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Post by Low Light Mike on Mar 7, 2023 21:13:04 GMT -8
Northern Sea Wolf at allied, today This is such excellent photography that you've shared. Thanks for all your skill and work on this. |
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Post by Ollie on Mar 7, 2023 21:23:16 GMT -8
This is such excellent photography that you've shared. Thanks for all your skill and work on this. Thank you very much! |
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QoNW Fan
Voyager 
Queen of New Westminster fan!
Posts: 269 
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Post by QoNW Fan on Mar 8, 2023 20:37:54 GMT -8
The Northern Sea Wolf is a lot smaller than I thought. From the photos it looks a lot like it could compare to the pre-stretched Victoria class ferries or the Sidney class ferries. Is it around the same length?
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,309
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Post by Neil on Mar 8, 2023 20:57:00 GMT -8
The Northern Sea Wolf is a lot smaller than I thought. From the photos it looks a lot like it could compare to the pre-stretched Victoria class ferries or the Sidney class ferries. Is it around the same length? Nowhere near. About 250' long as opposed to 335' for the ' Sidney, and much less in beam. |
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Post by paulvanb on Mar 8, 2023 22:36:53 GMT -8
Northern Sea Wolf at allied, today This is such excellent photography that you've shared. Thanks for all your skill and work on this. For a moment I thought it was a drone shot! |
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QoNW Fan
Voyager
Queen of New Westminster fan!
Posts: 269
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Post by QoNW Fan on Mar 8, 2023 22:59:45 GMT -8
The Northern Sea Wolf is a lot smaller than I thought. From the photos it looks a lot like it could compare to the pre-stretched Victoria class ferries or the Sidney class ferries. Is it around the same length? Nowhere near. About 250' long as opposed to 335' for the ' Sidney, and much less in beam. Wow even smaller than I thought. I had figured it was around the same size as the Northern Expedition, but I don't really know much about the northern ferries. |
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Post by Ollie on Mar 21, 2023 18:38:01 GMT -8
Northern Sea Wolf at Allied, today. Northern Sea Wolf is supposed to return to service on May 28
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Post by Ollie on Apr 7, 2023 20:15:31 GMT -8
Northern Sea Wolf at Allied, March 8 2023 +
Northern Sea Wolf at Allied, today
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Post by harrysbird on Apr 24, 2023 20:11:31 GMT -8
Northern Sea Wolf is now at BC Ferries Deas Dock Maintenance
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Post by WettCoast on Jul 21, 2023 21:17:37 GMT -8
Northern Sea Wolf arriving @ Bear Cove Terminal, Port Hardy, at the end of a summer day trip from Bella Coola.
21 July 2023
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Post by WettCoast on Jul 23, 2023 21:00:14 GMT -8
The NSW's view lounge is 'open' ...
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on Apr 16, 2024 12:32:25 GMT -8
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,309
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Post by Neil on Apr 25, 2024 17:38:08 GMT -8
The first part of this guy's Youtube video deals with his ride on the Northern Sea Wolf. His motorcycle fell over, presumably on the open ocean part of the trip north from Port Hardy, and the crew basically admitted it hadn't been tied down properly by a crew member. I've always wondered about those tie downs on the northern ferries, and the liability if something went wrong. In this case, there was apparently no damage.
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Post by Ollie on Oct 11, 2024 20:16:14 GMT -8
As there aren't too many photos of the Northern Sea Wolf on here, I thought I'd make a post with full photo coverage of the Northern Sea Wolf. Here are a few photos and videos from my round trip on the Northern Sea Wolf on 6 & 7 October, 2024: Arrival into McLoughlin Bay. Very fun to watch it spin around and dock: Vehicle deck, looking aft. The white Dodge Ram is the baggage truck. "Welcome Aboard" area, looking forward.
Coastal Cafe. This is the first thing you see after entering deck 4.
 Cafeteria seating, looking aft.
Cafeteria seating, looking forward. Notice the Queen of Nanaimo style chairs at the table on the left.
Close-up view of the Queen of Nanaimo style chair. I have not seen this model of chair on any other ferry, it is my favourite type of chair. There are only four of these chairs in the Coastal Cafe seating area. Main seating area, looking aft. The last four rows do not have armrests to accommodate for sleeping flat. Main seating area looking forward, during the busier return sailing. Port side aft lounge. This is where I stayed most of the time during both sailings.
Starboard side aft movie lounge, known as the "Raven's Lounge". This side plays audio, while the other side does not.
