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Post by lightningwolf206 on Jun 23, 2022 7:36:52 GMT -8
The first Route 2 sailing for the Queen of Alberni is set for tomorrow, as the ship heads up from Tsawwassen as we speak. Surprised they actually went ahead with this change, but will be interesting to see how that goes... Her sailings leave Departure Bay at 0740, 1225 and 1700 tomorrow. Totally unsuitable for a route with a fair number of foot passengers. Combine this with 12 sailings a day on route one, and it will be a summer of discontent for ferry passengers, particularly in this post-lockdown travel explosion. Your absolutely right! Usually the Alberni sees a few dozen foot passengers per sailing on Route 30. However, there is a bigger issue, given the fact that on top of having a smaller passenger deck to accommodate the 150-350 foot passengers per sailing on Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay, the nature of the vehicle load is also much different. During the summer, Route 2 sees way more RV’s and Over-heights than Commercial vehicles(the opposite of what Route 30 sees). In majority of the circumstances there usually a family in each RV. Consequently, way more RV’s can fit on then Commercial trucks.With that now you just don’t run into a situation where the Alberni’s passenger deck is crowded, you run into a maximum passenger allowance issue. Only about 1,140 passengers can really go on the ship at a time. But in situations where even on crew member doe sent show. That number goes down to 745. There can be anywhere between 700-1300 passengers per sailing during the busy periods. People will indeed get left behind this summer. It’s not a question of if, it’s when. This is the reason why now even booking a foot passenger ticketed justified. |
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Post by paulvanb on Jun 23, 2022 8:59:51 GMT -8
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on Jun 23, 2022 11:23:03 GMT -8
Is she using the overhead walkways at both terminals?
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Post by lightningwolf206 on Jun 23, 2022 18:55:32 GMT -8
Is she using the overhead walkways at both terminals? Yes, same procedure as the rest of the C Class (in Horseshoe Bay that is) |
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Post by lightningwolf206 on Jun 24, 2022 11:00:55 GMT -8
2nd Day of Operations on Route 2 and the Alberni reached its Passenger count on the 10:00am! That didn't take long, apparently staffing issues.
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Post by ferryfanyvr on Jun 25, 2022 14:37:01 GMT -8
I just made a round trip on the Alberni to Departure Bay and back. We used berth 2 with the overhead at HSB and I noticed that that there's been a modification made to enable use of the walkway. The "pickle fork deck" has been extended slightly forward and a second access gate has been installed just ahead of the original gate which is used at Tsawwassen. However there is no sundeck gate for the walkway at berth 1.
We used berth 3 with the overhead at Departure Bay. Apparently the berth 2 overhead at DB doesn't fit the Alberni according to a friend who is a ticket agent there.
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on Jun 25, 2022 15:49:02 GMT -8
I just made a round trip on the Alberni to Departure Bay and back. We used berth 2 with the overhead at HSB and I noticed that that there's been a modification made to enable use of the walkway. The "pickle fork deck" has been extended slightly forward and a second access gate has been installed just ahead of the original gate which is used at Tsawwassen. However there is no sundeck gate for the walkway at berth 1. We used berth 3 with the overhead at Departure Bay. Apparently the berth 2 overhead at DB doesn't fit the Alberni according to a friend who is a ticket agent there. I notice that on temporary route Departure Bay to Tsawwassen the overhead walkway at berth 1at Departure Bay is where rescue boat is located. |
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Post by WettCoast on Jun 25, 2022 17:20:11 GMT -8
I was on the Alberni's 7:20 PM sailing last night from berth 2 @ Horseshoe Bay. Pretty crowded sailing and the cafeteria staff seemed to be overwhelmed. The good weather had lots of folks lounging on the outer decks. The Alberni tied up in berth 3 at Departure Bay at the end of our sailing. The decision by BCFS to place this vessel on route 2 is questionable to say the least. I believe that she should be swapped with the Coquitlam. On route 3, the lack of amenities should not be as big a deal due to the sailing time being half of what it is on route 2. BTW, the Alberni has been a summer extra boat on route 2 in the past. The photo below is from the August long weekend in 1988. At that time there was no route 30, IIRC.  Queen of Alberni - Nanaimo bound off Bowen Island - 31 July 1988
© WCK-JST by Jim Thorne, on Flickr |
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on Jun 25, 2022 18:43:19 GMT -8
Are Langdale crew trained on Queen of Alberni?
