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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 20, 2010 21:05:58 GMT -8
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Post by Low Light Mike on Aug 6, 2010 22:12:00 GMT -8
My photos from Francois Lake, in July 2010: The MV Francois Forester is currently the ship that operates on this route. The MV Omineca Princess sits tied-up at the north-bank dock, and is presumably used occasionally when the 'Forester is being repaired. One oddity of the route is that when the Francois Forester operates, she uses a shore-ramp at the southbank dock, and uses an on-board ramp at the northbank dock. - However, the Omineca Princess uses a shore-ramp at both docks, and that's why there are 2 different styled docks on the northbank. Northbank dock: - F'Forester's dock on left, with Omineca Princess in berth on right.  F'Forester's northbank side, showing her on-board ramp:  Getting ready to dock at northbank, against those tires.   F'Forester's southbank side, showing no on-board ramp:  The traditional-style (for us southcoast folks) berth on Southbank:  - with the Jacob Henkel barge on the right-side of the south-bank photo.   The all important boarding instructions.  |
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Post by Low Light Mike on Aug 6, 2010 22:23:21 GMT -8
The MV Francois Forester, in July 2010: She's heading for southbank.  The plans:  - wow, she can carry 4 rows of logging trucks.   The ring:  - notice that the registry is Prince Rupert. Her passenger lounge:  The car deck: - they had a hose running to clean the deck during my sailing. There were puddles everywhere. - pano-stitch    ----------------- The MV Omineca Princess, tied-up & unused at northbank.   Photos from northbank, of both ships, as the F'Forester is leaving for another trip south. - Sorry that we didn't camp here overnight, and get better lighting with the morning sun. ;D - OP on left, FF on right.   - the F'Forester is on the move   ...........the ferry was a pleasant diversion on our Highway 16 vacation trip. And here's a page from a northern BC tourist booklet: ![]() lh4.ggpht.com/_ebR5Vq-1mKg/TF0A3vt0OCI/AAAAAAAADsY/fdjpFEZ8uKE/s0/IMG_5747.JPG[/img] |
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Post by dofd on Aug 6, 2010 22:57:44 GMT -8
I would guess 4 logging trucks would be a full load.
And why is there so much water on the deck; rain or washing.
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Neil
Voyager 
Posts: 7,168
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Post by Neil on Aug 10, 2010 12:24:43 GMT -8
Ugly, ugly, ugly!!  This is not a ferry... Oh, yes it is. The great thing about ferries in this province is the vast variety of them. Our inland ferries have sometimes been no more than a couple of pontoons lashed together with enough boards to carry a man and a horse, but that was a ferry in the true sense of the word. By comparison, the Francois Forester is a rather grand craft. We've had reaction ferries, cable ferries, even ones that don't go through the water. We've had proper looking bow and stern vessels like the Anscomb through to tug and barge operations. Ferries, all, and while the ' Forester sure won't win any beauty contests, it's probably well suited to it's route and gets the job done, and probably didn't cost a German fortune to build. That's part of the charm of the inland boats; they're all uniquely suited to where they serve. No cookie cutter design, like WSF's vessels, no interchangeability to serve a whole system. It's a throwback to an earlier era which actually should appeal to your curmudgeonly side, Mill Bay.  |
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Mill Bay
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Long Suffering Bosun
Posts: 2,886 
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Post by Mill Bay on Aug 10, 2010 22:05:37 GMT -8
Well, not too sure if I appreciate the curmudgeonly inference... I didn't willingly choose the melancholy I suffer from that would make the Forrester look ugly. In fact, there's no delusion here: I can even say it with an optimistic outlook, and the Forrester will still be ugly, and it was ugly long before I saw it.  . And not so unique, either. I could do a quick sweep of other lake and river ferries in various places and find more than half-a-dozen that look pretty much like cookie cutters of the Forrester. |
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Post by lmtengs on Aug 11, 2010 11:44:31 GMT -8
Ugly, ugly, ugly!! This is not a ferry... this is a barge with it's keel sticking up out of the wrong side of the hull. It should be hiding under the water and replaced with a proper bridge structure. I don't understand why you think she's so ugly. She looks pretty much exactly the same as the K-Class vessels, but without any superstructure on the not-bridge side. (port side in flug's picture) I must say, she looks quite normal to me, probably because I grew up looking at the Albion Ferries so often... |
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Koastal Karl
Voyager
Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
Posts: 7,747
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Post by Koastal Karl on Aug 11, 2010 13:54:00 GMT -8
Mill Bay thinks every ship that wasent a V class or Queen of Sidney or Tsawwassen is ugly! I think the little inland ferries are neat. They might not look the best but they are still neat little ferries!
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Mill Bay
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Long Suffering Bosun
Posts: 2,886
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Post by Mill Bay on Aug 13, 2010 0:34:23 GMT -8
Mill Bay thinks every ship that wasent a V class or Queen of Sidney or Tsawwassen is ugly! I think the little inland ferries are neat. They might not look the best but they are still neat little ferries! I've been misrepresented... again! There is more to visual appeal than that, and everyone knows that in some way. Simply put... it's ugly because it's lopsided and hideously unbalanced. And that is something that is easily detected with plain old natural sense. |
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Post by fargowolf on Aug 13, 2010 7:20:45 GMT -8
I know this will sound a little on the dumb side, but, I'm wondering if she was built that way for vertical clearance reasons? Not necessarily logging trucks, but hay trucks. Especially the ones hauling the large round bales.  At least that's my guess... I'm more curious as to why one side uses a loading bridge, while the other relies on a ship board ramp. To me, it would have made more sense to either go with shore based bridges, or, ferry mounted ramps. |
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Post by lmtengs on Aug 13, 2010 21:15:09 GMT -8
I know this will sound a little on the dumb side, but, I'm wondering if she was built that way for vertical clearance reasons? It was probably just a cost-saver. Less superstructure=less dough. |
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 5, 2011 14:20:58 GMT -8
At-the-Bow banner contest reject. From the bow of the Francois Forester, as she comes into Northside of the lake. Omineca Princess is the other ferry shown. - photo from July 2010  |
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Post by WettCoast on Dec 6, 2011 19:25:30 GMT -8
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Post by Low Light Mike on Oct 30, 2012 11:26:45 GMT -8
Francois Forester ferry, on Francois Lake.
