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Post by Brandon S on Sept 23, 2018 13:56:52 GMT -8
Our lovely new ferry have a fun time trying to dock in Greece.
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Post by vancouverecho on Sept 24, 2018 22:49:08 GMT -8
This ferry was purchased when Mr Wilkinson's party was in government, so there is no opportunity for him to make hay. His party was also responsible for cancelling route forty, and then, when the folly of that move was exposed, directing BC Ferries to buy a used vessel. Wilkinson's party was also responsible for giving us this pseudo-private ferry entity, BCFS. One of the benefits we were led to believe was that vessel procurement would be done 'right'. BCFS has not done particularly well with their purchases of used vessels ( Sonia & Mr Spendy 1), and even the new-builds are not arguably any better than new-builds procured in the bad old crown corporation days. However, we haven't had 3 fast ferries jammed down the throat of BC Ferries over the objections of BC Ferries senior management and the Ministry of Transportation due to the lack of suitability of said ships for the role envisioned, just because the Premier of the day wanted it.
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Post by WettCoast on Sept 25, 2018 7:21:20 GMT -8
Wilkinson's party was also responsible for giving us this pseudo-private ferry entity, BCFS. One of the benefits we were led to believe was that vessel procurement would be done 'right'. BCFS has not done particularly well with their purchases of used vessels ( Sonia & Mr Spendy 1), and even the new-builds are not arguably any better than new-builds procured in the bad old crown corporation days. However, we haven't had 3 fast ferries jammed down the throat of BC Ferries over the objections of BC Ferries senior management and the Ministry of Transportation due to the lack of suitability of said ships for the role envisioned, just because the Premier of the day wanted it. I am not going to dispute your point on that. What I will say is that other than the fast cats BC Ferries brought us new vessels that have generally worked out very well and have stood the test of time. And best of all is that they were all built right here in BC by Canadian workers. The new BC Ferries is at least partially responsible for the withering of our shipyards to the point that we are now sending contracts overseas not just for new ships, but for major maintenance jobs too.
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Post by Brandon S on Sept 25, 2018 7:35:40 GMT -8
To add to the list of failures, apparently they had issues getting the rear door closed when leaving the dry dock here at Esquimalt. It wouldn't close right, but im not really sure how they got it fixed.
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Post by vancouverecho on Sept 25, 2018 18:40:57 GMT -8
However, we haven't had 3 fast ferries jammed down the throat of BC Ferries over the objections of BC Ferries senior management and the Ministry of Transportation due to the lack of suitability of said ships for the role envisioned, just because the Premier of the day wanted it. I am not going to dispute your point on that. What I will say is that other than the fast cats BC Ferries brought us new vessels that have generally worked out very well and have stood the test of time. And best of all is that they were all built right here in BC by Canadian workers. The new BC Ferries is at least partially responsible for the withering of our shipyards to the point that we are now sending contracts overseas not just for new ships, but for major maintenance jobs too. Government decisions made in the 1990's played a much bigger part in the withering of West Coast shipyards.
The decision to build the Pacificats played a big role in the decline of West Coast shipyards; for one, none of the West Coast shipyards wanted to take on the design and build of the Pacificats as they neither had the facilities nor expertise to build large aluminum ships. The technology, facilities and skills to build aluminum vessels differs greatly from what is required to build steel vessels, and that had to built from scratch, at the expense of traditional steel shipbuilding.
By the time BC Ferries had gotten rid of the Pacificats, and embarked on building the Coastals, BC shipyards were no longer competitive on new builds; they could not compete on specs, pricing, risk, and delivery timelines.
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Post by WettCoast on Sept 25, 2018 19:32:10 GMT -8
That is quite the leap of faith to believe that the fast cats are to blame for the demise of BC's ability to build ships of any size. We should return to discussion of the NSW & how BCFS seems to have gotten it wrong again.
