Neil
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Post by Neil on Feb 10, 2024 18:54:08 GMT -8
Good grief. That plays on every twenty minute crossing to and from Gabriola? From what you suggested in one of your recent posts, there might be a lot more need for safety warnings for people venturing through downtown Nanaimo to get the ferry. Glad you lived to tell about it, Mike. Somehow we managed to survive... If I would have been in the spacious deck-2 indoor passenger lounge, I'd have been able to learn if there was a video-screen graphic to accompany the audio of the safety announcement. Perhaps some things are best kept a mystery. But in all seriousness, it was a good day for a trip with my sister to Gabriola. She is very much into beaches for the rocks and driftwood, and we had fun at both Descanso Bay Regional Park and Drumbeg Provincial Park. Drumbeg Park is on the southeast corner of Gabriola, across a narrow channel from the north tip of Valdes Island. There are views down the "Corridor" of outside islands, down the east coasts of Valdes, Galiano and with the mountains of Orcas Island in the far distance (and probably a view to Mt. Baker, on a non-cloud day). I'm so accustomed to Gabriola's north-west corner as a "Nanaimo-centric" view, and I forget that the opposite corner is the start of the southern Gulf Islands. In other spots on the south side of Gabriola Island, there are views down the sound that is between the outer islands (Valdes, Galiano) and the inner group of islands (Mudge, Link, DeCourcy, etc). For a map nerd like me, it's a fascinating place. One of my daughters lives in Courtenay, the other in Surrey, and me in White Rock. We alternate our meetups between the mainland and the Island. Leaving the car at Tsawwassen, we've met up at Duke Point and gone to Gabriola, Newcastle, Dodd Narrows (amazing) and a couple of times to Westwood Lake. Gabriola is nice, but unlike Hornby the vast majority of it is private, and exploring the parks there twice felt like enough. When I look at a map of Gabriola, the protected parkland and trail network is a bit underwhelming. Really like Mad Rona's, though. The island I really want to explore is Saturna. Seven hours there one day last August wasn't anywhere near enough.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Feb 10, 2024 17:52:41 GMT -8
Here is a recent recording of the Safety Announcement on an Island Class vessel. This was heard on Island Kwigwis on a trip from Gabriola Island to Nanaimo on February 5, 2024. Good grief. That plays on every twenty minute crossing to and from Gabriola? From what you suggested in one of your recent posts, there might be a lot more need for safety warnings for people venturing through downtown Nanaimo to get the ferry. Glad you lived to tell about it, Mike.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Feb 9, 2024 22:54:41 GMT -8
Apparently the Isabelle X will be hanging around in Nanaimo for another couple of months. Lots of opportunities for photos. It dwarfs any of our west coast ferries. ...and I love Ollie's photo of the Isabelle with the Rapid Bear. Amazing thing about tugs is that I bet if you gave that tiny tug a few minutes, she could probably start hauling that behemoth along at a couple of knots.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Feb 7, 2024 20:09:10 GMT -8
That's a nice looking ferry. It really is. I like the tapered lines of the upper bulwarks at the stern.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Feb 7, 2024 18:08:09 GMT -8
She is heading to a Nanaimo Anchorage. Either English Bay spots are all full, or it expected the stay will be over 14 days. Can't find the story right now, but I read that Bridgemans Services Group has now purchased the Isabelle... I believe she had been under bareboat charter.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Feb 5, 2024 20:35:27 GMT -8
Hi! I'm curious about the 'missing' route numbers. BC Ferries lists routes numbered 1-13, 17-26, 28, and 30. However, 14-16, 27, and 29 are missing. Why is this? The only think I can imagine is that these are these retired routes that aren't sailed anymore? I've never figured them all out; however, the route numbers are a holdover from when Highways Ferries and BC Ferries were more or less "one". And that system has been maintained, obviously. So, one I know off the top of my head is the old Howe Sound/Woodfibre route, which was 14. I've assumed one was the Powell River - Comox via Texada, but that's entirely a guess. Contract routes were / are in the 80s and 90s. The exception to this is 13, which didn't change numbers when it was privatized. ...and the French Creek to Lasqueti route, which BC Ferries contracts out to Western Pacific Marine, is route 55. Where is route 54? I don't think there's any more mystery here than in transit bus routes, where a general number is given to a region, and many numbers within a range are unused.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Jan 28, 2024 22:37:16 GMT -8
Tug Rapid Bear - Nanaimo Harbour. This little tug could be the 'star' in a children's TV show about tug boats based in Nanaimo Harbour. There would need to be a 'Harbour Master' & I'm looking at you LLM.
