Neil
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Post by Neil on Mar 10, 2020 9:12:52 GMT -8
Well my apologies, I'm wasn't sure how to do so after reading the response to a question from BCFS's Twitter account. The post was about the Bowen Queen being placed on the Crofton Vesuvius route, someone asked where the Quinitsa would be going. Here is the link Thanks for that clarification. Although... their tweet still doesn't make clear whether it's just a refit assignment, or a permanent one.
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Post by paddlehardercafe on Mar 10, 2020 12:56:23 GMT -8
Well my apologies, I'm wasn't sure how to do so after reading the response to a question from BCFS's Twitter account. The post was about the Bowen Queen being placed on the Crofton Vesuvius route, someone asked where the Quinitsa would be going. Here is the link I wasn't sure how add a link, in my older age and being computer alliterate. I'm only assuming refit or servicing as it has been a long time since her last. Or come down to Route 12 for the busier summer. I know regulars will be happy to see some more capacity. That is all. Thanks for that clarification. Although... their tweet still doesn't make clear whether it's just a refit assignment, or a permanent one.
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Post by paddlehardercafe on Mar 10, 2020 13:28:15 GMT -8
If you go to the BCFS website, under service notices. The Quinitsa will be replaced by the Bowen Queen till Oct 2020. It was brought up in community meetings on salt spring island that the Quinitsa was not meeting summer capacity for residence and commercial traffic. So I believe it will be on the Hornby rte till fall.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Mar 10, 2020 13:52:04 GMT -8
If you go to the BCFS website, under service notices. The Quinitsa will be replaced by the Bowen Queen till Oct 2020. It was brought up in community meetings on salt spring island that the Quinitsa was not meeting summer capacity for residence and commercial traffic. So I believe it will be on the Hornby rte till fall. The switch at Vesuvius was announced a few weeks ago. Summer before last, BC Ferries had Quinitsa sitting idle at Buckley Bay while traffic piled up to and from Hornby. Until they make an official announcement, I won't assume that this is any more than a refit assignment... but one can hope.
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Post by paddlehardercafe on Mar 10, 2020 14:17:46 GMT -8
If you go to the BCFS website, under service notices. The Quinitsa will be replaced by the Bowen Queen till Oct 2020. It was brought up in community meetings on salt spring island that the Quinitsa was not meeting summer capacity for residence and commercial traffic. So I believe it will be on the Hornby rte till fall. The switch at Vesuvius was announced a few weeks ago. Summer before last, BC Ferries had Quinitsa sitting idle at Buckley Bay while traffic piled up to and from Hornby. Until they make an official announcement, I won't assume that this is any more than a refit assignment... but one can hope. The announcement was made back in the fall of 2019 about the vessel change. www.bcferries.com/about/publicconsultation2/terminal-development-planning/vesuvius-bay.htmlThis has been on the books for awhile. Maybe the tweet is correct. Maybe things will change.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Mar 10, 2020 17:30:24 GMT -8
The switch at Vesuvius was announced a few weeks ago. Summer before last, BC Ferries had Quinitsa sitting idle at Buckley Bay while traffic piled up to and from Hornby. Until they make an official announcement, I won't assume that this is any more than a refit assignment... but one can hope. The announcement was made back in the fall of 2019 about the vessel change. www.bcferries.com/about/publicconsultation2/terminal-development-planning/vesuvius-bay.htmlThis has been on the books for awhile. Maybe the tweet is correct. Maybe things will change. You're right- it was a few months, not weeks ago. I've emailed for clarification.
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Post by paddlehardercafe on Mar 11, 2020 18:11:07 GMT -8
did you hear anything back? I'd be curious what other vessels are on the move this summer too.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2020 18:32:30 GMT -8
I do know for certain that the Kahloke is the Refit Relief boat for the Klitsa if that helps you any. 😉
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Mar 11, 2020 19:57:11 GMT -8
did you hear anything back? I'd be curious what other vessels are on the move this summer too. BC Ferries confirms that this is just a refit assignment. The utterly inadequate Kahloke returns to get chronically overloaded for the summer season, as of early June. Appalling.
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Post by paddlehardercafe on Mar 11, 2020 21:38:02 GMT -8
Then my question to BCFS would be, if the Bowen takes over route 6 till Oct 2020, then where does the Quinitsa go all summer, if the Quadra Queen II is becoming a relief vessel this summer, now they have two vessels sitting around doing nothing I guess, waiting for a break down?