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,272
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Post by Neil on Sept 29, 2018 17:41:28 GMT -8
A pretty much unprecedented move by BC Ferries; because of the damage done to the central coast economy by the cancellation of the entire high season service to Port Hardy, travel on the Nimpkish is going to be free for both passengers and vehicles through late March, by which time the Northern Sea Wolf will be (hopefully) ready to go. What a schmozzle. www.bcferries.com/bcfservicenotice?id=4417
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Post by Starsteward on Oct 1, 2018 13:46:00 GMT -8
A pretty much unprecedented move by BC Ferries; because of the damage done to the central coast economy by the cancellation of the entire high season service to Port Hardy, travel on the Nimpkish is going to be free for both passengers and vehicles through late March, by which time the Northern Sea Wolf will be (hopefully) ready to go. What a schmozzle. www.bcferries.com/bcfservicenotice?id=4417 It sounds as if the 'NSW' is going to be ready for trial/dock-testing etc. sooner than later. Quite the 'P.R'. move by BCFS to GIVE passengers and vehicles a free pass until next Spring! Hopefully the traffic volume figures will be accurately taken and presented in the annual report. Also the lost revenue totals will make for interesting perusal. If and when we the great unwashed get something of a final tab for the total amount of refit work that was necessary on the 'NSW', would I be too far off the mark to suggest that the lost revenue totals be added to the 'refit' tab?
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Post by OneEighthMaster on Oct 1, 2018 20:36:24 GMT -8
A pretty much unprecedented move by BC Ferries; because of the damage done to the central coast economy by the cancellation of the entire high season service to Port Hardy, travel on the Nimpkish is going to be free for both passengers and vehicles through late March, by which time the Northern Sea Wolf will be (hopefully) ready to go. What a schmozzle. www.bcferries.com/bcfservicenotice?id=4417This (quoted from your link) was interesting: "The major upgrade to the Northern Sea Wolf is nearing completion and it will enter service in summer 2019. In mid-September, the ship moved from Esquimalt Dry Dock in Victoria to our refit facility in Richmond where work is wrapping up. Next will be Transport Canada inspections and drills." Sounds quite positive, considering it didn't make that move under its own power and allegedly had significant issues with the rear door. I look forward to the next episode of this story.
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Post by yak on Oct 16, 2018 16:02:09 GMT -8
NSW in Deas this morning.. Between the Ex-Burnaby and the Queen of Coquitlam... And close up... The paint job is certainly looking spiffy
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Post by princessofvanfan on Oct 17, 2018 16:35:06 GMT -8
I just don't get how passengers are supposed to enjoy the scenery form the interior with such a lack of windows.
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Post by whalebreath on Oct 18, 2018 18:48:23 GMT -8
I just don't get how passengers are supposed to enjoy the scenery form the interior with such a lack of windows. They aren't-it's basic transportation not a scenic cruise-which is of course plain idiocy but that's BC Ferries for you.
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Post by Starsteward on Oct 19, 2018 4:28:17 GMT -8
I just don't get how passengers are supposed to enjoy the scenery form the interior with such a lack of windows. They aren't-it's basic transportation not a scenic cruise-which is of course plain idiocy but that's BC Ferries for you. Could one imagine the marketing flop the folks at Rocky Mountaineer would unleash if all their passenger cars were of the older, smaller windows? No curved glass windows reaching 'coach-top' and removing all their dome cars as well? Someone at BCFS should 'carry the can' for this botched attempt at not securing a much more "route specific" vessel for the relaunch of this route! The 'NSW' is most likely going to be the brunt of criticism that barely registers above the grand feature of 'potable water' on the 'Nimpkish'.
