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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 19, 2014 17:20:24 GMT -8
I recently did a 4-day intensive series of trips on ferries in Washington State. My hobbies are ferry-photography, and "filming from a ferry" and so that was the purpose of this personal vacation trip.
The first day was just 1 trip - the International route from Sidney to Anacortes. The final day was also just 1 trip - the Black Ball Coho from Port Angeles to Victoria.
Day 2 was two series of trips from Anacortes on the San Juan mainline and inter-island ships. One series in the morning and one in the evening.
Day 3 was 5 separate trips on a Kwa-di Tabil ferry between Keystone Harbor and Port Townsend.
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The genesis of this thread was a feeling I had at the end my Day-2 in the San Juans. I thought "Wow, this is really fun. This is way better than BC Ferries."
...and so I started to think about this more, to try to understand why I had such a fun day, and why it seemed better than what I've experienced with BC Ferries.
Let me say that I understand that both the WSF and BCF systems are diverse within themselves, and the overall systems are also not comparable re the typical customer purpose of travel.
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And with that introduction, I will start to articulate some of my thoughts from this experience. Please comment on my comments and share your views on this. I am curious about how unique my viewpoint might be.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 19, 2014 17:25:24 GMT -8
My day-1 trip was the International route, from Sidney to Anacortes.
The reservation, early check-in, and traffic staging protocols reminded me of a BCFerries northern trip. So in some ways, this International route is the closest thing that WSF has to the BCF northern trip experience (Haida Gwaii or Inside Passage). Obviously the length of trip, scenery and destinations are different.
But the similarity that struck me was the point-of-assembley in a secure compound, where this is not a trip to make casually at the last moment. This WSF international route is a reserved, planned out trip, similar to how you plan ahead to take the BCF northern trips. The 90-minute check-in was a simlilar item.
WSF outdid BCF re the reservation system, where I got a reminder email from WSF, the day before my trip.
However, once I got onboard the WSF ship (Chelan), the similarity ended. BCF's northern routes are higher-end ships (really, even Norad) with some special amenities. Chelan has a basic galley, no outside deck space (other than 4 isolated pickle-forks), and not much else (except for the duty free shop).
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So some aspects of this Sidney-Anacortes trip reminded me of BCF northern trips, but not the on-board experience.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 19, 2014 17:40:39 GMT -8
My day-2 experience in the San Juans is what made me a believer in the WSF San Juan experience. I enjoyed it more than I've enjoyed BCFerries minor routes to the BC Southern Gulf Islands.
Perhaps it is that I got a sense that the San Juans have better inter-island community, as evidenced by the ferry schedule which includes dedicated inter-island sailings. And perhaps this is because of geography, where the San Juans are a close cluster, where as the BC Gulf Islands are more spread out.
For the ferry fan, the level of ship travel (number of ships and frequency) in the San Juan area is better (to me, at least) to what you can experience in the BCF route-1 gulf islands corridor. Sure, BCF has 4 route-1 ships passing through in busy summer, but San Juans has more islander ships. If you are on a ferry in the San Juans, you are bound to see a couple other ferries.
You also see more community near to the ferry landings, at least on Orcas and on San Juan Island. Sure, BCF has landings near commerce on some routes (Saturna pub, Galiano hotel, Fulford store), but at Friday Harbor the ferry lands right downtown. And Orcas landing is simple but has a good grocery store (great deli sandwiches), a hotel, and various excursion businesses, right beside the ferry landing.
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And my time filming from the seawalk in Anacortes (below the Ship Harbor subdivision) is one of the best ferry terminal filming locations in BC or Washington. That Anacortes setting was excellent re views to the terminal and the ships, and the frequency of arrivals and departures. You've also got other marine traffic entering/leaving Anacortes, such as fuel barges.
- the seawalk at Ship Harbour Subdivision in Anacortes is one of my best experiences. For BC, I suppose that Galiano bluffs (combined with a trip to the cemetery) is an equal feast for the ferry-fan eyes. But Galiano is harder to access. That Anacortes seawalk is a prime location for a ferry fan.
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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 Jul 19, 2014 20:22:48 GMT -8
I also really love the San Juan Islands and the ferry trips through there. I love how the inter island boat is FREE! FREE for foot passengers BC Ferries you rip us off! I really enjoy the trips through the San Juan Islands. I have only ever set foot on two and that was SJ Island and Orcas Island. I love it because I do not get down there that often so it is more exciting when I do go down and not boring like route 1 has become for me. I still enjoy doing route 1 but it's nice once In a while to do other ferry routes and a different system. WSF is cheaper too which is nice and it is bare bones but I like how the Super's in the islands are so roomy. I find it odd at Anacortes how they have certain hours for the ticket counter and foot passenger walkway and how the galleys close at a certain time rather than open on the first sailing and end on the last sailing. Friday Harbour sort of reminds me of Horseshoe Bay a bit being the ferry docks right in town. I plan to do some more ferry riding in the San Juan's before the end of the summer.
