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Post by bcferryfan87 on Jan 25, 2009 20:22:08 GMT -8
Poor Queen of Vancouver! - wow sounds like it's having its moments in its last active days with BCF; the pics from Dec of trouble docking (90mins or something), now this car fire; thank goodness crew was on the ball today re this.
Too bad - from what I've read here - that they said the 4pm was cancelled , so some ppl went to the Coastal, and then find out it did sail in fact at 4:30 - or so I understand anyway!
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Post by Esquimalt Queen on Jan 25, 2009 21:20:43 GMT -8
Hi, Y'all. I just got home from travelling on the Q-Van, and it was quite a day. We got to Tsawwassen just fine, but just before leaving was when the unpleasantness occurred. Mill Bay and I were in the upper aft lounge, and just as he was walking under the fire bell, it went off, and I thought he was being clumsy and somehow set it off. He told me he didn't do anything, so I gave him "the look" then continued taking photos. Shortly after, passengers were advised to move up to the forward end of the ship and out of the car decks because a small car was on fire. Then a few minutes later, we were advised to move to the terminal as a safety measure. The SOBC arrived, and foot passengers were directed to that ship, if they preferred. After the car fire was put out, they had people, one-by-one come to the ferry and drive their car off, until there was enough clearance for the burnt car to be towed off. When it came for the last car to be driven off, the licence plate and car type were announced for the driver to claim, but no one came to drive it off. The licence plate and car type were announced about 5 times, yet no one came to claim it. Finally BCF ran the plate number to get the name of the owner, they announced her name multiple times, still no claim. So, finally they towed her car, and over the PA, the announced that they were towing her car. After that, they towed the burnt car and after TSB gave BCF the okay to sail, we were on our way. Here are some photos from today... You can see smoke billowing out from the aft and midship windows of the main car deck: One of the Fire Trucks: Fire Response team: Smoke billowing from window: Burnt car being towed:
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,175
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Post by Neil on Jan 25, 2009 22:18:58 GMT -8
I'm confused. My daughter took a picture, from the Tsawwassen bluffs, that clearly showed the Queen of New Westminster at berth. Name clearly visible throught the zoom. About 4:30, it moved out and headed in the direction of Swartz Bay. Yet no mention of it anywhere. Did we just see it change spots with the 'Vancouver, which was actually the vessel that left?
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Post by Hardy on Jan 25, 2009 22:27:43 GMT -8
Neil, are you sure that the Queen of Richmond did not end up subbing on Rte-1 today? Could your daughter have been mistaken?
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Post by Ferryman on Jan 25, 2009 22:46:11 GMT -8
I just tried the history replay on Siitech, and it showed the New West in the same spot all day. Thanks for the photos, Esquimalt Queen! That must have been quite the event to experience.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Jan 25, 2009 23:04:22 GMT -8
Neil, are you sure that the Queen of Richmond did not end up subbing on Rte-1 today? Could your daughter have been mistaken? Nope. We clearly saw the name on the photo, and the berth was empty when we left after sunset. Oh well. There's not many mysteries in the ferry world (now that 'cascade' has gone). Maybe we should be careful with this 'Queen of Richmond' stuff. The power of our collective imaginations might be willing strange events into reality. Kind of like that weird physics 'theory' that events may be altered by the observer observing. (And we need a maritime grammar expert to tell us if we should italicize the names of imaginary ships.)
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Mill Bay
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Long Suffering Bosun
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Post by Mill Bay on Jan 25, 2009 23:41:51 GMT -8
Neil, are you sure that the Queen of Richmond did not end up subbing on Rte-1 today? Could your daughter have been mistaken? Nope. We clearly saw the name on the photo, and the berth was empty when we left after sunset. Oh well. There's not many mysteries in the ferry world (now that 'cascade' has gone). Maybe we should be careful with this 'Queen of Richmond' stuff. The power of our collective imaginations might be willing strange events into reality. Kind of like that weird physics 'theory' that events may be altered by the observer observing. (And we need a maritime grammar expert to tell us if we should italicize the names of imaginary ships.) They were apparently doing some engine tests on the New West today, as we saw the occasional belch of smoke from her funnel. But she never moved as long as we were there.
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Post by bcferryfan87 on Jan 25, 2009 23:47:17 GMT -8
Those are amazing pics. I'm just curious about the driver of the car- it was mentioned that they did not reply to announcements. What is the deal with that? Is it just another example of some clown who is afraid to say it was their car, they didn't want to be filmed being seen with the car or something? Point is, where did they go, they obviously drove the car on the ferry. BTW, I'm assuming this all happened as the ship was readying to depart for Vic (e.g. they had unloaded Vic to Tsaw, and now were reloading?)
