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Post by Low Light Mike on May 6, 2012 17:28:26 GMT -8
With my attention on the arriving cruise-ship Norwegian Pearl in early morning on May 5, 2012, I totally forgot about the arriving Queen of Alberni. I'm at Jack Point. - that hike to Jack Point is peaceful when you walk it in the early morning darkness. My head-lamp helped me to avoid the muddy spots. ---------------------- Head-on view. Looks like an empty upper car-deck on her first sailing of the day.   Quinsam and a route-30 vessel meeting is a regular thing.  Arriving at Duke Point terminal at 7:15am  |
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Post by Low Light Mike on May 7, 2012 19:40:01 GMT -8
Queen of Alberni with a glimpse of the Queen of Oak Bay - May 5, 2012 from Jack Point park.  |
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Post by Low Light Mike on May 19, 2012 19:35:32 GMT -8
VIDEO of the Q'Alberni, with the Queen of Oak Bay - seen May 19, 2012 from Malaspina Galleries on Gabriola Island. www.facebook.com/v/10150894365823647--------------------- Some stills of Q'Alberni, seen from Gabriola today     I've spent the last 2 days on and near the water, and I've seen plenty of pleasure boats enjoying the sunny days. It's definitely busier on the water regarding the number of small craft, now that the May long-weekend has arrived. I've heard a number of ferry-horn warning blasts (including the dreaded 5-short-blasts), as the ferries try to remind the small-craft guys that that they are coming through the lane. (and that they ferry is larger than the pleasure boat....)
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Post by Low Light Mike on May 20, 2012 18:24:21 GMT -8
When you take the 5:15am sailing on Route-30 around this time of year, you meet the opposite ship shortly after sunrise. - May 18, 2012, taken from the Coastal Inspiration, of the approaching and passing Queen of Alberni.    ---------------------- Later in the day, at Tsaswwassen: - Q'Alberni arriving at berth-3, while Queen of New Westminster tests her rudder and thinks about what to break next.  |
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Post by WettCoast on May 23, 2012 20:40:14 GMT -8
Queen of Alberni almost ready for departure from berth 3, Tsawwassen Terminal - c2001. Up by the funnel I see a couple of what looks like extra large bus shelters. They no longer exist, as far as I can tell. Were these crew smoking shelters, or something else?  photo © Mr. DOT by Wett Coast, on Flickr[/size] The original Alberni had solariums similar to those on the other C-class vessels. They disappeared a long time ago, maybe at the time the upper car deck was added. It has been many years since I last rode on this vessel. Does she have any sort of solarium now, and is she a little deprived when it comes to outdoor deck space?
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Post by lmtengs on May 23, 2012 20:48:30 GMT -8
The original Alberni had solariums similar to those on the other C-class vessels. They disappeared a long time ago, maybe at the time the upper car deck was added. It has been many years since I last rode on this vessel. Does she have any sort of solarium now, and is she a little deprived when it comes to outdoor deck space? There's no solarium left as you would expect on the other Cs, but there's a little area with the original glass panels still on the ceiling, just a passthrough smoking area from one side of the ship to the other. I actually prefer the Alboinkers to the other Cs for outdoor deckspace due to the large open area at the ends of the ships, where BCF has put picnic style tables to sit at and enjoy the trip.  |
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Post by Scott (Former Account) on May 23, 2012 20:58:15 GMT -8
Up by the funnel I see a couple of what looks like extra large bus shelters. They no longer exist, as far as I can tell. Were these crew smoking shelters, or something else? Those were HVAC units manufactured by McQuay. They were removed during her MLU... |
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Post by Scott on Jun 3, 2012 21:24:32 GMT -8
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Post by hullnumbers on Jun 5, 2012 20:57:10 GMT -8
This is a surprise, don't know if anyone knows about it. www.timescolonist.com/business/UVic+scientist+turns+ferry+into+Venus+project/6731156/story.htmlPaul Macoun had a straightforward request for B.C. Ferries: He wanted to punch a hole through the hull of the Queen of Alberni, one of the busiest ferries in the fleet. "I had lots of engineers frowning at me," recalls the University of Victoria project manager. "There were a lot of approvals that weren't anticipated." Turns out B.C. Ferries eventually said yes, and so did Lloyd's of London. In May, the Queen of Alberni became the first mobile-research tool in UVic's Venus ocean research program, aimed at unravelling the mysteries of the Strait of Georgia. Venus was launched six years ago as a way to provide scientists with realtime information from seafloor instruments via fibre-optic cables located 100 to 300 metres below the ocean surface. It has supported scientific research ranging from whale vocalizations to ecosystem health and the stability of the Fraser delta. As Venus enters its fouryear second phase, it is employing the Queen of Alberni as a research vessel on its TsawwassentoDuke Point run. The 139-metre ferry, built in Vancouver in 1976, works about 21 hours per day, including startup and shutdown time. To convert the ferry into a research vessel, a square section of the hull measuring about 60 centimetres by 60 centimetres was removed about two metres below the waterline. When welded back in place, the section was inset by about 10 centimetres, to prevent any equipment from getting snagged, including during dry dock. A plastic scoop extends from the section of hull to collect water for diversion through monitoring instrumentation situated just inside the hull before the water returns to the ocean. Tests are conducted for salinity, temperature and dissolved oxygen, as well as for evidence of phytoplankton blooms and sediment plumes from the Fraser River. "One geoscientist said, 'It would be great if you could tell me where to catch the fish,' " Macoun added. Communications and meteorological sensors on the vessel's upper bridge deck measure wind, temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, solar radiation and atmospheric infrared radiation. The total cost for aboveand below-deck equipment is about $60,000, not including staff time. Susan Allen, a professor of earth and ocean sciences at the University of B.C., said that changes in the Strait occur on a daily basis. Single-celled plants that