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mrdot
Voyager
Mr. DOT
Posts: 1,252
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Post by mrdot on Jul 19, 2014 22:14:29 GMT -8
:)on this comparison of the evergreen fleet expernce to our mateing slug fleet, yes our departed mr hahn said they didn't measure up to his cruise industry standards, but the original dogwood fleet was perhaps a little more basic, however perhaps we should go back to a more bare-bones model, and go back to the basic no frills standards that existed in pre-hahn years, and maybe we should build them here, if any of the skills are left, and just maybe there might be some 'trickle down' for our younger generation, who will need more than 'wall-mart greeter' positions, to look up to! :)mrdot.
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,171
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Post by Neil on Jul 19, 2014 22:23:20 GMT -8
:)on this comparison of the evergreen fleet expernce to our mateing slug fleet, yes our departed mr hahn said they didn't measure up to his cruise industry standards, but the original dogwood fleet was perhaps a little more basic, however perhaps we should go back to a more bare-bones model, and go back to the basic no frills standards that existed in pre-hahn years, and maybe we should build them here, if any of the skills are left, and just maybe there might be some 'trickle down' for our younger generation, who will need more than 'wall-mart greeter' positions, to look up to! :)mrdot. mrdot, I respect your perspective, but here on Hornby we have an extremely 'bare-bones' service, and in order to do a bit of shopping in Courtenay today, I had a two sailing wait to get off Hornby, and a two sailing wait to get back from Denman... I spent far more time in transit than I did at my chores, and this situation is often the norm all through the 'peak' season for islanders. The problem goes far beyond the frills.
Good topic, Mr Horn. I'll add a bit more of a response when I'm less annoyed at BC Ferries.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 20, 2014 21:40:38 GMT -8
On day-3 of my vacation trip, I went from Anacortes to Port Townsend, via the drive across Deception Pass bridge to Whidbey Island, and then drove down the island to Keystone. Then, of course, I needed to get across Admiralty Inlet by a KdT ferry.
I did one driving trip on the ferry, plus 2 foot-passenger round trips, later that day. It was a summer Wednesday, and most of the sailings were full, with reserved space fully used and many vehicles in a stand-by line up.
This is a 30-minute sailing, with 45-minute frequency in peak times. My comparison to BC Ferries is probably the 40 minute Langdale route, which also is served by 1 main ship plus a second ship for peak times.
Both sailings offer reservations, however the BCF reservation has a fee, while the WSF reservation is free (with a no-show penalty charge).
BCF traffic is much higher on Langdale, than the Keystone route, and so the BCF ship is much larger. But relatively speaking, they are similar type routes, once you adjust for traffic volume and ship size - traffic wanting to move from one side of an inlet to another. Although, the Admiralty Inlet KdT route lacks the daily commuter traffic that Langdale has.
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Ignacio
Oiler (New Member)
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Post by Ignacio on Aug 24, 2014 14:31:15 GMT -8
My only point of reference would be the one time I've ridden BC Ferries in recent history and had a choice during a big scavenger hunt coming from California to Vancouver Island to do Black Ball out of Port Angeles, Anacortes to Sidney, or Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay. In my case the timing of Port Angeles was supoptimal, the Anacortes was workable, but I ended up choosing Swartz Bay because it was slightly quicker for me to go through the land crossing at Blaine instead of the 90 minute question mark at Anacortes.
I didn't know anything about the Coastal Class before I rolled in and was totally stunned at the size of the sucker as I was the last vehicle on.
And as I entered the passenger deck I was overwhelmed at the level of service, decor, and quietness of the boat. In need of a nap I tried to find a bench on the sun deck to sleep, but didn't find it worked for me. I was really hoping to use the crossing to sleep, but found even with earplugs in the number of interruptions over the intercom to be frequent. I think I gave up on sleeping when they announced there was an onboard marine biologist offering an interpretive experience somewhere. I actually laughed! At that point I felt like I was more on a cruise than on a ferry.
I ate lunch instead and had a really tasty, albeit expensive, sandwich. The galley was far better than anything I've seen on WSF ferries.
The ride back was similar. Other than I was the first one on this time and had a great time hanging in the line talking with locals. Canucks are just more friendly than US people IMO.
The differences I noticed: Far more attractive young women on BC ferries, far more black and muted colors worn by Canadians than US, the fare was a bit of a surprise. I think my credit card was $91 USD round-trip where I think Anacortes is closer to $60 USD.
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elwha
Oiler (New Member)
I'm always merry when I'm near a ferry!
Posts: 33
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Post by elwha on Jun 10, 2015 20:19:53 GMT -8
Having been travelling on WSF all my life, I know that WSF can be disgusting. Until the San Juan Islands reservation system the waits were long. If you look at the summer schedule there is no mid-evening sailing to Friday Harbor. Also, the Hyak until just two/three years ago had a huge rust stain. Just amazing. However when I go to Canada I notice the beauty and elegance of the vessels. I was blown away by the Coastal Class, as well as by the Queen of Alberni. I would take a ride on BCF (despite the price) over WSF any day of the week.
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