15 January 2024
I'm really old... so there are probably very few members on here who can relate to my childhood memories of playing, over and over again, our family's 78 rpm recording of 'Little Toot'. I was modern enough to know that 78s were stone age... 45s, with the insertable centre, were much cooler. Little tugs like this are cute enough and tough enough that they just lend themselves to David and Goliath narratives.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Jan 26, 2024 19:59:11 GMT -8
The good ship Isabelle as seen from a shoot this morning. From this and previous photos posted of the Isabelle, it's pretty clear that 'floatels' receive a different level of maintenance from cruise ships or 'cruise ferries'.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Jan 19, 2024 12:43:01 GMT -8
Not sure what the car capacity is, but at 754 feet long, it is a beast! Don't want to even imagine what the traffic on the highway would be like on disembarkation has begun. Staffing it to reach capacity would be a challenge these days, but in theory it would help with wait times on popular routes like routes 2 and 30. Could it navigate Active Pass? 3600 lane metres is approx. 600 vehicles using BCF's 6 metre standard. That's a LOT of cars. Two of those might be enough for Route 1 without having to go to 4 vessel service in the summers but it would be way overkill in the winter. Dwell time would also be an issue. With that much capacity, I'm not sure a 25 minute turnaround time would suffice. Best as I can understand, it looks the Pioneer has about an hour in dock on the Dover to Calais route, with a ninety minute crossing. It does indeed have 3600 lane metres, but given that a lot of that is commercial space, chances are those lanes are wider, so if you converted into just AEQ, the capacity might be more like 700. The emphasis on commercial traffic is also evidenced by her passenger capacity, which is no more than our big ferries, despite her massive size. Yes, probably too big for our needs and our infrastructure.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Jan 15, 2024 22:36:14 GMT -8
We could debate this concept of "wokeness" all day, im sure Charles III's portrait will be up at somepoint. it takes time for these things. That is, unless he abdicates. Paul, I'm not clear on why you've made two references to Charlie possibly abdicating?
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Jan 15, 2024 22:33:40 GMT -8
From the service notice about the cancelled ' Celebration sailings: The propulsion challenges were caused by an issue of the power supply to the starter for the main engine. This is not the same mechanical issue that has resulted in previous refits for Coastal Class vessels.That's good to know. I get tired of hearing about the same old Coastal problems. I like it that this is a fresh, new one.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Jan 14, 2024 20:20:39 GMT -8
One question: winding back the clock nearly a quarter century, are there any conditions in which the cats may have actually worked? I remember reading a Vancouver Sun story about a report by Kvaerner Masa that the ships could have provided value if the high speed engines were replaced with conventional engines and the ships refit to carry overheight vehicles. Actually found a CBC report: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/pacificats-to-slow-down-for-b-c-ferries-1.269439How would they done have refit to allow carry of over height vehicles? What would they have operated on? I don't know exactly what the definition of 'refit' is... but I don't think the term applied when the V class was sliced and raised horizontally to insert a second car deck. More of a rebuild, perhaps? In any event, given the overrun on the construction costs of the Pacificats, further surgery to give them overheight capacity would have been dreadfully expensive. Obviously it's a moot point now, but I still think they could have been employed just as car carriers.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Jan 11, 2024 20:37:35 GMT -8
Pretty likely they will end up being scrapped. They've been sitting idle and not kept in good working condition for far too long now. Hope I'm wrong, though. I hope you’re wrong too! lol Also found out the price. $15 million for all 3. A fraction of what it cost to build them. Throw a few million more (or less, who knows) and there is a high chance these things could be usable as ferries again. There's that famous adage about the best predictor of future behavior being what has been past behavior... it can be adapted in this case to point out that these boats have been sitting in the Middle East for twenty plus years, with no one interested in putting them in service. Yes, they're going cheap, but I'm guessing that significant aspects of their operational systems might be obsolete, or even illegal under current regulations. It's also possible that their engines haven't been fired up since they left BC. At the time they were built, they were probably qualitatively current with other vessels of their type. Thirty years on... it could be a very daunting prospect for any prospective buyer to put them into service. They're probably headed for the scrapyard. What a waste of metal, and engineering. I blame this far more on Gordon Campbell than Glen Clark; Campbell was willing to flush millions of dollars down the toilet to make a political point, rather than make the vessels work.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Jan 8, 2024 21:41:01 GMT -8
Well Translink has recently changed the announcements on the skytrain again. Now instead of saying "doors will open on the right/left" it now says "the doors on the right/left side of the train will open" Examples: "The next station is, Nanaimo. The doors on the right side of the train will open" "The next station is, 29th Avenue. The doors on the left side of the train will open" Is this the kind of attention to detail that defines a 'foamer'?
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Jan 7, 2024 22:15:23 GMT -8
Let's do a reality check here. As stated above, the Coastal class is now 15 years old. Even with the extended lifespan of BC/west-coast ferries of 40-50 years, they are now over one-quarter of the way through their lifespan; and just five years from now, they'll be at the midpoint of their lives. And to be honest, if you look at many other parts of the world where the life expectancy of a passenger ferry is closer to 20 years, the Coastal class should be getting in line for their seniors discount cards. They should under no circumstances be considered "new" vessels. And it's completely unrealistic for certain members on this forum to expect that 15-year-old vessels should never ever experience a breakdown. I am also beginning to suspect that the lack of an adequate spare ratio of major vessels may have led to deferred maintenance among the fleet, which has led to the problems the Coastal class is experiencing. Especially if, as mentioned above, the issues with the Coastal Inspiration have been ongoing for a number of months to years, and still has not been fixed. The past couple of years have not been great, with two consecutive summers having one of the Spirit class gone for their mid-life overhauls for the entire off-seasons; meaning the three Coastal class have had to spend extra time working during the off seasons, which more than probably shortened the time available for their own refits. And FYI, if the Coastal class are still the "newest" major vessels in BC Ferries' fleet, that is solely the fault of BC Ferries for not better managing their fleet plan to space out new vessel deliveries. WSF is okay with 80 year old vessels. Many (at least in Facebook land) think that the Coho, now 65 years in service, is good for another 20. The Coastals, at just 15 years, are, just 'kids', about the same age as the V-class was in 1980 when BC Ferries was about to spend a great deal of money expanding their capacity for the third time.