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Post by Curtis on Jan 25, 2009 23:48:42 GMT -8
They just have to go out with a bang, don't they. First the Tsawwassen is blaring her horn non stop on one of her last voyages. and now a car fire on the Vancouver?
Oh, and not to mention their successors having their moments too. The CR taking out the overhead walkway, the CI car fire. It's only a matter of time before the CC has an interesting occurrence. But enough of the random rant.
Poor Miss Vancouver, They just had to put one last smudge on her list of incidents. Maybe she's paying homage to her sister, Miss Victoria.
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Koastal Karl
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Post by Koastal Karl on Jan 26, 2009 0:27:10 GMT -8
wow. we just missed all the action as we were on the 12pm from Swartz Bay. Did this take place while loading the 2pm sailing???
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Post by Northern Exploration on Jan 26, 2009 7:39:15 GMT -8
They were apparently doing some engine tests on the New West today, as we saw the occasional belch of smoke from her funnel. But she never moved as long as we were there. A little ferry indigestion over the prospects of losing another sister to foreign or other parts. The first pic of the water pouring out of the upper and main car decks from the deluge system and hoses is a unique one. Good job capturing everything Queen of E .
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D'Elete BC in NJ
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Post by D'Elete BC in NJ on Jan 26, 2009 7:49:46 GMT -8
They were apparently doing some engine tests on the New West today, as we saw the occasional belch of smoke from her funnel. But she never moved as long as we were there. A little ferry indigestion over the prospects of losing another sister to foreign or other parts. QoV fire...otherwise known as a car-b-que..."my a$$ is on fire, my a$$ is on fire!"
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Post by EGfleet on Jan 26, 2009 8:06:27 GMT -8
Neil, are you sure that the Queen of Richmond did not end up subbing on Rte-1 today? Could your daughter have been mistaken? Nope. We clearly saw the name on the photo, and the berth was empty when we left after sunset. Oh well. There's not many mysteries in the ferry world (now that 'cascade' has gone). Maybe we should be careful with this 'Queen of Richmond' stuff. The power of our collective imaginations might be willing strange events into reality. Kind of like that weird physics 'theory' that events may be altered by the observer observing. (And we need a maritime grammar expert to tell us if we should italicize the names of imaginary ships.) How about just a run of the mill English major? ;D In works of fiction, even imaginary ships get the italics. So... Queen of Richmond is indeed correct...now, you could argue that the board here doesn't follow the normal rules of a fictional narrative, but I personally like to err on the side of caution.
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Mill Bay
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Long Suffering Bosun
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Post by Mill Bay on Jan 26, 2009 10:22:12 GMT -8
They were apparently doing some engine tests on the New West today, as we saw the occasional belch of smoke from her funnel. But she never moved as long as we were there. A little ferry indigestion over the prospects of losing another sister to foreign or other parts. The first pic of the water pouring out of the upper and main car decks from the deluge system and hoses is a unique one. Good job capturing everything Queen of E . Actually, they aren't so unique anymore... you wouldn't believe how many people were there (well among the passengers that got evacuated) with cameras of all shapes and sizes. They were taking pictures of her with everything from cell-phones to Canon DSLRs with lenses that seemed to be nearly a foot long. There was even a film camera crew that at one point, so I would expect that images of the Van smoking and drinking will be all over the internet if you look well. Also, Donella at least had the presence of mind to look around from more than one vantage point, while I didn't even notice when they were driving cars off the ship. In addition, there is also some debate going on over when the New West will enter service. According to the Chief Steward on the Van last night... they want to actually now have her in service as early as Jan 30th, and just pull the Van off completely after she does her two runs this coming Friday. However, apparently, the New West is having engine issues of some sort that might delay her going in to service. Either way... we will be lucky if the Van still sails on Feb 1st, because there is no guarantee now, that she will be running past the end of this week.
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Post by Esquimalt Queen on Jan 26, 2009 12:52:24 GMT -8
Passengers being directed off the ship: A huge load of us walked off, then about 10 minutes later, another large bunch of people were walking off...slowly... taking their time. I guess they were reluctant to leave the ship with all their belongings aboard. Actually, they aren't so unique anymore... you wouldn't believe how many people were there (well among the passengers that got evacuated) with cameras of all shapes and sizes. They were taking pictures of her with everything from cell-phones to Canon DSLRs with lenses that seemed to be nearly a foot long. There was even a film camera crew that at one point, so I would expect that images of the Van smoking and drinking will be all over the internet if you look well. Here's a photo of people taking photos: At first, when we saw the Newsie-poosie's engine's firing up, we thought she was going to sub in for the Q-Van. That didn't happen though.