- this ferry is located near the town of Burns Lake, BC, off of Hwy-16.
This is from July 2010.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Sept 14, 2013 7:08:09 GMT -8
A new thread for photos, information and discussion on the ferry and route at Francois Lake (near to the town of Burns Lake, BC).
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Post by Mike C on Sept 8, 2014 16:04:50 GMT -8
The Francois Lake Ferry is perhaps one of the most underrated ferry routes I have ever traveled on. I was blown away by the views that the ferry provided on the lake. Of course, the nice weather helped. Here are some photos from Saturday, September 6th, on a road trip I did to get a ferry fix.  MV Francois Forester by MileagePhoto, on Flickr  MV Francois Forester by MileagePhoto, on Flickr  Passenger Lounge - MV Francois Forester by MileagePhoto, on Flickr  MV Omenica Princess - North Bank, Francois Lake, BC by MileagePhoto, on Flickr  MV Francois Forester - Francois Lake, BC by MileagePhoto, on Flickr |
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Post by northwesterner on Sept 8, 2014 22:45:04 GMT -8
The Francois Lake Ferry is perhaps one of the most underrated ferry routes I have ever traveled on. I was blown away by the views that the ferry provided on the lake. Of course, the nice weather helped. That's going to be spectacular when the trees start changing colors ... which should be in about five days, that far north. |
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Mill Bay
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Long Suffering Bosun
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Post by Mill Bay on Sept 9, 2014 7:19:53 GMT -8
It seems to be spectacular enough, now, through superlative photography.
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Post by Mike C on Sept 9, 2014 10:26:54 GMT -8
The Francois Lake Ferry is perhaps one of the most underrated ferry routes I have ever traveled on. I was blown away by the views that the ferry provided on the lake. Of course, the nice weather helped. That's going to be spectacular when the trees start changing colors ... which should be in about five days, that far north. Ha! Last night dipped to -4C up here, so I am pretty sure that we've completely skipped fall and plunged straight into winter. |
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Post by WettCoast on Sept 9, 2014 11:28:14 GMT -8
Ha! Last night dipped to -4C up here, so I am pretty sure that we've completely skipped fall and plunged straight into winter. According to the forecast 1st Nations summer begins on Thursday. Warmer temperatures are returning... Mr. Horn will be able to put away his 'woollies'. |
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Post by northwesterner on Sept 9, 2014 17:20:53 GMT -8
That's going to be spectacular when the trees start changing colors ... which should be in about five days, that far north. Ha! Last night dipped to -4C up here, so I am pretty sure that we've completely skipped fall and plunged straight into winter. I'll trade. You can have my weather... In Juneau, which is quite a bit north, I can remember going to sleep on Aug 31st and when I came to work the next morning (Sep 1) all the leaves on the trees had turned orange overnight and started falling off by the afternoon. Autumn was so quick that if you blinked, you'd miss it. |
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Post by WettCoast on Nov 28, 2014 23:15:17 GMT -8
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Post by Mike C on Sept 19, 2015 0:08:30 GMT -8
This past weekend I did another trip out to Francois Lake to grab some new photos of the 'Forester in operation. This is quickly becoming one of my new favourite areas of the province to hang out, particularly with the fall colours.  MV Francois Forester - Francois Lake by Michael Coulson, on Flickr I spent a fair amount of time venturing around Southbank and the nearby communities on the lake to see if I could get a more unique perspective. These departure photos were taken from Hospital Point to the west of Southbank.  MV Francois Forester - Southbank by Michael Coulson, on Flickr  MV Francois Forester by Michael Coulson, on Flickr  MV Francois Forester by Michael Coulson, on Flickr  MV Francois Forester by Michael Coulson, on Flickr These were taken from between Hospital Point and the Southbank dock. A storm was rolling in by this point, creating some less than favourable lighting conditions, which is why the colours are not as vibrant.  MV Francois Forester by Michael Coulson, on Flickr  MV Francois Forester by Michael Coulson, on Flickr |
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Post by Mike C on Apr 12, 2016 17:31:18 GMT -8
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Post by Mike C on Mar 1, 2017 1:37:25 GMT -8
Call it Stockholm syndrome, but I've really come to enjoy traveling on the Francois Forester. She's a fairly utilitarian ship that is highly functional, particularly with commercial vehicles, and includes the bonus of an always-friendly Waterbridge crew. When I traveled on her this past weekend, Francois Lake was completely frozen over, with the exception of a trail that she had created to travel back and forth. After evaluating the ice thickness, I determined it to be safe to walk out on to the lake a short distance and snap some unique photographs. I'm not aware of another place one could step out on to ice to photograph a ferry from a unique angle.  MV Francois Forester - Francois Lake, BC by Michael Coulson, on Flickr  MV Francois Forester - Francois Lake, BC by Michael Coulson, on Flickr Here she is approaching the berth at Southside.  MV Francois Forester - approaching Southside, BC by Michael Coulson, on Flickr |
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This is not a ferry... 
. And not so unique, either. I could do a quick sweep of other lake and river ferries in various places and find more than half-a-dozen that look pretty much like cookie cutters of the Forrester.
At least that's my guess...
