Here's the unanticipated Paul Keenleyside interview. Paul just joined the forum a few weeks ago, but because of his "high profile" in terms of ferry internet sites, I thought he'd be an interesting interview. Enjoy (and thanks, Paul, for participating)
Paul's responses are in
bold italics.
==================================
First some background questions:
- Are you living in Seal Bay, as in the neighbourhood that's close to Little River ferry terminal, near Comox? I ask this, because of your avatar and the mention of it on your website.
Seal Bay as in the neighbourhood that's close to Little River was the location of my Aunt's house. I spent many summers there.- Where else have you lived?
Port Coquitlam.- Where do you fit on the age demographic? (a nice way of
asking if you're under 30, over 40, over 50, etc).
Over 40.- What keeps you occupied during the week?
Contract work.- What are some of your interests / passions in life, besides ferries?
Amateur radio, Canucks, transportation and travel Also an interest in emergency services. - are there common threads or traits that link your interest in trip-documentation and ferries to the other interests in your life?
Nope. - What else do you enjoy on the internet?
Geography and international affairs.- What's in your book library?
Tom Clancy. All available BC Ferries books and business books.Now the online highways questions:
- most of us are familiar with your extensive online-highways website, which includes some very detailed ferry-trip items. For those who haven't seen it, can you describe your website, it's purpose, and it's target audience?
Purpose: To provide a virtual travel of B.C. Highways. The website provides photolog type descriptions of highways with technically accurate signs.
Target audience is the travel enthusiast and for the ferry portions, the BC Ferries traveler.- Would it be accurate to describe you as an "Unofficial tourism promoter of BC"?
Yes.- Have you run into copyright or legal issues re your website work, seeing as how the assets that your documenting are owned by the Province. Does Tourism BC know that your website exists, and do they care at all, or do they appreciate it?
No. In fact the Ministry of Transportation took some information
from it for Ministry publications and did not acknowledge the source. All resourced materials from BC Ferries, the provincial government are acknowledged as per standard writing convention. All resourced government information and replicated
materials originate from the public domain portion of the provincial government website.
Tourism B.C. has not indicated any existence of the website,
however information from Tourism B.C. is acknowledged where
used.
The website carries a disclaimer that it is not part of nor endorsed by the Ministry of Transportation, nor BC Ferries. - Does this mean that you're a BC Road-trip enthusiast? What do you enjoy about road-trips?
The open road be it on The Island or the Interior or anywhere in the Province of the Rainforest.- What are some of your favourite highway routes in BC? or areas of routes?
Highway 19A (The Old Island Highway) has always been a favourite, Highway 99 Duffy Lake Road, - What are some of your least favourite highway routes or areas?
Highway 1 from Burnaby to 176th Street. - What's the purpose of your various road trips? the trip itself, or are there destination objectives?
Both.- How practically do you do your photos and data-logging during a road trip? Is it a 1-person show? Are you forever stopping and taking pictures and logging? How much longer does it take to do a logging/documenting trip, than just a regular trip?
I use a video camera and take pictures within 1 to 5 minute
segments. Most of the routes I've known for years but there
are a few that are new. I will stop once and awhile to take scenics, but not of the highway itself. I also use a publication from the Ministry of Transportation that details landmarks that I use as a reference, but don't carry that with me.
The difference between the ordinary trip and a logging/document trip is about 2 minutes or less. Since the logging doesn't add
any significant to the trip time.- How, when and how-long does it take to process and upload your trip data onto your webpage? Days / weeks / months?
Usually a few days. For the longer highways, I will do those in sections, set a black and orange construction sign at the end,
with return to the road trip page, while the next part is being worked on.- What's the toughest parts of the work to document and report a trip?
Writing the narratives as they need to be just right. Selecting the right picture can also be demanding since I want the right one based on position and quality.- What are the least enjoyable parts of the process, for you?
None so far. If it wasn't enjoyable the website would be erased.- What are some of the best highway / route improvements that you've seen in the past 10 or 20 years? ie. fixing dangerous areas, new access, ease of travel etc. (ie. Kicking Horse Canyon improvements, Coquihalla Connector, paving of Duffy Lake Road, widening of Bella Coola Hill road.....)
Kicking Horse Canyon is pretty spectacular. As is the Coquihalla.- What routes are most in need of some improvement work?
Highway 1 from Burnaby to 200th Street.- If you could take a road trip right now, where are you tempted to go? why?
The Island. Best place to get away from the zoo that's around me.- What are some your all time favourite trips that you've taken, and why?
There's been many. (I'm paying Paul "by the word", and he's saving me money..
...)
- What's your funniest or most bizarre road-trip story?
When the throttle cable on my Honda Gold wing snapped just south of Eureka Oregon on a summer Sunday in 1988. - Any scary or dangerous moments on your road trips?
Goin' down Sunday Summit Hill while driving my friend's 1965
Lincoln Continental. Idiot didn't bother to top up the brake fluid
but used the automatic transmission as an engine brake and made the curve at the bottom. When we got to Hope, I smacked the friend across the side of head.- If you could magically have a new highway built in BC, where would it be, what would it connect, and why?