Chief Steward's office and brochure rack, located just behind the Raven's Lounge. None of the brochures match any of the routes served by this vessel. There are even some for Mexico...
Starboard side lower outer deck, looking aft. Port side lower outer deck, looking forward.
Barbeque area. I am not sure if this is for the crew or passengers.
Exterior sun deck, looking forward. According to the crew, this aft mast is from the Queen of Burnaby, but I am pretty sure it is actually the forward mast (next photo) that is from the Queen of Burnaby. Upper forward sun deck "viewing lounge" and forward mast. Upper "viewing lounge", looking aft. Looking aft from the middle sun deck.
I'm going to split the post here for now as it is getting quite long. My next post will feature the more "restricted areas" of the Northern Sea Wolf, as well as a few videos.
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Post by Ollie on Oct 11, 2024 21:02:42 GMT -8
Part #2 of my previous post regarding the Northern Sea Wolf, 6 & 7 October 2024: Bridge of the ferry. Quite a standard setup, there is one small wheel, two throttles, and controls for the bow thruster. Engine control room. Not in this picture, but what I found interesting was that all the watertight doors were manual.
One of two main engines. These are 12 cylinder four-stroke Wartsila engines, geared to the fixed pitch propellers to accommodate for reverse.
One of three John Deere generators, which power everything else on the ferry, including the bow thruster.
Bridge wing controls, which mirror the most important main controls.
Kahlenberg Z320 horn. This horn is in a heated enclosure for the cold weather up north. Video of four soundings of the Z320 horn. It seems like Alexander Mackenzie Point is a required horn sounding spot. 5x sped up video of the docking at Ocean Falls, 6 October 2024. Terrible quality video, but I thought it was interesting to show how many tries it took to dock. 5x sped up video of the docking at Bear Cove, 7 October 2024. Much quicker docking than at Ocean Falls.
Overall, I can confidently say that this is my new favourite ferry in the current fleet, and also my new favourite route (though I haven't tried the route up to Prince Rupert and Queen Charlotte yet!). I think it's a perfect mix of new and old, and the size is perfect. Not too small that it is cramped, but also not too big that you could get lost. There are four outside decks which are very spacious and provide views in all directions, and a nice solarium for when it is raining. It even has Queen of Nanaimo chairs and a mast from the Queen of Burnaby! I also think the exterior looks great, and according to the crew it's a very reliable ferry.
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Post by WettCoast on Oct 11, 2024 21:06:38 GMT -8
Thanks, Ollie, for this photo spread. The NSW is one ferry I have never been on, though I was on its predecessor, the Wack.
Were your sailings fairly busy? |
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Post by Ollie on Oct 11, 2024 21:14:49 GMT -8
Thanks, Ollie , for this photo spread. The NSW is one ferry I have never been on, though I was on its predecessor, the Wack.
Were your sailings fairly busy? I went on the sailing from McLoughlin Bay to Bella Coola with a stop at Ocean Falls on 6 October, and a direct Bella Coola to Bear Cove sailing on 7 October. When I boarded at McLoughlin Bay, there was a total of 2 automobiles and 3 foot passengers. Was pretty much completely empty. After the stop at Ocean Falls, the passenger count rose to 16, but it still did not seem busy at all. They did not play any movies on the Raven's Lounge during this sailing.
The return sailing from Bella Coola to Bear Cove was a bit busier, and the vehicle deck was around half full, but there was still plenty of space inside the ferry. The movies played at the Raven's Lounge were Happy Feet and Charlotte's web, where there was around 6 people watching them. One of the crew members told me there was only one completely full sailing this year, which was during the summer.
The Queen of Chilliwack must have been quite oversized on this route, I'm assuming?
