocean Falls is, as I understand it, pretty much non-native, whereas Hartley Bay is otherwise. And I suspect that there are a number of other First Nations communities on our coast with populations greater than fifty, who would perhaps benefit from an investment of $6.8 million in transportation. A few years back I visited the FN community of Ahousaht on Flores Island (west coast of Vancouver Island). As far as I can tell they get nothing (or close to nothing) from the BC Government in the way of a ferry/ water taxi connection between their community and nearby Tofino. I wondered then, & I continue to wonder, why some communities get so much gravy while others get so little ... The name of the game is: BANG THE DRUM! In the case cited above, there are 2 folks at the Federal level, namely the Minister responsible for Indigenous Affairs, the local Member of Parliament and we could toss in the Prime Minister as well. Provincially, get on your M.L.A., the Premiere and anyone else a group could annoy 'til hell freezes over! What with the increasing abilities to use all forms of social media etc. it IS possible to give elected officials (Who Work For Us) nightmares, it just takes a bit of perseverance from the parties being short-changed!
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Post by Curtis on May 30, 2018 23:15:04 GMT -8
Now for some terminal shots from across the Discovery Coast! All Photos are © CS16 Photography and may only be used with Permission from the Owner.Bella CoolaOcean FallsEnd of first half...
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Post by Curtis on May 30, 2018 23:15:59 GMT -8
The 2nd half of the terminals visited by Route 10s. All Photos are © CS16 Photography and may only be used with Permission from the Owner.Shearwater McLoughlin BayThat's all for now!
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lohium
Oiler (New Member)
Posts: 18
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Post by lohium on May 31, 2018 22:24:00 GMT -8
Amazing photos! The Ocean Falls pictures are particularly fascinating - the brand new ferry dock against the background of that crumbling apartment building. It is my dream to ride one or more of the North Coast routes but I don't think I'll be doing it any time soon considering the fares.
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,175
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Post by Neil on Aug 8, 2018 19:56:36 GMT -8
Question for those familiar with the inside passage route, which I've not done in many years- and last time I did, it was direct.
There have been stops added to an upcoming NorEx sailing, because earlier ones were cancelled. I've noticed that even though these are make up stops at Klemtu and Bella Bella, adding to the length of the voyage, they're still scheduled at a full hour.
Why would it take an hour to unload and load a handful of cars at Klemtu?
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Post by Low Light Mike on Aug 9, 2018 6:31:34 GMT -8
Why would it take an hour to unload and load a handful of cars at Klemtu? Yes, that sounds reasonable from my experience of riding the route in 2015, even though my stop was at McLoughlin Bay. A few factors to consider for a cruise-ferry with watertight doors, etc: - Slow down and moving from regular route channel to the nearby terminal - The slow process of docking stern-to, with all that precise backing-in - Making the ship fast to the berth - Opening the watertight door - Checking fare and ID for all the passengers embarking at the mid-coast port - Closing up the watertight door - Leave the berth and go back to the regular route. It's an interesting process to watch.
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Post by Mike on Aug 9, 2018 10:51:11 GMT -8
Why would it take an hour to unload and load a handful of cars at Klemtu? Yes, that sounds reasonable from my experience of riding the route in 2015, even though my stop was at McLoughlin Bay. A few factors to consider for a cruise-ferry with watertight doors, etc: - Slow down and moving from regular route channel to the nearby terminal - The slow process of docking stern-to, with all that precise backing-in - Making the ship fast to the berth - Opening the watertight door - Checking fare and ID for all the passengers embarking at the mid-coast port - Closing up the watertight door - Leave the berth and go back to the regular route. It's an interesting process to watch. I went and looked at the the timestamps of photos I took on my last Northern trip in 2014, and the stop at Klemtu was pretty much exactly 1 hour long. Klemtu is a dry community, so police supervise unloading to ensure there is no alcohol being smuggled in.
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Post by WettCoast on Aug 9, 2018 14:58:27 GMT -8
Question for those familiar with the inside passage route, which I've not done in many years- and last time I did, it was direct. There have been stops added to an upcoming NorEx sailing, because earlier ones were cancelled. I've noticed that even though these are make up stops at Klemtu and Bella Bella, adding to the length of the voyage, they're still scheduled at a full hour. Why would it take an hour to unload and load a handful of cars at Klemtu? I have often wondered why berthings take so long at north coast terminals and why they can't tighten it up just a bit. Mr Horn Low-Light is right in that all those things have to be done, but still, I think they could tighten everything up to reduce the total required time by 15 minutes.
