Harbourlynx

[Low Light Mike]

On the assumption that the above news story is correct, then presumably since the main investor (Mr. Life) is from "out of town" (ie. not a Nanaimo guy), he likely has more objective reasons for re-starting this service.

This is in contrast to original Nanaimo Harbour Link Corp, which presumably was formed by local (Nanaimo) investors who had a vested interest in creating this new ferry service....so their motivation was to try to make it work, in order to help the Nanaimo economy......as opposed to investing only because it made good business sense.

ie. Investing to create a ferry service, vs. making a safe, logical investment.

So, presumably Mr. Life's group (or company or whatever it is) is more arm's length to the emotional cry of "Will someone please help Nanaimo by creating this ferry service"....and is re-starting this venture because there is a sound business case for it, and because they can afford the time-frame of initial losses, and because they can afford any financial hiccups along the way (like a blown starboard engine).

For a Victoria guy to invest in a Nanaimo-Vancouver ferry route, there must be a good business reason to do so.

Or maybe he just wants to secure the vessel, so that he can move it to a Victoria based route?

[Balfour]

From the sounds of things, there is very good profit to be made on the route. It definetly opens up more job oppurtinities for Nanaimo residents because they would have easier access to Vancouver. The question is how stable will the new Harbourlynx be?

[bud carlos]

Much sense to what you say, landlocked. But earler you suggested seniors who ride free would eschew HarbourLynx for B.C. Ferries. Not me. I go to the island almost every week en route to a northern gulf island. I used HarbourLynx
exclusively unless I needed to lug stuff in a vehicle. Now i'm riding B.C. Ferries but paying for it Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. (Monday thru Thursday only are free). I'll be back on HarbourLynx in a flash if Ed Life gets it up and running.

[bud carlos]

More: problems of HarbourLynx are well documented: wrong vessel, expensive refit, Transport Canada requirements, unco-operative Vancouver and Nanaimo port authorities, etc. But as well it seems the Nanaimo/Victoria investors regarded it principally as a vessel for transporting islanders to the mainland and back. They more-or-less ignored the huge Lower Mainland market. Even at its demise many otherwise-knowledgable people here (Vancouver) had never heard of HarbourLynx. Perhaps it was just marketing underfunding. Or perhaps it was just too Nanaimo-centric.

[NMcKay]

we were spending a large portion of our Marketing budget, on trying to get the vancouver residents to think about Nanaimo and the surrounding area as a "Day Trip" area. as they have succesfully done with Whistler, and Grouse Mountain

[new BCer]

would Ed Life and the new Lynx company be interested in working with an ad agency this time to come up with the right marketing strategy? I am a Media Planner myself working for a national ad agency with a satellite office in Vancouver and head office in Winnipeg. Me and the company I work for would be honoured to work together with Harbourlynx and come up with the best strategy for a better future.

[landlocked]

Bud, I agree with your thoughts concerning the problems facing HL. The problems are still there. Same boat, same thinking on the part of the terminal operators, same engines...need I say more. Mr. Life will finally be speaking with the press on Wednesday. The Nanaimo Daily news will probably have the best coverage of what his 'plan' is to be.

I think they are a ways off from getting the ship up and running, and to date, Mr. Life has not made any guarantee he'll even put it to work. Up until the day when he was asked 'did you buy a boat?' he claimed he was working on behalf of the 'owners'. He hasn't yet divulged his plans. Stay tuned to the saga!

[bud carlos]

Thanks, landlocked. To the previous posts re marketing: spending the budget on daytripping might not work that well unless Butchart Gardens is moved a bit north. Unfortunately, one-of attractions are few in and about Nanaimo. But there's a whole big island for the asking. One need only put together packages with partners (accommodation, golf, whale-watching, outfitting, etc.) This is what the travel trade does--no need to reinvent the wheel here. Beyond that, the new HL might a) forge an alliance with a car rental agency to occupy part of its Nanaimo harbour office and serve arriving customers; b) forge an alliance with the Nanaimo port authority garage for those-east to-west commuters who did, or would, keep a car in Nanaimo (I did, in the garage across the street behind the Coast Bastion, and I was not the only Vancouverite to do so); c) develop a field-trip curriculum for school groups ex the Lower Mainland (history, geography, oceanography, metereology, marine life, transportation, etc.,) comprising elements of the journey itself, not the destination. If you know the vessel, its divided upper deck constitutes two perfectly-sized classrooms that were, to my knowledge, never used as such. For the adults, I would perhaps concentrate my marketing on affinity groups, with lesser emphasis on business travellers and/or weekend getaway couples. Co-op advertising with partners might develop the latter market. The point is that so much of this seems so obvious but was not done by the original HarbourLynx incarnation. Perhaps the poster who signs himself/herself as "new BCer" had the foregoing in mind with his/her solicitation. Just didn't flesh it out.