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Post by WettCoast on Jun 25, 2022 19:08:39 GMT -8
Are Langdale crew trained on Queen of Alberni? I asked myself the same question about Departure Bay crews. It has been quite a few years since the Alberni was based at Duke Point. |
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Post by northwesterner on Jun 25, 2022 20:10:30 GMT -8
Queen of Alberni will be off route 30 from June 20, 2022 until October 11, 2022 according to reservation page. The Queen of Alberni will be #2 out of Departure Bay for the Summer Season, Sailing between Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay. It was a mentioned that there was a plan to move her over to route #2 last summer, during the time that she was doing Dock fittings in Horseshoe Bay and Langdale in late Spring. It was told that there was a plan for the switch with the Coastal Renaissance, in order to do a shuffle around the fleet in so that the Celebration and Renaissance could accumulate more hours on their engines before there MLU's. I have a feeling a lot of people hearing the news will be quiet annoyed that Route #2 is getting a capacity downgrade as the Alberni carries less cars, but it allows for the Alberni to operate on Route #3, if the need for a vessel swap or a Manager Discretion sailing ever arose, especially given its Full Size lower Car deck. Feels like there are 8000 potential permutations of major vessel assignments that achieve the objective of the Coastals racking up a few more engine hours that still allow the Alberni to operate on route 30. Awful, inept decision making. |
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on Jun 26, 2022 20:17:56 GMT -8
When did Queen if Alberni received the extended passenger deck and the pickle forks? Why didn’t BC Ferries build the Queen of Alberni with the upper vehicle deck in 1976 or the upper vehicle deck never considered for future needs of the fleet?
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Post by WettCoast on Jun 26, 2022 21:55:21 GMT -8
When did Queen if Alberni received the extended passenger deck and the pickle forks? Why didn’t BC Ferries build the Queen of Alberni with the upper vehicle deck in 1976 or the upper vehicle deck never considered for future needs of the fleet? It was built with a single car deck to carry trucks & overheights such as RV's. Its original assignment was to route 1, supplementing the four unlifted V-class ships that were on route 1 at that time. It was the 'race horse' of the fleet doing the Tsawwassen - Swartz Bay run in just 1 hour & 15 minutes. The photo below shows her in Active Pass in 1978.  Queen of Alberni seen off Galiano Island in Active Pass - 9 May 1978
© WCK-JST - Fujichrome - 78-10-06 by Jim Thorne, on Flickr |
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on Jun 26, 2022 22:11:47 GMT -8
When did Queen if Alberni received the extended passenger deck and the pickle forks? Why didn’t BC Ferries build the Queen of Alberni with the upper vehicle deck in 1976 or the upper vehicle deck never considered for future needs of the fleet? It was built with a single car deck to carry trucks & overheights such as RV's. Its original assignment was to route 1, supplementing the four unlifted V-class ships that were on route 1 at that time. It was the 'race horse' of the fleet doing the Tsawwassen - Swartz Bay run in just 1 hour & 15 minutes. The photo below shows her in Active Pass in 1978. It just seems like poor planning by BC Ferries to having to add upper vehicle deck within eight years of Queen of Alberni being in service. |
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Post by northwesterner on Jun 27, 2022 10:22:38 GMT -8
It was built with a single car deck to carry trucks & overheights such as RV's. Its original assignment was to route 1, supplementing the four unlifted V-class ships that were on route 1 at that time. It was the 'race horse' of the fleet doing the Tsawwassen - Swartz Bay run in just 1 hour & 15 minutes. The photo below shows her in Active Pass in 1978. It just seems like poor planning by BC Ferries to having to add upper vehicle deck within eight years of Queen of Alberni being in service. Well, after she ran aground and they decided not to run this entire class in Active Pass, she had to be reworked to be quasi-suitable for other services, though it is a little unclear (to me) what her primary assignment was in the 1980s before Route 30 came online. |
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Post by Kahloke on Jun 27, 2022 11:13:03 GMT -8
It just seems like poor planning by BC Ferries to having to add upper vehicle deck within eight years of Queen of Alberni being in service. Well, after she ran aground and they decided not to run this entire class in Active Pass, she had to be reworked to be quasi-suitable for other services, though it is a little unclear (to me) what her primary assignment was in the 1980s before Route 30 came online. Alberni was primarily on Route 2 during the 80's, wasn't she? I remember riding on Alberni from Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay in the late 80's. I also remember those escalators. Oak Bay and Surrey never got those, right? |