I don't know how many times I have arrived in Prince Rupert at the end of a long voyage from Port Hardy or Skidegate and waited & waited for off-loading to happen. If the scheduled arrival in Rupert is 4 PM invariably it will be 4:30 by the time you drive off the ship. If things worked that way on the south coast major routes dwell times at Swartz Bay and all the other major terminals would need to be 90 minutes, maybe longer.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Mar 19, 2019 17:54:56 GMT -8
On a BC Ferries report, I see for the first time the Haida names for the settlements on the Skidegate Landing - Aliford Bay route. This is good. hg by Mike Bonkowski, on Flickr
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Post by WettCoast on Aug 6, 2019 19:43:21 GMT -8
BC Ferries & AHMS terminals @ 'Fairview', Prince Rupert, with the Northern Adventure loading for Haida Gwaii at the BCF berth - 25 July 2019.
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Post by Starsteward on Aug 7, 2019 7:52:32 GMT -8
BC Ferries & AHMS terminals @ 'Fairview', Prince Rupert, with the Northern Adventure loading for Haida Gwaii at the BCF berth - 25 July 2019.
I trust the rather weather-beaten forlorn looking pilings and ramp to the right of the 'Northern Adventure' is the American dock? Will AMHS ever get around to rebuilding their facility given the rather uncertain future of the entire AMHS system?
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Post by Low Light Mike on Aug 7, 2019 11:14:25 GMT -8
Will AMHS ever get around to rebuilding their facility given the rather uncertain future of the entire AMHS system? The plans for upgrading the AMHS slip were delayed by the constraints of trying to implement the "Buy American" rules onto a Canadian worksite. AMHS wanted to use Federal funding, but that required American made materials, and there were import issues for installing these in Canada.
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Post by elwharust on Aug 21, 2020 20:52:15 GMT -8
where in Kelsey bay was the old dock located. and is there any of it left?
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Post by Low Light Mike on Aug 21, 2020 22:04:17 GMT -8
where in Kelsey bay was the old dock located. and is there any of it left? Here is a link to Google Maps location. Link HEREIf you look at satellite view, you can see where the old vehicle holding compound was. It now looks to be a vehicle scrapyard. Here's the street view of some of the old wood pilings from the old ferry dock. Street View of Pilings
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Post by WettCoast on Aug 20, 2021 8:26:36 GMT -8
BC Ferries' Haida Gwaii Terminal @ Skidegate Landing, with the Northern Adventure loading for Prince Rupert. This photo was taken from the inter-island ferry 'Kwuna', which lands at the concrete ramp on the right of the photo. 10 August 2021
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Post by WettCoast on Aug 29, 2021 12:43:53 GMT -8
BC Ferries' Northern Adventure docked @ Haida Gwaii's only traffic light, @ Skidegate Landing. Loading was underway for the 10 AM sailing to Prince Rupert which actually left an hour late.
10 August 2021
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Post by WettCoast on Oct 23, 2021 19:08:23 GMT -8
BC Ferries' Klemtu Terminal, BC 'Central' Coast. Shot in the pouring rain from the tail end of the Northern Expedition. 8 September 2021
Higher Res
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Post by Ferryman on Nov 7, 2022 11:05:47 GMT -8
The terminal at Shearwater has been closed for several weeks now, and will continue to be until further notice. A tug/barge and water taxi service has been setup to transport vehicles and passengers, respectively, between Bella Bella and Shearwater www.bcferries.com/current-conditions/service-notices?serviceNoticeCode=8800163901192&subscriptionRoute=PPH-PBB-SHW-POF-BECAdditionally, the berth at Bella Coola is being upgraded, and the Sea Wolf has been simply docking at Bella Coola to move traffic on and off the ship. Once vehicle transfer operations are complete, the ship then sits at anchor just off the berth until her next scheduled sailing to allow room for crews to work on the berth. As some may know, the winter schedule on Route 28s is pretty relaxed where it typically on actually sails between Fridays and Mondays.
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Post by paulvanb on Mar 8, 2023 10:17:04 GMT -8
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