[new BCer]

Bud - those are indeed some of the ideas I had in mind as well. The new company will indeed need to find partnerships in both Nanaimo and the main land. Tourism Vancouver Island and Tourism Nanaimo might play an important role as well with the development of the future operations. Some strong media partners and precisely defined target groups over the year will all be very crucial. The first task will be however creating a strong 'new' brand awareness of the company so that people who are used to BC Ferries would consider the new vessel as a valid alternative. And of course price will be a crucial factor - if it's too expensive people won't consider your product. They will need to find the right balance for the right customers. Commuters are crucial for the succes as they will bring in a daily/weekly or monthly cash flow but so are shoppers (partnerships with malls or stores), tourists (partnerships and co-op) and the sports and cultural events on both the island and mainland. The development of the new condo's and the hardly critized new conference centre are signs that there is another market out there for a foot passenger service. Partnerships with these investors could lead to more business.
Today's the day of Ed Life's press conference by the way...

[landlocked]

Bud and new BC'er. Both have great ideas of which many WERE done by HL. One of the shareholders was a car rental agency. They, I'm sure, will be on board as a trading partner. The challenge with partnerships is to do like BCFS does, sort of. You get your partner to run the promotions, you may assist in marketing, particularly web-based, but you do not supply the product. In other words, your partner builds a product that both he and you market but he is the one that deals with the customer. Otherwise you end up in the middle trying to sort out all the paperwork, pay the vendors, etc. Much cleaner to be a supplier rather than the product seller.

The Port of Nanaimo will not form alliance on the parking. They want it ALL. That is a huge revenue source, est 250K annually, that you have no part of. Hence, should consider your own property. One thing to remember here is...Ed Life has not said he intends to RUN the ferry on the route. If he does, then he either better get some really good new deals with landlords, or the project is doomed from the start. Don't forget, the landlords expected at minimum on the previous project over 600K per year out of the ferry for leases that had a value only a small fraction of that. They will probably do it again. Don't think they're any different than any other public entity. They're not. Look at YVR. The public entities consider it a privelege for you to deal with them and the rents they expect are many many times their value to the point that you go broke trying to make a go of your business.

At the time HL went down the Port of Nanaimo was charging .85 per pax to use the float. That was to go up to $1 in October and they were threatening to increase that to $2 pending the decision of the Canadian Transportation Agency. Even if the company moved the boat to their own dock the Port wanted $1 per pax just for port fees all the while charging BCFS .15 and .10.

Mr. Life has a lot of hurdles to overcome yet!

[NMcKay]

I watched a CH News Clip tonight, and i have a few comments

1. Ed Life has Said that it will run 70 mins insted of 80 mins, and yet, i find that hard with even new engines. the 80 mins was put in, partly as a cost cutting measure, and as a way to conserve parts (ie not runnign the vessel as hard meant that you could save the engines, and you could have some spare power, should you need to catch up time)

2. The vessel - It has been sitting idle at the docks, Both with power applied, and sitting "Cold". this could mean that several systems inside the vessel will need to be replaced.

3. Paint - From what i can tell, they are painting right over the old paint, using regular House Latex paint (the cans looked that way) is this sane? it will just cause chipping even faster

4. the rescue boat - was vandalized months ago. has it been repaired? has it been replaced?

5. the TC Inspection on it has surely lapsed, so how does mr ed life plan on fixing this?

6. Most of the food prep systems have been left idle, and probably need re-cert/ replacing. was this factored into the buisness plan?

7. Where was he 6 months ago?

8. Lost wages - most of the crews wages will have to be paid before the vessel can be released back to service, but will the original terminal / office staff be returning?