make up the base of the food chain, living at the ocean surface to capture the sun's energy, can now be tracked thanks to the Queen of Alberni. "We can't afford to be out there on a ship to see what's happening every day," Allen said, noting continuing research will improve knowledge of salmon and other marine life in the area. The goal of the Venus program is to put similar equipment on two other ferries - on the Tsawwassen-to-Swartz Bay and Horseshoe Bay-to-Departure Bay runs - and to add measurements for carbon dioxide and pH levels, which relate to increased acidification of the oceans. Macoun's biggest concern is how the system will operate during the spring freshet, when sediments from the Fraser River could gum up the works. "We may have to rethink some of the plumbing to deal with so much stuff going through the system," he said. The Fraser also has a major influence on water temperature, salinity and nutrients in the strait. Water tests will be conducted every 10 seconds, and over the coming years will help to paint a more complete picture of changes in the Strait of Georgia. "The value in 10 years will be so much more significant," he said. In addition to the seafloor array and the ferry, one coastal radar station has been operating since November at Deltaport, measuring surface currents. "The vision is to get a picture of what's happening everywhere, top to bottom," Macoun said. Venus has received $11 million in funding, from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the B.C. government's Knowledge Development Fund and industry partners. Data results from the new ferry equipment should be available in about a month at venus.uvic.ca. © Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist |
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Post by WettCoast on Jun 6, 2012 10:49:24 GMT -8
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Neil
Voyager 
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Post by Neil on Jun 6, 2012 13:31:47 GMT -8
This is a surprise, don't know if anyone knows about it. Well, I might not have known about it if I hadn't read the post immediately before yours... |
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Post by Scott on Jun 6, 2012 19:54:11 GMT -8
This is a surprise, don't know if anyone knows about it. Well, I might not have known about it if I hadn't read the post immediately before yours... Haha. Yeah, I probably should have been more clear that I moved the hullnumbers post to this thread since I had already brought it up a couple days before - which he obviously missed. I appreciated the full-text version of the article so I just moved it here. |
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Post by WettCoast on Jun 26, 2012 8:48:05 GMT -8
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Mirrlees
Voyager
Bathtub!
Deck Engineer- Queen of Richmond
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Post by Mirrlees on Jul 7, 2012 22:44:45 GMT -8
A classic shot of Al Bundy departing Tsawwassen in August 1991.  |
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 21, 2012 9:34:34 GMT -8
The unmistakable image of the Queen of Alberni, on a hazy morning in the strait. - July 8, 2012, seen from Coastal Renaissance. - haze is from smoke from Russian forest-fires.  |
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Post by Low Light Mike on Aug 4, 2012 15:02:57 GMT -8
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Post by lmtengs on Aug 5, 2012 12:24:21 GMT -8
Look at the ownership of the Queen of Alberni in this screenshot from the accident investigation reports for the grounding. Who actually owns BC Ferries' vessels? Here it shows as being the Central and Eastern Trust Company, whatever that is. I googled the name, all that came up were court cases between that company and others. I assume they no longer exist? Attachments:
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Post by glasseye on Aug 5, 2012 13:32:41 GMT -8
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Post by Low Light Mike on Aug 5, 2012 13:51:54 GMT -8
Look at the ownership of the Queen of Alberni in this screenshot from the accident investigation reports for the grounding. Who actually owns BC Ferries' vessels? Here it shows as being the Central and Eastern Trust Company, whatever that is. Keep in mind that the accident was in 1979. Assuming that you're interested in who legally owned the ship back in 1979, not today, I can tell you that BC Ferries sold a few of their C-Class ships to a finance company back then, and leased them back under long term leases. - It was just a way of structuring the financing on the new ships. A mechanism known in the business world as a "Sale and Lease-back". I was aware of BC Ferries doing this with the Oak Bay and Surrey in 1981, but not the Alberni. |
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Post by lmtengs on Aug 5, 2012 19:34:49 GMT -8
Look at the ownership of the Queen of Alberni in this screenshot from the accident investigation reports for the grounding. Who actually owns BC Ferries' vessels? Here it shows as being the Central and Eastern Trust Company, whatever that is. Keep in mind that the accident was in 1979. Assuming that you're interested in who legally owned the ship back in 1979, not today, I can tell you that BC Ferries sold a few of their C-Class ships to a finance company back then, and leased them back under long term leases. - It was just a way of structuring the financing on the new ships. A mechanism known in the business world as a "Sale and Lease-back". I was aware of BC Ferries doing this with the Oak Bay and Surrey in 1981, but not the Alberni. Thanks for that, Mr. Horn. Why doesn't BCF use a system similar to this to finance the construction of the replacements for all our vessels that are currently aging? It seems like an easy way to eliminate at least some of the new-ship-related expenses. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2012 8:19:12 GMT -8
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Post by Cat320DL on Aug 25, 2012 17:38:15 GMT -8
Nice shot's
Kyle
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2012 14:27:50 GMT -8
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Post by Low Light Mike on Aug 28, 2012 14:45:49 GMT -8
Thank you good sir. Here's some more photos. Mr. Cheese: Please put spaces (a few blank lines) before your starting ![]() tag for each photo. - that will prevent the ugly wide side-scrolling that your 2 posts today did. Thanks ! |
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Post by Cat320DL on Aug 28, 2012 17:28:58 GMT -8
Nice shot's again.
Kyle
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Photos of her pre-Coastized 
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