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Post by Dane on Nov 23, 2018 13:42:59 GMT -8
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Post by yvr on Nov 25, 2018 19:51:31 GMT -8
They aren't-it's basic transportation not a scenic cruise-which is of course plain idiocy but that's BC Ferries for you. Could one imagine the marketing flop the folks at Rocky Mountaineer would unleash if all their passenger cars were of the older, smaller windows? No curved glass windows reaching 'coach-top' and removing all their dome cars as well? Someone at BCFS should 'carry the can' for this botched attempt at not securing a much more "route specific" vessel for the relaunch of this route! The 'NSW' is most likely going to be the brunt of criticism that barely registers above the grand feature of 'potable water' on the 'Nimpkish'. Starsteward has certainly made a great comparison. If this route was a privately run operation like Rocky Mountaineer, this stupidly designed little Greek Ferry would never have been considered. Here's a company that caters totally to the tourism market and appears to have their act together. If Rocky Mountaineer operated this ferry route and was purchasing a used ferry, for sure it would have mega windows. Starsteward is correct - someone at BCF should carry the can!
Oh, and what ever happened to placing a greenhouse on the top deck - no doubt the budget is so over blown that the idea was quietly scrapped.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 25, 2018 20:49:54 GMT -8
One key difference between Rocky Mountaineer and BC Ferries mid/north coast service, is that Rocky Mountaineer is free from Government-mandated timelines and decisions.
For the Northern Sea Wolf situation, the rushed timeline (caused by a political announcement/promise about the impending re-start of the route) was a contributor to the purchase of an unsuitable ship.
A private company like Rocky Mountaineer has the time and freedom to do it right, based on their expert position. There is no "community lifeline obligation" to hinder Rocky Mountaineer's plans for tourist service.
On a side note, Rocky Mountaineer originally had 2 classes: GoldLeaf (the bi-level full dome carriage) and RedLeaf (the old traditional cars with small windows and a chilled-lunch). They found that the RedLeaf experience wasn't up to the overall service level that they wanted, and so SilverLeaf (which I took) was the new 2nd class alternative, and they recently enhanced those SilverLeaf carriages with even bigger windows.
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Post by Dane on Nov 25, 2018 23:40:48 GMT -8
This is off topic, but, to extend that comparison further, Rocky Mountaineer actually did start with junk, inappropriate, unreliable equipment. Equating what we think of Rocky Mountaineer today to what it started as isn't accurate; really it's all just a journey of making what you've got work!
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Post by Nickfro on Nov 26, 2018 16:01:02 GMT -8
I sure hope the exterior decals hold up well and don't get taken over by rust buildup over the years. . .
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Post by Dane on Nov 27, 2018 9:18:13 GMT -8
I sure hope the exterior decals hold up well and don't get taken over by rust buildup over the years. . . There's a decade of experience now where they seem to be doing well... far better than paint. Coastals still look great with the occasional touch up.
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Post by Brandon S on Jan 7, 2019 12:20:00 GMT -8
Update on the Sea Wolf. I went to Vancouver the other day and while on the bus, exiting the Massey Tunnel it does appear that the decals have been applied to the front of the Sea Wolf. Hopefully she gets on sea trials soon.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jan 18, 2019 18:17:39 GMT -8
Coast Mountain News story on Northern Sea Wolf: - with 2 photos of her at Deas The photographs show that the outdoor viewing area will be completely in the path of the wind. Not too enjoyable... from HERE
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,272
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Post by Neil on Jan 18, 2019 20:47:33 GMT -8
Coast Mountain News story on Northern Sea Wolf: - with 2 photos of her at Deas The photographs show that the outdoor viewing area will be completely in the path of the wind. Not too enjoyable... ...but she appears to have an outdoor promenade deck, completely covered.
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Post by mariner42 on Jan 19, 2019 15:35:05 GMT -8
Northern Sea Wolf - re the outdoor viewing area:
I believe the photo shows another seating area on the deck just forward of the after mast almost between the funnels.
There appears to be an open-sided roof cover (with skylights?) sheltering white coloured deck furniture beneath.
If that is true, there would be seating available protected from wind, rain, etc.
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Post by whalebreath on Jan 26, 2019 21:30:13 GMT -8
IOW a truly pathetic effort-SOP for BC Ferries that pit of mediocrity and incompetence.
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Post by yvr on Feb 28, 2019 8:36:32 GMT -8
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