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Mar 11, 2020 22:00:55 GMT -8
Then my question to BCFS would be, if the Bowen takes over route 6 till Oct 2020, then where does the Quinitsa go all summer, if the Quadra Queen II is becoming a relief vessel this summer, now they have two vessels sitting around doing nothing I guess, waiting for a break down? Late spring and early summer of 2018, BC Ferries had Quinitsa at Swartz Bay, or maybe at the tie-up berth at Fulford, doing extra runs as needed to the Gulf Islands. That didn't last, for whatever reason, and as I said, she spent the bulk of the summer idle at Buckley. If they're not going to use her for Hornby, I wonder if they might employ her again as the occasional third route five vessel.
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Post by paddlehardercafe on Mar 11, 2020 22:30:17 GMT -8
Doesn't make sense, with Skeena coming back on line soon, Cumberland back to her regular Gulf Island milk run, one of the 3 salish class vessels may have a rest or be pressed into summer peek. If the residences of Salt Spring can complain enough to be granted a larger vessel, why is Hornby being ignored. They have the extra ferry to do so. Wonder where they will tie up the QQ II then as a back up vessel.
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Post by paddlehardercafe on Jun 4, 2020 12:32:47 GMT -8
MV Kahloke has finished her refit at Point Hope and rounding Trail Island for Discovery showing 14.3 knts. Must be a good wind in her favor on top of being empty. Unsure of her destination for today. Running out of port space on the coast. Mayne Queen at Fulford, Island Aurora at Buckely Bay, Swartz Bay is full at night.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2020 17:56:53 GMT -8
Haha I had seen her going underneath the Johnson st bridge on my way to Graveyard Shift I got some good shots of her considering I didn't know she was leaving that early,l.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Feb 12, 2021 20:36:03 GMT -8
The Kahloke was out of service, perhaps all day yesterday... I know all runs were cancelled up until 5:40; don't know if they did the last run, with perhaps some extra runs to clear traffic. I didn't catch what the issue was. As a follower of the Hornby and Denman facebook pages, the thing that amuses me is the difference in reaction to breakdowns of the Kahloke, and the cable barge. Interruptions in Kahloke service generally brings shrugs and 'one of those things' type responses. When the cable ferry breaks down, the pitchforks come out, with accusations about how BC Ferries hates coastal communities. The poor Baynes Sound Connector (can't bring myself to italicize) is clearly the evil spawn of the fleet.
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Post by paddlehardercafe on Mar 17, 2022 12:50:00 GMT -8
Recent chat on Hornby island is the Kahloke is doing numerous overloads recently, even in the off season due to a marine structural engineer report about her weight. Apparently the hull is twisted, the wheelhouse has issues... Two large trucks is a sailing, and only takes a dozen cars a trip. Nothing official from BCFS
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on Mar 24, 2022 10:12:08 GMT -8
Recent chat on Hornby island is the Kahloke is doing numerous overloads recently, even in the off season due to a marine structural engineer report about her weight. Apparently the hull is twisted, the wheelhouse has issues... Two large trucks is a sailing, and only takes a dozen cars a trip. Nothing official from BCFS Now it is making the news. I wonder if this will spell an early retirement for Kahloke. I hope BC Ferries actually listens and puts Quinitsa on the Hornby Island for peak season.
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Post by paddlehardercafe on Mar 24, 2022 15:48:27 GMT -8
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Mar 24, 2022 16:32:36 GMT -8
Recent chat on Hornby island is the Kahloke is doing numerous overloads recently, even in the off season due to a marine structural engineer report about her weight. Apparently the hull is twisted, the wheelhouse has issues... Two large trucks is a sailing, and only takes a dozen cars a trip. Nothing official from BCFS Now it is making the news. I wonder if this will spell an early retirement for Kahloke. I hope BC Ferries actually listens and puts Quinitsa on the Hornby Island for peak season. I think this will finally provide the impetus to get Quinitsa on the Hornby route. Three or four sailing waits and extensive overtime for crews is not uncommon in the summer, and a return to what used to be the capacity of the Albert J. Savoie forty years ago would be intolerable, particularly since the Quinitsa is apparently not otherwise engaged this summer.
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Post by WettCoast on Jun 13, 2022 10:30:27 GMT -8
BC Ferries' Kahloke approaches Shingle Spit terminal, Hornby Island, with Denman Island in background. On my trips over & back, the car deck was full. This was mid week, early June, not exactly beach weather. Do they run this vessel in a 'shuttle mode' to squeeze in extra trips when it gets busy, or is that just a thing with the BSC? This ferry is quite like the Kwuna, but with more conventional berthing arrangements.