[nosepoint2]

www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=fa00f0a3-468b-471c-af78-fb4b7ed55f65

Robert Barron, Nanaimo Daily News
Published: Thursday, October 05, 2006
NANAIMO -- A foot-ferry service between Nanaimo and downtown Vancouver could be up and running as early as Christmas.

Ed Life, the new owner of the Harbour-Lynx ferry, said Wednesday he is confident the process can move forward quickly. Agreements with the Nanaimo and Vancouver port authorities, the vessel's suppliers and other stakeholders have yet to be signed, however.

"Wouldn't it make a nice Christmas present?" asked a smiling Life, surrounded by members of the Nanaimo Port Authority and other dignitaries.

Life, who said his "substantial partner" in the venture is his bank, TD Canada Trust, indicated he has recently returned from Europe and has purchased two new engines for the beleaguered HarbourLynx ferry, idle in Nanaimo's harbour since the company filed for bankruptcy protection in February.

Life said the engines are scheduled to be shipped to Nanaimo in the next two weeks, and he is considering buying a third.

The Victoria-based businessman said once the engines are delivered, a more definite timeline on when the service will be back in operation can be nailed down.

"A backup vessel is also being negotiated just in case," he said. "We're definitely considering buying a second vessel for the route -- that will be between the same docks in both Nanaimo and Vancouver that HarbourLynx used -- but we have to do things one step at a time."

Life said the business plan calls for two round-trip sailings a day in the winter months and three in the busier summer months.

He said he believes the yet-to-be-named service will not suffer the fate of the two previous, similar ventures.

"I fully expect it will be a successful venture because the people in Nanaimo and Vancouver Island are behind it and we have a strong management team," he said.

"With the continuing growth on the Island and with the statistical information on the ongoing trends, I believe we have a very strong business case for success."

Life said hiring for the new service will be conducted by a professional firm and former employees of HarbourLynx are welcome to apply.

[Jcachristian2000]

My personal problem is with Harbourlynx is that it is too expensive to ride on. At 25 dollars a ride I just rather take Bc Ferries and take transit. However..

If they lowerer the fare to say 15 dollars about the same cost of a bc ferry fare and Translink in Vancouver maybe they would get more people to full the boat.

There is a lot of low income persons out there who may opt to take or support a Fast ferry such as Harbourlynx if they could afford the fare.

[NMcKay]

Try this on for size.

Calculate out rougly what your time is worth, per hour. and then calculate how long it would take to get to each terminal from where you are now. and then calculate out the distance, and the gas, and then get a number, and compare

i did one a little while ago, and it came out to roughly 70$ for a one way on BC Ferries, and 55$ for a one way on harbourlynx.

[Scott]

Klatawa Teen, that's a very "Economics 101" way of looking at it, that's for sure:) But I never liked Economics 101 (I did take it!) was because it lacked reality. What's my time worth? It depends. When I'm working, it's worth a lot. When I'm not, it's not worth anything tangible. I can understand if you're someone who has to work less because of travelling on the ferries, but if you're not, I don't get the point.

I'm not 100% sure about lowering the price though. Every experience I had with it, it was quite busy. But I could be wrong... maybe the people I know just travelled at busy times. Does someone closer to the company know? Were the sailings quite full?

[landlocked]

The HarbourLynx certainly fit into a niche market. Downtown to downtown it was slightly more than twice the cost of BCF but delivered you to Vancouver in half the time. You were also connected to good transit upon arrival. If you were able to travel without a vehicle, it fit the bill. It was about twice the time and half the cost of flying, however not all business people could justify the $140.00 return fare on the seaplanes. It had very good connections to hospitals, cancer agency, and YVR as well. With respect to ridership, it averaged about 30% occupancy from what I can see. It's ridership echoed that of route 2. When you consider Air Canada and WestJet are working at 72 - 82% occupancy, there's a big difference. We all complain about not getting on a ferry at peak times, but forget about the very very light loads during off peak times. The problem it had and will continue to have is the one boat scenario. It caters to a market-VI to Vancouver and there are only about 110,000 people living close enough to take on a regular basis. It didn't have the sailings coming from Vancouver when wanted and if its schedule didn't match yours, the customer would invariably just take their car and go BCF or fly.

The new operation has some huge challenges to overcome before they will ever be successful.

