QUEEN OF CHILLIWACK - Photos & Discussion

[Low Light Mike]

Ship changes related to safety system upgrades:

- the new life-jacket storage inside takes the place of an old cozy sleeping nook in the recliner-lounge, a place which many Bella Bellans had traditionally considered their sovereign territory for overnight trips.
- the TV is also new.



Looking down at the #1 end.
- There used to be a long diagonal locker used for the davit-launched life rafts.
- now there are just 2 smaller lockers to sit on.



The secret door to safety. Also known as the LSA door, at the #2 end.
- convenient location close to the crew's smoking area.



And a couple of opportunities to showcase some Burke Channel scenery, and show some safety equipment.





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Photos from July 9-11, 2011.

[Low Light Mike]

While on the Chilliwack this past weekend, I heard a crew member mention that next year's refit might have the solarium removed, to make way for more crew cabins.

For this season, the solarium carpet has been removed (grey paint in its place) and new safety lighting is in the solarium that stays on all night.


If the solarium is lost next year, this will reduce sleeping space, and eliminate the only quiet sleeping space.
- the Bella Bellans sleeping-nook at the front of the recliner lounge has already been eliminated (by lifejacket storage), so sleeping space is getting scarcer, and it's harder to find an out-of-the-way place to sleep.

Yet another reason for some people to avoid an overnight trip on this steerage ship.

[Low Light Mike]

A few more looks at the Chilliwack's car-deck.
- from July 9-11 2011.

Drop trailers loaded at Port Hardy for trip to Bella Bella and Klemtu



Lovely texture to the deck.......
- imagine if they painted it green and used it for a mini-golf course? I think I just found another revenue source for Rob Clarke.



I like the stranded doorway for deck-3 (hoisted deck) from the centre casing.



The typical load on a Monday or Thursday. Lots of rented motorhomes for the 1-day direct trip between Port Hardy and Bella Coola. Guten Morgen !

[Low Light Mike]

Chilliwack's solarium:
- this might be removed for 2012.

with the new 24-hour lights:



with the grey paint hard floor


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Some quirky views of outside decks:

[mrdot]

:)your new postings of the whack, are very interesting indeed, as I remember back years ago when this most humble of basto ferrys arrived here, and it's still ticking! We are certainly getting milage out of this one! :)I just hope the wonder manager isn't counting this in his new improvements! ::)mrdot

[Low Light Mike]

Feb 21, 2009 10:37:30 GMT -8 ferryfanyvr said:

This lounge is another example of where passenger space had to be sacrificed in order to provide enough crew work/living space for Route-40.
- this is from 1991, and this large corner area in the table-lounge is now long gone.

[Low Light Mike]

Queen of Chilliwack at Port Hardy.
- July 9, 2011

- Yes, my camera can defeat the barbed-wire security fence ;D


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Queen of Chilliwack at Klemtu's downtown berth.
- afternoon on Sunday July 10, 2011:

As seen from the small-craft marina, right next to the downtown ferry slip.





Views from my walk around the village, around the bay to the big-house at the point (which was closed).
- the small-craft marina shown is where I took the previous 2 photos from.

[Low Light Mike]

More Kelmtu views of Queen of Chilliwack from Sunday July 10, 2011:

View from the beach in front of the big-house.
- looking north towards the new Klemtu terminal and Boat Bluff lighthouse (both out-of-sight, but both in that general direction of the photo background).



View from the Klemtu expressway.



View from the floating ferry slip.



I took a walk on the new road that leads to the new Wedge Rock ferry terminal.
- here are some ferry peek-a-boo views that I found near this new road.



- looks like a Chilly-bridge growing among the shrubs and trees on this guy's property.

[Koastal Karl]

I thought Klemtu had a new ferry dock???

[Low Light Mike]

Jul 17, 2011 4:25:26 GMT -8 Koastal Karl said:

I thought Klemtu had a new ferry dock???

Yes they do.
- It's 2km north of town, and it's used regularly by the NorEx this summer. This is the dock that will always be used by the NorEx or NorAd.


The downtown old dock is still used only by the Chilliwack on Sundays, because it allows the route-40 passengers to walk around town and it allows the villagers to come aboard for dinner. That's what route-40 is all about.

[WettCoast]

Mike,

On arriving or leaving from Klemtu did the Wack go far enough north for you to have a look at the new terminal? Any photos?