8 June 2022
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jun 13, 2022 13:22:10 GMT -8
BC Ferries' Kahloke approaches Shingle Spit terminal, Hornby Island, with Denman Island in background. On my trips over & back, the car deck was full. This was mid week, early June, not exactly beach weather. Do they run this vessel in a 'shuttle mode' to squeeze in extra trips when it gets busy, or is that just a thing with the BSC? The Kahloke will shuttle on the Hornby route, during busy times. On another matter for this route, Lambert Channel is a wind-tunnel, and the ship often sails a storm-course to prevent excessive "Rocking and Rolling."
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Jun 13, 2022 13:26:52 GMT -8
BC Ferries' Kahloke approaches Shingle Spit terminal, Hornby Island, with Denman Island in background. On my trips over & back, the car deck was full. This was mid week, early June, not exactly beach weather. Do they run this vessel in a 'shuttle mode' to squeeze in extra trips when it gets busy, or is that just a thing with the BSC? This ferry is quite like the Kwuna, but with more conventional berthing arrangements.
8 June 2022
Jim, during the high season the Hornby ferry is virtually always operating in shuttle mode, and that extends into the shoulder seasons as well. Families with small kids can be parked a mile and a half from the washroom if they're coming back at the end of a long weekend. I think the worst it's ever been is a six sailing wait.
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Post by WettCoast on Jun 13, 2022 15:34:22 GMT -8
Jim, during the high season the Hornby ferry is virtually always operating in shuttle mode, and that extends into the shoulder seasons as well. Families with small kids can be parked a mile and a half from the washroom if they're coming back at the end of a long weekend. I think the worst it's ever been is a six sailing wait. About how much of a 'boost' in capacity does going into shuttle mode give them? Perhaps two round trips per hour instead of just one? That still means only ~40 vehicles in each direction per hour.
Both vessels serving Denman/Hornby appear to me to be inadequate for busier times of the year. I understand that there has been some discussion about increasing capacity on the BSC by lengthening and/or widening the car deck.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Jun 13, 2022 17:16:38 GMT -8
Jim, during the high season the Hornby ferry is virtually always operating in shuttle mode, and that extends into the shoulder seasons as well. Families with small kids can be parked a mile and a half from the washroom if they're coming back at the end of a long weekend. I think the worst it's ever been is a six sailing wait. About how much of a 'boost' in capacity does going into shuttle mode give them? Perhaps two round trips per hour instead of just one? That still means only ~40 vehicles in each direction per hour.
Both vessels serving Denman/Hornby appear to me to be inadequate for busier times of the year. I understand that there has been some discussion about increasing capacity on the BSC by lengthening and/or widening the car deck. They can do, at best, a round trip every forty minutes when it's busy. When I was living most of the year on Hornby, i would leave for six weeks or so in the summer, because getting into Courtenay to shop and visit people was just ridiculous. It was easily six hours return on a lot of days. This has been the case for over twenty years, and still BC Ferries keeps the Kahloke on the route. Whatever their website says, the effective capacity of the Kahloke is 24-25 AEQ. The most maddening thing was the couple of summers that they parked the Quinitsa at Buckley Bay, so people could see it while they were spending huge chunks of the day in transit. Again this summer, Quinitsa is available. It's baffling. As I've mentioned before, when BC Ferries was challenged at an information meeting prior to the cable ferry's launch about its capacity being only marginally better than Quinitsa's, the rep peevishly replied that it could be expanded in future. But they have had so many problems with the hydraulics on the BSC- which a retired senior master says is due to faulty expectations about the specs for getting the thing across Baynes Sound- that it's likely that lengthening it would mean back to the drawing boards for propulsion, cables, and hydraulics. Easy to expand the boat, maybe not so easy to make it work. Hornby Island is bursting with people every summer. There are those who say the limitations of the ferry are necessary to keep things from getting crazier. I never agreed with that attitude. There is simply no more accommodation available, and bigger ferries wouldn't bring more day trippers, because there could still be too much of a wait. Efficient ferry service would just mean that islanders and visitors could get on and off the island in a reasonable time. Doesn't look like that's in the cards for the next few years. I don't miss that aspect of my former island life.
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Post by WettCoast on Jun 13, 2022 17:29:36 GMT -8
Perhaps some sort of reservation system might help?
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