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Post by princessofvanfan on Jun 27, 2022 11:36:24 GMT -8
Well, after she ran aground and they decided not to run this entire class in Active Pass, she had to be reworked to be quasi-suitable for other services, though it is a little unclear (to me) what her primary assignment was in the 1980s before Route 30 came online. Alberni was primarily on Route 2 during the 80's, wasn't she? I remember riding on Alberni from Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay in the late 80's. I also remember those escalators. Oak Bay and Surrey never got those, right? Yes, the Alberni was on route 2 during the 80's. The escalators proved problematic and broke down often. I remember they weren't running a lot of the time. |
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Post by northwesterner on Jun 27, 2022 12:04:19 GMT -8
Are you ready for something awesome? Here are some photos, again from 1981, of the first time I ever travelled on the Queen of Alberni. It was the first season the Alberni was in operation on route 2 having just been moved up from route 1 when the newly lifted Queens of Vancouver and Victoria re-entered service. Since they had much increased overheight capabilities, the Alberni was deemed more useful to relieve heavy overheight traffic on route 2.Alberni arriving at Departure Bay berth 2:  walking on the main (and only) cardeck:  2 views of one of the side lounges:   pulling away form berth 2:  2 views of one of the end lounges:   en route to Horseshoe Bay:  Some history to fill in the gaps. Alberni to route 2 in 1981, after lifting of two of the sisters for route 1. |
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Post by northwesterner on Jun 27, 2022 12:05:32 GMT -8
I found another little album! Back on Friday July 29, 1988 I decided to devote an entire day to riding on all 5 C-Class ships. That season, the ship assignments were as follows: #1 DB-Queen of Surrey #2 DB-Queen of Alberni #1 HSB-Queen of Oak Bay (some things never change ;D) #2 HSB-Queen of Coquitlam #1 Langdale-Queen of Cowichan Then the next day, the ferry riding began! 8:00AM sailing Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay:    Queen of Alberni departing HSB on her 10:00AM sailing to Departure Bay (no pickle forks yet!):  More history, 1988 assignments. |
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Post by northwesterner on Jun 27, 2022 12:06:53 GMT -8
And she should have stayed on Route 3! They deserve to put up with the crap we've dealt with on Route 30 all these many years... 2 hours on her is much, much more painful then 40 minutes... Get off my lawn! |
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Post by Kahloke on Jun 27, 2022 19:46:13 GMT -8
And she should have stayed on Route 3! They deserve to put up with the crap we've dealt with on Route 30 all these many years... 2 hours on her is much, much more painful then 40 minutes... Get off my lawn! I've gotta ask: why did you quote a 14 year old post? |
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Post by WettCoast on Jun 27, 2022 21:10:48 GMT -8
And she should have stayed on Route 3! They deserve to put up with the crap we've dealt with on Route 30 all these many years... 2 hours on her is much, much more painful then 40 minutes... Get off my lawn! Mike C was right then, and he is still right now. The Alberni would be best placed on route 3. Nevertheless, you made me laugh. |
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Post by WettCoast on Jun 27, 2022 21:21:00 GMT -8
A little reading for folks ... From Mark Wilson of The Province newspaper, 25 January 1984
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Post by WettCoast on Jun 27, 2022 21:37:06 GMT -8
Queen of Alberni, just off of Tsawwassen, during sea trials following the completion of the 'lifting' operation. The work was done by Burrard-Yarrows.
18 June 1984 - photo by INFocus (J Barber), from the Mr DOT collection
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Post by northwesterner on Jun 27, 2022 21:41:24 GMT -8
Queen of Alberni, just off of Tsawwassen, during sea trials following the completion of the 'lifting' operation. The work was done by Burrard-Yarrows. <button disabled="" class="c-attachment-insert--linked o-btn--sm">Attachment Deleted</button>
18 June 1984 - photo by INFocus (J Barber), from the Mr DOT collection So basically, this was a short lived livery and configuration, as she received Expo colors and a passenger deck rework by 1986. |
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