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Post by Ollie on Oct 11, 2024 23:19:46 GMT -8
Northern Sea Wolf docked at Bear Cove, 7 October 2024.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Oct 12, 2024 8:46:33 GMT -8
The Queen of Chilliwack must have been quite oversized on this route, I'm assuming? The 'Chilliwack did get quite full at times in the summer, mainly because of sailings between Port Hardy and McLoughlin Bay, for residents of Bella Bella who had done shopping/visiting/appointments at Port Hardy. But this is foot passengers, not necessarily vehicles. It's direct sailings in the summer between Port Hardy and Bella Coola could also get full (this time with lots of rented motorhomes), but the other legs of the routes could be quite empty. In those days, the Northern Expedition did not regularly stop at McLoughlin Bay during the summer, and the 'Chilliwack was used to service what is now done directly by a Northern Expedition stop. Here is a link to a trip report by me of a 2009 trip on the Queen of Chilliwack, where I was surprised by the full ship on the last weekend of summer that year. I should have known better... Link Here(Sorry about the old post broken-links for photos. I recently did some clean-up of my Google account to free-up some space, and I inadvertently deleted my old "Picasa Web Albums" which I think had hosted my old-era forum photos) |
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Post by Ollie on Oct 12, 2024 9:29:58 GMT -8
The Queen of Chilliwack must have been quite oversized on this route, I'm assuming? The 'Chilliwack did get quite full at times in the summer, mainly because of sailings between Port Hardy and McLoughlin Bay, for residents of Bella Bella who had done shopping/visiting/appointments at Port Hardy. But this is foot passengers, not necessarily vehicles. It's direct sailings in the summer between Port Hardy and Bella Coola could also get full (this time with lots of rented motorhomes), but the other legs of the routes could be quite empty. In those days, the Northern Expedition did not regularly stop at McLoughlin Bay during the summer, and the 'Chilliwack was used to service what is now done directly by a Northern Expedition stop. Here is a link to a trip report by me of a 2009 trip on the Queen of Chilliwack, where I was surprised by the full ship on the last weekend of summer that year. I should have known better... Link Here(Sorry about the old post broken-links for photos. I recently did some clean-up of my Google account to free-up some space, and I inadvertently deleted my old "Picasa Web Albums" which I think had hosted my old-era forum photos) The first part of your trip sounds exactly like what I experienced on my NorEx sailing up to McLoughlin Bay. Completely full sailing, and all the natives had brought blow-up mattresses! The current routing and schedule with both the Expedition and the Sea Wolf seems a lot better now compared to that with the Chilliwack. There was no stop at Shearwater or Klemtu for the Sea Wolf so the route was a lot shorter and less busy. I think the Tug and Barge also divided up more of the passengers. |
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Post by Ollie on Oct 14, 2024 18:27:06 GMT -8
Forgot to include this in my main two posts: One of two Reintjes reduction gearboxes on the Northern Sea Wolf, 6 October 2024. Very unique for a BC Ferries vessel to have. I believe this is the only ferry in the fleet to have gearboxes, as all the other ferries either use pods or controllable pitch propellers.
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Post by Ollie on Oct 14, 2024 18:58:42 GMT -8
Northern Sea Wolf docked at Bella Coola, 6 October 2024.
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anderpz
Deckhand
I need some Vitamin Sea
Posts: 64
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Post by anderpz on Oct 15, 2024 14:48:59 GMT -8
Forgot to include this in my main two posts: One of two Reintjes reduction gearboxes on the Northern Sea Wolf, 6 October 2024. Very unique for a BC Ferries vessel to have. I believe this is the only ferry in the fleet to have gearboxes, as all the other ferries either use pods or controllable pitch propellers.
Hi Ollie! I was on the Tachek yesterday and believe that ship also has gearboxes. It doesn't have pods or variable-pitch propellers. Two propellers are at the stern and a bow thruster at the front. They use reverse thrust on one of the two propellers and forward thrust on the other to swing the stern of the ship into dock at Heriot Bay Quadra Island. I'm not sure about the Quadra Queen II but I'd assume that it is the same or the crew likely would have mentioned it. |
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Post by WettCoast on Oct 15, 2024 21:21:47 GMT -8
One of two Reintjes reduction gearboxes on the Northern Sea Wolf, 6 October 2024. Very unique for a BC Ferries vessel to have. I believe this is the only ferry in the fleet to have gearboxes, as all the other ferries either use pods or controllable pitch propellers.
All of the C class have (or at least had) gear boxes as part of their propulsion machinery (see a post I made in 2019 on page 18 of the Queen of Alberni thread). That post contains scanned pages of an article from a British magazine named the 'Motorship' which has detailed information on the original C class vessels as they were in 1976.
The C class gear boxes were, as I understand it, not for speed control, just for connecting power from one or both engines to one or both propeller shafts. Perhaps Ferryman can shed some modern day light on how it is with the C class in 2024 ... |
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Post by Ollie on Oct 25, 2024 17:41:17 GMT -8
My Northern Sea Wolf full video walkthrough tour, recorded on 6 and 7 October, 2024.
Most of the video (daytime parts) were recorded on 7 October during the Bella Coola - Port Hardy sailing. Some clips from the previous day (nighttime parts) have been edited in to show the entire ferry.
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