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Post by Coastal Canuck on Jan 26, 2009 17:17:13 GMT -8
so if the QoVan was in Berth 5, the SoBC's 3pm departure used Berth 3 then what berth did the QoA use for her 3:15pm departure to Duke Point?
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Mill Bay
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Post by Mill Bay on Jan 26, 2009 18:43:30 GMT -8
so if the QoVan was in Berth 5, the SoBC's 3pm departure used Berth 3 then what berth did the QoA use for her 3:15pm departure to Duke Point? Well, by simple process of elimination: the only other double ramped berth at Tsawwassen, which is berth 4. The Coastal Celebration also used berth 3 for her 5pm sailing, because the Van was still in the process of getting underway at that point. What I can't figure out is why, when the Van returned to Swartz bay, she didn't just back into berth 3 in the first place, since she changed berths afterward while the Celebration had to wait out in the bay. She could have even slid into berth 1 to unload and waited for the Celebration to take off again. Apparently, they had to debrief the crew regarding the fire anyway.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Jan 26, 2009 20:51:36 GMT -8
Supposedly, that's the Queen of Vancouver sailing off into the sunset yesterday.
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Post by Scott on Jan 26, 2009 21:05:15 GMT -8
Nice pic Neil. I love that spot for sunsets and ferries:)
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Post by deepsea on Jan 26, 2009 21:34:22 GMT -8
Those are amazing pics. I'm just curious about the driver of the car- it was mentioned that they did not reply to announcements. What is the deal with that? Is it just another example of some clown who is afraid to say it was their car, they didn't want to be filmed being seen with the car or something? Point is, where did they go, they obviously drove the car on the ferry. BTW, I'm assuming this all happened as the ship was readying to depart for Vic (e.g. they had unloaded Vic to Tsaw, and now were reloading?) That driver might have been hard of hearing or deaf, and didn't hear the announcement.
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Post by deepsea on Jan 26, 2009 21:41:22 GMT -8
QoNW was also doing engine tests earlier on Sunday morning. I saw backwash behind her. I missed the fire thing as I'd left the morning.
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Post by chinook2 on Jan 27, 2009 16:54:23 GMT -8
so if the QoVan was in Berth 5, the SoBC's 3pm departure used Berth 3 then what berth did the QoA use for her 3:15pm departure to Duke Point? What I can't figure out is why, when the Van returned to Swartz bay, she didn't just back into berth 3 in the first place, since she changed berths afterward while the Celebration had to wait out in the bay. She could have even slid into berth 1 to unload and waited for the Celebration to take off again. Apparently, they had to debrief the crew regarding the fire anyway. When berth 2 was being rebuilt they did a similar switch of docks if the Saanich was tying up before the SoVI on a given day. Offload Berth 1, tie up in 3. Something to do with lack of Passenger ramps that fit or some such. If Saanich was last boat in then and only then did it offload in 3. Sidenote: This month with SoVI in refit and the Van laying up in three, when the CC has been arriving at 6:30 in 2, Skeena's been landing in 4 and the Cumbie has been using 1!
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Post by Esquimalt Queen on Jan 27, 2009 20:36:34 GMT -8
Around 5:30pm today, I learned from a trusted contact, that the SOVI will be returning from refit to Swartz Bay on Jan 30, and will be returning to service on Sunday, February 1 as the #2 vessel on the following sailings:
1200 hours ex. Swartz Bay 1400 hours ex. Tsawwassen 1600 hours ex. Swartz Bay 1800 hours ex. Tsawwassen
Now aren't those the sailings that the Queen of Vancouver was supposed to do for her final day of service?
Effective Monday, February 2nd, the Spirit of Vancouver Island will return to service as the #1 vessel, ex. Swartz Bay @ 0700 hours.
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Post by Mike C on Jan 27, 2009 21:06:22 GMT -8
We are expecting at this time that the final sailings for the Queen of Vancouver will be the 1600 from Swartz Bay and the 1800 from Tsawwassen.
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Koastal Karl
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Post by Koastal Karl on Jan 27, 2009 23:24:13 GMT -8
That sucks. I wont be able to do the Friday though so I guess I have been on the Vancouver for the last time.
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