SPIRIT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA - Photos & Discussion

[Mike]

Spirit of British Columbia arriving at Swartz Bay under a rainbow. 

Spirit of British Columbia approaching Swartz Bay. by West Coast Photography, on Flickr

[Low Light Mike]

SOBC arriving at Tsawwassen to end her service day. June 6, 2014.
- seen from deck-7 of Coastal Inspiration.

[Deleted]

Looks like the Spirits are getting LNG (unimportant text removed)

RFEOI 06-09-2014 – Spirit Class Mid-Life Upgrade, Dual Fuel Propulsion Syst.

Background: BC Ferries will conduct mid-life upgrade modifications on the two Spirit-Class passenger ferries (built 1993 and 1994) in 2016 and 2017. A key initiative in this project is to minimize the vessels’ fuel costs and environmental footprint. As such, BCF intends to replace the current propulsion systems with a dual fuel (DF) diesel – natural gas fuelled propulsion system; and seeks expressions of interest from leading suppliers capable of delivering integrated turn-key packages.

-From the Business Opportunities page on the BCF website.

[Deleted]

Another stupid move by BC Ferries.

Lets tear out the engines the ship came with and replace them with untested engines not made for that ship.

I smell a cluster **** that will undoubtedly result in the "new engines" being torn out and replaced with the old ones after a year or 2 of nothing but problems.

And yet people keep voting for the lie berals

[Nick]

Jul 18, 2014 21:42:12 GMT -8 @friesngravy said:

Another stupid move by BC Ferries.

Lets tear out the engines the ship came with and replace them with untested engines not made for that ship.

I smell a cluster **** that will undoubtedly result in the "new engines" being torn out and replaced with the old ones after a year or 2 of nothing but problems.

And yet people keep voting for the lie berals

Dual fuel engines are hardly "un-tested". They have been used for decades in the oil and gas industry.

It is a routine part of the lifespan of a vessel to be re-engined. The V-class were all re-engined in the early 1980s, the New West had new engines installed at the time of lifting, and many of the smaller ships have had new engines installed at some point. It's actually really easy on a car ferry... you just cut a hole in the car deck, lift the old engine out, drop the new one in and re-weld the deck. Most ships you have to lift it out of the water and cut a hole in the side to access the engine room. The CCGS Amundsen had 6 new propulsion generators installed like this 2 years ago.

If you consider that the Spirits have been operating 16 hours a day for the past 20 years, with a conservative average of 300 days per year, that amounts to about 96,000 hours of operation. That's equivalent to you driving your car for 2,880,000 km at 30 km/h average speed.

[Deleted]

Spirit of British Columbia meeting the SoVI, as seen from Deck 7:

[Curtis]

Shots of the Spirit of British Columbia from back in June.

All Photos are © CS16 Photography and may only be used with Permission from the Owner.

An Evening shot from Sturdies Bay aboard the Mayne Queen.
Spirit of British Columbia Enroute to Tsawwassen. by CS16 Photography, on Flickr

From Georgina Point.
Spirit of British Columbia Enroute to Swartz Bay. by CS16 Photography, on Flickr

Entering Active Pass. (Mooooooooooooo!)
Spirit of British Columbia Enroute to Swartz Bay. by CS16 Photography, on Flickr

Later that day from the Bluffs.
Spirit of British Columbia in Active Pass. by CS16 Photography, on Flickr

That's All for Now.

[Deleted]

Looks like the SoBC has made a hard-to-port turn just past Otter Bay and is now returning to Swartz Bay. 

[Kahloke]

Sept 26, 2014 16:56:06 GMT -8 @sccommuter said:

Looks like the SoBC has made a hard-to-port turn just past Otter Bay and is now returning to Swartz Bay. 

Service notice says it was a medical delay

Service Notice - Spirit of British Columbia - Sailing Delay
Swartz Bay - Tsawwassen - The vessel is operating 70 minutes behind schedule due to a medical emergency.
Posted Friday, September 26, 2014
Note: This Service Notice applies to the following route(s):
- Vancouver (Tsawwassen) - Victoria (Swartz Bay)
Update as of 6:00 pm:

Please be advised that the Spirit of British Columbia is operating 70 minutes behind schedule due to a medical emergency.

Customers with reservations are advised to check in at the terminals in accordance with the scheduled sailing times in order to maintain their reserved status.

[WettCoast]

Peek-a-boo Spirit - north bound at the south end of Active Pass - 14 October 2014

SoBC headed for Tsawwassen; viewed from her sistership & running mate the SoVI.
© WCK-JST by Wett Coast, on Flickr

[Low Light Mike]

Here's a log barge that kind of looks like a Spook ferry, in silhouette profile.
- seen November 1, 2014 at Campbell River.

The tug is General Jackson.

[WettCoast]

Perhaps we could have this as a forum flag ship theme - barges that look a lot like BC Ferries, or ferries that look a lot like barges .

[WettCoast]

The original 'Queen of Lego' making for the mainland...