My guess is that after $25 million has been spent to build the new terminal (and access road) the makeshift 'downtown' terminal's days are numbered. I can not see money being spent to keep it operational.

[Low Light Mike]

Jul 17, 2011 7:31:21 GMT -8 WettCoast said:

Mike,

On arriving or leaving from Klemtu did the Wack go far enough north for you to have a look at the new terminal? Any photos?

My guess is that after $25 million has been spent to build the new terminal (and access road) the makeshift 'downtown' terminal's days are numbered. I can not see money being spent to keep it operational.

I was hoping to see the new dock from a distance, but did not. The 'Wack arrived up the narrow channel between Cone & Swindle Islands,and departed the same way, instead of going around the top of Cone Island.

I took some photos of the new access road and I'll post these into the ferry-terminal photo thread, once I get to them.

If the downtown dock is eventually retired, that will be another blow to the Klemtu route-40 experience.
- There is also no longer any Kitasoo elder to do a tour of the big-house in Klemtu, as elder Francis Robinson (who used to do the tours) passed-away a couple of years ago.

If the downtown Klemtu visitor experience is lost, that's another nail in route-40's coffin, in my opinion (shrinking sleeping space on the ship being the other, oh and high fares too).
- Although I'd hope that Klemtu tourism would see the opportunity to shuttle route-40 passengers from Wedge Rock terminal to the town.

[Low Light Mike]

Kayak wet-launch at Hakai Pass, at 5:00am on July 10, 2011.

- This is done at the Chilliwack's #2 (stern) end. Crew need to know that a kayak launch is scheduled before they do the in-port loading, otherwise they might find the forklift on the wrong side of the MacGregor doors.

- notice the 2 painted figures above the "2" on the ship door. These are to mark the place for the forklift's wheel blocks.


- Gear still to be stowed in the kayak. With the ship stopping to do this launch, the kayakers need to be on-time and ready. This pair of kayakers had spent the night in the solarium, and were up by 4:00am packing and getting ready.





- the long plank that's in front of the forklift is what they use for the launch. It's lowered to a ledge outside the open door, and it becomes the launching platform, something like a wharf that is at water level.
- also notice the Steward (she's behind the forklift, with a white shirt) - she's ready to check the 2 kayaker's ID and sign them off the ship. For official disembarkation purposes, this stop at Hakai Pass is "other port".



- Lowering the launching platform. The man on the right taking photos is a kayaker who will be land-launching from McLoughlin Bay later in the morning.





- lowering the kayak by hand onto the launching platform



- and the 1st kayaker is off, now it's time to launch the 2nd.


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Post-launch photos:
- the adventurous couple starting 2 weeks in Hakai Pass area



- he's already got his camera out.

[Kahloke]

Jul 18, 2011 9:37:00 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

Kayak wet-launch at Haikai Pass, at 5:00am on July 10, 2011.

- This is done at the Chilliwack's #2 (stern) end. Crew need to know that a kayak launch is scheduled before they do the in-port loading, otherwise they might find the forklift on the wrong side of the MacGregor doors.

That is cool
Thanks for sharing photos of how they do that. That must have been an interesting process to watch.

[Low Light Mike]

Jul 18, 2011 10:01:10 GMT -8 Kahloke said:

Thanks for sharing photos of how they do that. That must have been an interesting process to watch.

It was fun to watch.
- Access to the car-deck is restricted, so my presence there was because I had chatted with the chief-steward earlier, and they got to know who I was and what I was doing on my trip.

[Neil]

Jul 18, 2011 9:37:00 GMT -8 Low Light Mike said:

Kayak wet-launch at Haikai Pass, at 5:00am on July 10, 2011.

I take it you spoke to these folks in the 'sleeping lounge' before they left. Do you know if they had to arrange this before they sailed, or was it something that is done regularly and informally, just by asking the crew?

Nice to think that there's still room for this kind of personal service in our ferry system, especially so given all the liability paranoia often found in transportation companies.

[Low Light Mike]

Jul 18, 2011 13:19:51 GMT -8 Neil said:

I take it you spoke to these folks in the 'sleeping lounge' before they left. Do you know if they had to arrange this before they sailed, or was it something that is done regularly and informally, just by asking the crew?

Nice to think that there's still room for this kind of personal service in our ferry system, especially so given all the liability paranoia often found in transportation companies.