[BrianWilliams]

To Klatawa Teen:

No question, a 10 or 15-dollar difference in foot passenger fare is nothing compared to losing half a day in bus connections to Horseshoe Bay - or driving to HB and paying the $12 parking fee. Or being stuck in an Upper Levels Hiway traffic jam because a lumber truck dumped its load at the Lynn Valley Road exit.

Harbourlynx had the real advantage of being at the end of the Skytrain service here -- folks from way out in the Fraser Valley 'burbs can park at Scott Road and be at the Vancouver dock in 30 minutes.

It is a service that made good sense. HL does need two boats to make enough crossings daily to be more than just a Nanaimo commuter service to Vancouver. (Old schedule, last Nanaimo dp was 3:30 pm). It does take courage, deep pockets and a fat bank overdraft to put two boats in the water - and have a third for insurance ... but the plan is sound.

I don't think the current bombastic operator will pull it off, though I wish him well. The gummint will have to participate, I believe.

Harbourlynx is not a competitor to BC Ferries. HL service is part of a balanced transportation strategy that will help Vancouver and the Island.

If I had my wishes, the Federal and BC governments would be working on a subsidy plan to encourage Harbourlynx, at least enough to put two boats in the water on a 7 am to 7 pm schedule.

Every full HL sailing means a few less cars on the Port Mann Bridge, less traffic in Horseshoe Bay and less aggravation on Nanaimo's Stewart Avenue. It is hard to wean us from our "drive-everywhere" attitude, but Harbourlynx is a good alternative.

[landlocked]

Brian, You are absolutely correct with many of your assertions concerning the 'new' HarbourLynx. The new owner has purchased two old engines, intends to marinize them and put them to work. He claims he is 'thinking about' buying a spare, and doesn't mention the level of spare parts he intends to keep on hand. While she is a lovely boat and is a model that has set the initial world standard for high speed marine travel, she has engines that can only be purchased in Europe. The jets are the same way. Parts can only be purchased in Sweden! With only two engines, she has just enough redundancy to limp home and tie up awaiting repairs.

Now, if they were to consider two - 200 pax boats fitted with four engines, as is becoming far more common worldwide, she would be able to continue service at the advertised speed with three engines, in the same fashion the seabuses, and all four engine vessels operated by BCFS. One can build enough redundancy into both vessels that virtually nothing would cause a 'no go' situation.

With 2 X 200 pax vessels, you would increase daily capacity only marginally at the same cost, while covering 5 round trips per day.

Anyway, neither you or I are bankrolling the new operation, therefore Mr. Life is free to do what he wants, I suppose.

With respect to competition, BCFS do believe that HarbourLynx were competitors and they refer to them as such in all their documents. I'm not sure they 'get' that competition can grow the market as opposed to eroding it.

[BrianWilliams]

" ... government should have also taken a long hard look at the Harbourlynx operations ... at ways in which it could bring about ... a more efficient BC Ferries operation. "

Pardon the edits to your quote, Cascade, but I think your main point is right. BCF is not a purely for-profit enterprise that is intended to kill all competition and force users into one mode of service.

Selfishly, BCF will benefit when some pressure is taken off peak travel days by alternatives like HL. BCF is constrained -politically- from pricing fares at true market levels. Long ago, I posted an opinion: Double The Fares on BC Ferries. I wasn't entirely serious, but ... increasing BCF fares on the mainline routes by 200 or 300% would bring 'em closer to English Channel and Irish Sea rates.

The UK fares are competitive in a fully self-funded market. Like BCF, British operators have to buy ships on the open market, crew them with well-paid skilled personnel, and maintain their boats to the same high standards we require in Canada.

We have chosen to continue a subsidy for coastal travellers in BC. We are right to do that, I believe; but it means that BC Ferries will never be a private, profitable enterprise, despite all the fine speeches by Mr Hahn and the BC Gov't.

We must end the political B*S from left and right. BCF is part of a service to BC and Canada that encourages our economy, makes our coastal life better and pays back, ultimately, more than it receives in outright subsidies.

If we accept that idea, then we must try to improve it. I do insist that we encourage private-enterprise complements to the BC Ferries system.

[landlocked]

Brian, you are absolutely correct in many of your points.

Competition will produce many results which can include, market growth, increased services, increased capacity, both at peak and non peak travel times, and if the competition introduces it, a higher standard of service.

You are right with your point about having tarrifs pegged by the government. It is a delicate balancing act when your tarrifs are regulated but your input costs are not.