Can't think of anything.- How does the road-trip passion relate to an interest in ferries? ie. is the ferry-interest an offshoot of the highways interest? Are they connected or part of the same overall passion?
Same overall passion. - What ferry trips / routes / ships have you documented on your website?
Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay
Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay
Tsawwassen - Swartz Bay
Swartz Bay - Tsawwassen
Duke Point - Tsawwassen
Bear Cove (Port Hardy) - Prince Rupert (Queen of the North only)- are there lots more documented-trips (highway or ferry) on the shelf, that haven't quite made it onto your website yet? ie. is there a backlog of work for you to complete?
yep. Horseshoe Bay / Langdale / Earl's Cove-Saltry Bay / Powell River-Little River (Comox) is one for example.- What are some of your personality traits that "drive" you to do this documentation work? What traits help you? What traits hinder you?
Rabid interest and the website is also both a test and a venue for developing concepts for business websites that I maintain.- Do you have immediate family? If so, do they understand your "hobby", or simply tolerate it? Do you have partners in doing the trips and documentation work, or is it a solo venture?
No immediate family. But Dad was an avid traveler.
No partners. Simply solo.- On this ferry forum, it's safe to assume that most folks understand / appreciate / respect your work. Does that happen outside the "nerd world" too? ie. Do you encounter people that just don't understand why you would be doing what you're doing? How do you react to this?
Doesn't bother me. A look at the Recognition page will answer any concerns people have. In fact I've received rave reviews from quite a few people outside of the 'nerd world'. A few are quite prominent in business, government and tourism. A few rave reviews have originated from within BC Ferries.re the ferries:
- what are some of your favourite current ferries, and why?
Can't go wrong with the Spirit Ferries. Fine lines and big. But
can't go wrong with the older V class ferries. I sailed aboard quite a few of them before they were stretched and lifted (see
Seal bay explanation above).- what are some of your favourite retired ferries, and why?
Fast Cats. Worst thing that ever happened. Went to the Open House and rode aboard the first Pacificat the day after her inaugural cruise and wasn't all that impressed.- What are some of your favorite ferry trip memories?
Too many to mention. A warm sunny evening with no wind on the water, stretched out on a lifejacket locker outside... Can't
beat that.- What's your ultimate, dream ferry trip? (on a current ferry and a current route).
have to go on the Inside Passage cruise again. Or the trip between the Southern Gulf Islands on a warm sunny day.- What are some suggestions to improve or change the local ferries? (the ships, the routes, the schedules, the policies, etc).
Need new ferries, more Super C's, better scheduling such as
late night or owl service on busy weekends. there's too much to mention. - Describe how March 22, 2006 was for you. What were you doing, how did you hear the news, how did you react, what were your immediate thoughts? If it was hard news to take or accept, how did you cope? What are your current thoughts on the Q-North sinking?
Stunned. I had sailed aboard in 2001. Wrote a series of webpages in remembrance, but quickly evolved into a story.
The webpages are kept online.- What are your thoughts on the new ship, the Northern Adventure? How do you think she'll do as the Queen Charlotte's ship?
She should do well. It's just a matter of time for her and the north to get more acquainted. She had problems at the beginning
but those are bound to happen when anything mechanical is pressed into service.- What are your thoughts on the Northern Expedition? Are you excited? What features of the new ship are of interest to you?
I like the look. Nice lines and she seems to be offering alot more than the Rupert, and looks to be bigger slightly than the Northern Adventure.- Do you think that BC Ferries will ever acquire a "Northern Discovery" ship? Or do you think that Route-40 will die? What would you change about the Discovery Coast Passage route, or what do you like about it?
I can see a 'Northern Discovery", but its a ways off yet. Route 40 (Central Coast) is more of a service route than a tourist one, and the route wouldn't die off. The Province has both a commitment and obligation to provide service to the Central Coast.re the Ferry forum:
- In your various forum posts and in your website, I've detected plenty of enthusiasm, lots of interest, but little controversy. Would it be safe to assume that you're easy-going, good natured, and don't care too much about the controversial issues re ferries?
I can be very aggressive in political issues, as I am active in politics, but I save that for the times that need it.
I'm more interested in the equipment, marine, operations, and technical and transportation aspects, and really am not interested in the political debates. I have enough resources to find out facts from government, if need be.- What do you enjoy about the "Ferries of BC Forum"? How often do you check-in? How did you first locate the forum?
Good overall discussions. Bumped into it accidentally. I check in regularly. - What type of topics on the forum don't interest you? Why?
The ragging on BC Ferries decisions after they have been made. Some decisions have to be made even if they make a person tear their hair out. - What would you change about the forum?
Make sure the discussions are of high quality as I'm sure BC Ferries is aware of its existence. it can be a valuable tool.- What's are some of your favorite forum topics?
Discussions on the routes, equipment and ships.====================