Spirit of British Columbia northbound off Galiano Island shoreline @ south entrance to Active Pass - 14 October 2014

SoBC northbound off Mayne Island shoreline about to go round the bend @ the north end of Active Pass - 14 October 2014
© WCK-JST by Wett Coast, on Flickr

So Mr horn, in which view does she look most barge-like, the front or the rear?

[Low Light Mike]

Nov 2, 2014 22:03:58 GMT -8 WettCoast said:

So Mr horn, in which view does she look most barge-like, the front or the rear?

It's the other way around. The log barge, at a particular angle, resembled the spook.

It was the forward part of the log barge that looked like a spook bow, with set-back superstructure. And the log barge's crane was similar to a ferry's mast.


...the spook herself doesn't look barge-like to me. But if I look at a side profile of a spook, I can probably imagine the log barge.

[WettCoast]

Sisters, #1 for the holidays...

Spirit of British Columbia (closer) & Spirit of Vancouver Island in Active Pass - 27 December 2014
© WCK-JST by Wett Coast, on Flickr

[WettCoast]

Spirit of British Columbia, coming through Miners Bay while north bound in Active Pass with the 9 AM sailing from Swartz Bay - 27 December 2014.

© WCK-JST by Wett Coast, on Flickr

[Koastal Karl]

I see there is a 10am from Tsawwassen today on the SOBC! It doesn't look like it will even be half full is it not possible to base her out of Swartz Bay if they need a 12pm from that side? What happens to the #2 crew that is usually based on the extra boat out of Swartz Bay?? Tsawwassen based boats have been based out of Swartz Bay before!

[Nick]

Jan 18, 2015 9:10:11 GMT -8 Koastal Karl said:

I see there is a 10am from Tsawwassen today on the SOBC! It doesn't look like it will even be half full is it not possible to base her out of Swartz Bay if they need a 12pm from that side? What happens to the #2 crew that is usually based on the extra boat out of Swartz Bay?? Tsawwassen based boats have been based out of Swartz Bay before!

Most likely berth space requirements. The SOVI is currently tied up in berth 3 for alongside refit, Route 1 Coastals are using berth 2, and if the SOBC was tied up in berth 1, and only used for peak times that would only leave berths 4 and 5 for route 4, 5 and 5a ships.

[Koastal Karl]

What is interesting is she deadheads back to Tsawwassen after the 6pm arrives at Swartz Bay but they feel the need to have a 10am from Tsawwassen and not deadhead over to Swartz Bay for the 12pm. Currently the 10am is like just over 10% full. I dont even think it will reach 20% But honestly that would be a nice quiet sailing to be on. Would they have crew getting on a Swartz Bay for the regular 2 round trips or would this just be a separate Tsawwassen crew???

[WettCoast]

We discussed this last year and IIRC, the SoBC goes over to SWB with just a small Tsawwassen-based operating crew aboard.  Once at SWB a complete catering, etc. crew is added & then the ship does its regular two round trips as if it was Swartz Bay-based.  The 10 AM sailings from TSW & the 8 PM from SWB are both 'dead head' sailings, i.e. no passengers.  This morning's 10 AM sailing listed on the BCFS site as 'in-service' may be a mistake.  Otherwise there is a complete TSW-based crew aboard and they are doing a 12-hour shift.

[Koastal Karl]

well the SOBC did leave at 10am from Tsawwassen with passengers and it is listed on the schedules page too so obviously it's different this year as it's actually on the schedules. Now there is no 8pm sailing from Swartz Bay so that will probably be a deadhead. I assure you though the breakfast buffet I dont think would be open on the 10 with less than 20% capacity.  Could they not just have a small crew going over on the 10am then have the rest board at Swartz Bay?? All they would need is the Cafeteria open they dont need the buffet or snack bar open, lol!

Leave Tsawwassen
10:00 am Jan 18, 23, 25 & Feb 7 only

[WettCoast]

Here are two more photos of the SoBC in Active Pass photographed from the cemetery on Galiano.  These show the SoBC south bound on 27 December with the 3 PM sailing from Tsawwassen.

Waves in the foreground are over the rocks at Collinson Reef, and are left over from the passage of the SoVI a few minutes previous.

Rounding Helen Point at the south end of Active Pass

Both photos © WCK-JST by Wett Coast, on Flickr

[Deleted]

It's been pretty quiet on the Forum lately. Not much to talk about I guess. Anyways, here's a few shots of the SoBC at Deas on Sunday:


Spirit of British Columbia and Northern Adventure at Deas by Howe Sound Ferries, on Flickr


Spirit of British Columbia at Deas by Howe Sound Ferries, on Flickr

[Low Light Mike]

Spirit of BC leaves Tsawwassen most days at 3:00pm, just before the 3:15pm Queen of Alberni sailing departs.

...On May 18, 2015, I was on Queen of Alberni, waiting to depart, and I saw SoBC leaving beforehand, as usual.

Spirit of British Columbia at Tsawwassen by Mike Bonkowski, on Flickr

[WettCoast]

Spirit of British Columbia nearing the terminal at Swartz Bay with the 3 PM sailing from the mainland - 10 June 2015.  This view is from the Skeena Queen which was also closing in on Swartz Bay (via Knapp Pass) at the same time.

© WCK-JST by JST, on Flickr