Should a competitor receive the same subsidies as BCFS? There are approx 350K customers who travelled for free on route 2 and 30 last year (seniors). By the govt agreeing to pay the customers way, the customer goes the free route. Wouldn't you? In that case, the customer is being encouraged to take the free ferry, all the while having his/her ride paid for by the Province. It's hard for a competitor to compete.

If you look at the following link it describes the benefits of the TAP program: www.healthservices.gov.bc.ca/rural/tap_patient.html#benefits

You will note that there are a number of participants who discount their services for medical travel. They include BCFS. The major difference is that the benefit provided by BCFS is fully paid by the Province! Every other corporate (with the exception of the bus companies that pass along the ferry fare saving) has to pay they own way and provide the benefit as a good corporate citizen. In this case, if the Province is going to pay the ferry fare for BCFS customers, they should pay it for other ferries, or let BCFS stand on their own two feet and provide the discounted ride like everyone else does. I attended a meeting where the Manager of Harbourlynx described in detail how the government would save money in many cases by using HL instead of BCFS, but they never got to first base with the govt. on the issue.

BCFS does provide a service that benefits all of BC and Canada for that matter, no doubt. But having multiple operators who can thrive in a competitive and open marketplace would certainly be a significant boost to the travelling public.

[landlocked]

Life navigates rough waters
HARBOURLYNX: New owner says deals with port authorities aren't coming easily Robert Barron, Daily News
Published: Saturday, October 14, 2006

Keeping the price of a round-trip below $30 on Nanaimo's new foot ferry service to Vancouver is important to Ed Life.

Life, the Victoria-based businessman who bought the HarbourLynx ferry earlier this month, said inking an economically viable docking deal with the port authorities in both Nanaimo and Vancouver is proving to be a "bit of an issue."

He said B.C. Ferries pays just 10 cents per person as a passenger fee to the port authorities, but it's being proposed that his new service pay significantly more than that.

"These costs would have to be passed on to our customers but it's important to me that we keep the price of a round-trip below $30. I see that price as a psychological barrier for the ferry's customers," he said.

"I'm continuing to talk to negotiate with both port authorities, but I need a deal in place soon that's economically viable. I'm not running a not-for-profit society."

Bill Mills, president and CEO of the Nanaimo Port Authority, said the NPA has made a number of concessions to Life in all areas of negotiations to restart the foot ferry service, terminated last February by its previous owner, the Nanaimo Harbour Link Corporation.

"The NPA has been more than generous in the negotiations but I won't say more as I don't want to conduct these negotiations through the media," Mills said.

Life said he is also experiencing complications in establishing a fuel supply for the ferry.

He said the issues aren't financial in this case, but just a matter of securing the supply.

"I've been working with PetroCanada but they've handed the matter over to their legal department so the negotiations just seem to be going around and around," Life said.

Life said a name for the new service has yet to be determined, but a number of people have contacted him with suggestions.

Here we go again! The landlords may scuttle chances to get the service going. The rents paid by HarbourLynx were prohibitive and now the ports are doing it again! They still don't get it.

In order for a business like this to make a go of it, they have to pay reasonable prices for the products they purchase, including leasing of space. Should be interesting to watch this one unfold.

[Low Light Mike]

Hey Mr./Ms. Landlocked: Are the bottom 2 paragraphs of your previous post your own commentary of the news story, or did the Daily News story actually conclude like that?

I'm guessing it's the former?

[landlocked]

Sorry about that Nanaimo. I should have bolded or italisized. You are absolutely correct. My apologies.

[Low Light Mike]

If would have been a refreshingly passionate way for a writer to end his news story. Thanks for providing the editorial content on that one; I agree with you.

As for the possibility of the downtown passenger-only ferry resuming service, I think I'll believe it when I see it, too. There's still lots of time for it to be sunk by various circumstances.

[Neil]

The fact that Mr Life is already fretting about how many nickels per passenger the port of Nanaimo is going to be charging him probably doesn't bode well for the long term prospects of this venture. Really deep pockets are required, and it's not reassuring that this seems to be a one man show.
Should he be helped out in some form by the public purse? Personally, I'd rather the government put all available funds into making BC Ferries as good as it can be- including a proper Vancouver to Nanaimo passenger connection- rather than provide band-aid help for a succession of unrealistic private attempts.