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Post by Kahloke on Mar 5, 2018 7:02:23 GMT -8
bump to signify that I moved the above 3 posts into this thread.
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Post by divcoles on Sept 13, 2018 23:55:17 GMT -8
I have been off this board for several years now, but I sadly need to add another post.
Captain Alan E. White, who for her entire time with BC Ferries was the Sunshine Coast Queen’s Master, passed away in July 25, 2018 in Sechelt, where he had lived since his retirement in 1991. Capt. White retired as Senior Captain at BCF. He was born in Burnaby in 1927, moved to the Sunshine Coast at the age of 9, graduated from the Maritime Academy at age 17, and after several years sailing deep sea, signed on with Blackball. With his experience, he quickly became one of their youngest captains. He joined BCF when they bought out the Blackball operations at Horseshoe Bay in the 1960s.
Family and friends held a Celebration of Life for him on September 1, 2018 at the Royal Canadian Legion Hall in Sechelt. He was preceded in death by Eleanore, his wife of 60 years. He is survived by a son and two daughters, 7 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Sept 14, 2018 6:03:49 GMT -8
I have been off this board for several years now, but I sadly need to add another post. Thanks for sharing this with us. We honour Captain White.
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Post by coastal memories on Apr 16, 2019 20:39:06 GMT -8
One of my favourite ships from the past. Somewhere at home I have an old 8mm film that my father took of the Sunshine Coast Queen and another vessel as they passed near Horseshoe Bay. If I can locate the film and have the footage to a file, I will definitely share with the group.
I finally got to sail on here about a year before the Queen of New Westminster replaced her on the Langdale run. my family moved to Powell River and this was my first trip to Vancouver via the Sechelt Penisula (got car sick on that old curvy highway) and two ferry trips.
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Post by WettCoast on Dec 14, 2019 20:46:43 GMT -8
Sunshine Coast Queen, Howe Sound circa 1980
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Post by Starsteward on Dec 15, 2019 14:14:18 GMT -8
The 'Beast from the East' as she was known in some circles was definitely one of the more curious additions to the fleet. And yet.. as the masterful drawing shows, there was something compelling about her. The 'Suzie Q' last of her kind in this part of the world.
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Post by princessofvanfan on Dec 16, 2019 11:11:14 GMT -8
The 'Beast from the East' as she was known in some circles was definitely one of the more curious additions to the fleet. And yet.. as the masterful drawing shows, there was something compelling about her. The 'Suzie Q' last of her kind in this part of the world. As I've said before, it would have been interesting to have seen her on route 2.
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Post by Starsteward on Dec 16, 2019 16:06:53 GMT -8
The 'Beast from the East' as she was known in some circles was definitely one of the more curious additions to the fleet. And yet.. as the masterful drawing shows, there was something compelling about her. The 'Suzie Q' last of her kind in this part of the world. As I've said before, it would have been interesting to have seen her on route 2. The catering department of BCFS back in the day would have definitely seen an increase in profits given that the old girl, I doubt could have done a crossing in less than 2 hours. At max. 13.5 knots pushing all her ice-breaking tonnage across the Strait would have been fun to watch but in practical terms, her speed and the distance between ports on route 3 was probably the most useful route for her to operate. Even after the 'sisters' were stretched and heightened they still purred along at a respectable 18.5 knots.
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Post by divcoles on Jun 6, 2020 3:30:34 GMT -8
David Thorne’s Sunshine Coast Queen artwork was obviously drawn from an earlier photo of her as Vacationland or Pere Nouvelle. The most obvious differences were modifications made to her before she entered BCF service, which aren’t shown on the drawing. A couple examples include, lack of rounded bow extensions so she would fit in BCF’s wing walls. As originally built, her car deck was squared off just in front of her doors. She was built to match the squared off sterns of several former Lake Michigan Rail Ferries, which had earlier been converted to auto ferries used at Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac where she first served. The drawing also lacks her widened guards, ventilation holes in the upper blue stripe to clear exhaust fumes from her platform car decks, and most noticeable, the storage room built on the formerly open area ahead of her bow passenger lounge on her spar deck. The lounges originally had 4 windows looking forward as shown. But before she entered BC service, a storage room with no windows was constructed to hold supplies for the new galley/cafeteria which was installed in the forward lounge. By the way, the ship only had anchors on one end; her bow. That’s how you can always tell her bow from her stern.
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