I had fun chatting-up anyone who looked alive on my trip. ;D

Fro the kayak launch, you have to pre-arrange this. Either through your reservation or at least by check-in time.
- BC Ferries needs to ensure that the forklift is at the #2 end of the ship, in order to do the launch.
- They can't move the forklift from end-to-end after loading, because of the MacGregor doors that are shut along the car-deck.

You likely have to sign a waiver indicating that you're aware of the risks of being let-off in the middle of nowhere. And you are officially signed-off from the ship's manifest when you do the launch, including showing ID to the Steward.


I don't think there's a special fee for the launch; likely just part of the deal when you pay to have your kayak transported.
- they have a kayak trailer to hold the kayaks.

BC Ferries does literally go out of its way to do these launches, a few km off course and stops the ship. But that's part of the intended service and experience of Route-40.
- route-40 really is a unique slow-paced casual route.

[glasseye]

Can kayakers request to be dropped off anywhere on-route or are there specific dropoff points?

[Koastal Karl]

Where would you book your reservation to??? The nearest port from where they want to be launched??

[Low Light Mike]

Jul 18, 2011 15:05:38 GMT -8 Koastal Karl said:

Where would you book your reservation to??? The nearest port from where they want to be launched??

You likely pay the rate of the next port that the ship would stop at.
- So on my trip, they kayakers got-off before the 1st port (Bella Bella), so they would have reserved as "Port Hardy - Bella Bella".

[Low Light Mike]

Jul 18, 2011 14:38:39 GMT -8 glasseye said:

Can kayakers request to be dropped off anywhere on-route or are there specific dropoff points?

I've never seen anything on the schedules to indicate any specific drop-off points. However, there are some places where ferries would likely say "no", for practical purposes:
ie.
- in middle of open water of Queen Charlotte Sound or Milbanke Sound (because the ferry is too rolling in those open waters, so can't do a safe launch).
- close to a scheduled terminal stop (ie. what's the point of doing a wet-launch a few KM away from McLoughlin Bay terminal?).

Hakai Pass is likely the most frequent launch-stop site, just because it's the Marine Park destination of many kayakers, and is far away from regular ferry terminals.

[Low Light Mike]

A couple screen-captures showing the route that the 'Chilliwack sometimes takes as she leaves Port Hardy on a route-40 trip.

- I took this route on July 9, 2011, and you emerge into the strait at Scarlett Point lighthouse.

[Low Light Mike]

More on-board pictures of the Queen of Chilliwack from my July 9-11, 2011 Route-40 trips.
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Starting on starboard side of deck-5, at 5:35am on the Sunday Morning.
- that puts us at Hakai Pass, just after we did the kayak launch.



Now on port-side and one deck higher, at 1:30pm on the Sunday afternoon.
- that puts us south of Klemtu and Cone Island.



Same side & deck, at 7:00am on the Monday, at Bella Coola. View is across the inlet towards the site of the Tallheo Cannery.



Port-side bridge-wing equipment.



View forward from that bridge-wing.
- early afternoon on Sunday, so we're south of Klemtu.



From the port-side bridge-wing, looking aft at the solarium (my bedroom) and the walkways on decks 6 & 5.



I'm as far forward as I can go on deck-4, to take a shot of the deck 5 & 6 & bridge superstructure.
- we're at Bella Coola at 7:30am on Monday.



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Saturday night views north of Port Hardy, taking the inside route out to Queen Charlotte Strait.
- it's approx 10:40pm

I'm on deck-6 port-side, using the railing as my camera-support.
- that's Scarlett Point lighthouse shining under the bridge-wing.



Now on starboard side, same deck (right next to the solarium)

[Low Light Mike]

Diagrams of decks 4 and 5 of the Queen of Chilliwack:

[Low Light Mike]

Queen of Chilliwack is having her first significant weather delay of the 2011 Route-40 season.

- her Saturday 9:30pm departure from Port Hardy didn't happen until Sunday afternoon.

Currently, she's in Milbanke Sound southwards, after her Klemtu stop (a brief middle-of-night stop).
- that's at 9:00am Monday morning.
- normally she's southbound in Milbanke Sound at 8:00pm Sunday evening.

Her Monday day-trip from Bella Coola to Port Hardy will still happen, just delayed.

She normally sits idle at Bear Cove between Monday night at 9:30pm and Tuesday morning at 10:00am, and so this period is where they will catch-up to the schedule, or at least get close.

So she should be back on-schedule by the end of the Tuesday-Wednesday trip.