You are right on the money about BC Ferries dragging their feet over the last decade when it come to new vessels and expanded capacity. Things might have been different had it not been for the large but temporary drop in demand caused by COVID in 2020. So here we are now in 2024 with our newest vessels being our most troubled, unsatisfactory reliability, and demand growing year by year as the population in the area served grows. And no new vessels until 2029, five years from now. Not good enough.
Aren't we perhaps- once again- misplacing blame for the state of the fleet? BC Ferries can only do what the province gives them resources to do. The NDP government has been much more responsive to the need to upgrade the so-called 'minor' and intermediate fleet, but they are still shying away from the costly commitment to renew the vessels that provide the essential link between the mainland and Vancouver Island.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Jan 3, 2024 9:48:20 GMT -8
oh yeah, hay! thnx for reminding me. i also noticed that and from what ive gathered, the partnership was terminated by bread garden (.... or maybe it was by bcf?? sorry. i should have posted when i discovered this) anyways, apparently there were lots of complaints, lots unsold, and revenue generated wasnt worth it. personally, i think they were charging too much for what u can buy at chevron for 1/2 the price. at the end of the day, bcf wanted higher quality sandwiches; bg wanted more for this ask. rumour is that bcf is doing the math on whether to bring this back in-house like the before times, but the math doesnt look good at this point. *those hummus dips and cracker snacks sitting in their place are absolutely garbage btw. anybody seen how much they are charging for those? Over the last few months, I've picked up two Bread Garden things from the cafeteria cooler that were just overpriced junk; an incredibly boring tuna sandwich on white bread, and a chicken wrap that was nothing but wrap, except for a couple of small chunks of chicken hiding in the folds. They definitely need a better supplier.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Jan 1, 2024 17:30:56 GMT -8
I hardly ever vote... I checked off my choices, but didn't see anything to actually post/enter them?
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Dec 30, 2023 22:30:56 GMT -8
im also expecting charlie not to come. i sense its kinda illegal with all the wokeness over everything being outdated colonial vestiges. Charlie is 'legally' Canada's King. Until we as a country decide we no longer want to continue with the monarchy he will remain as King. Therefore it is appropriate for his mugshot to appear on the ferries, just as it will appear on all of our coins in legal circulation, and some of the bank notes (bills). This has nothing at all to do with what you call "wokeness". So now an awareness of the negative nature of colonialism is 'wokeness'? Okay... count me in.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Dec 24, 2023 22:15:30 GMT -8
Optimistic? You're being kind, Jim. It's 930 miles from Vancouver to Prince Rupert. Doing it in 12 hours, you would have to average 77 miles, or 124 kilometers, per hour.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Dec 22, 2023 21:26:17 GMT -8
Interesting day on Route 1. Both the #2 vessels started about an hour late due to crewing issues. The CCel is doing it's modified South of Saturna route which is, in real terms, adding about 10-15 minutes per sailing. The QoNW did a 65 minute crossing, and is almost back on time. Conversely the CCel, in my uneducated ferry nerd opinion, is running too aggressive a schedule with mostly two hour turn around times. It's been losing time all day. This will likely lead to the New West passing the CCel if the day says the same (posting at 3pm) for what should be the CCels 730pm departure, and the New West's 8pm. Dane, I didn't see a 65 minute crossing on the departures/arrivals page, but I did see 73 minutes, twice, which is pretty remarkable. The old girl is apparently the speedster of the fleet.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Dec 17, 2023 21:15:03 GMT -8
I managed to get to that ferry spotting location on the east facing side of Mount Galiano for these photos! It's very overgrown and you have to walk through a lot of jungle to get here but I think it is worth it for this view. You can even see Mount Baker if the weather is clear enough! I appreciate your bushwacking. Personally, I don't really need to see any more shots of all the usual ferries in Active Pass, from the usual vantage points... you showed us a different perspective. Thanks!
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Dec 15, 2023 21:11:47 GMT -8
It seems like the service notices about low tides and restrictions on commercial vehicles being able to load and unload for Quadra are pretty much the rule. I don't recall seeing these notices for the Powell River Queen during her many years on the route. I know that standardization of the fleet is pretty much dogma these days, but I wonder how much research was done on how the Island class might marry up with the berths in Campbell River and Quathiaski, in terms of being able to get essential traffic on and off. It seems like there is a systemic problem that wasn't worked out properly.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Dec 12, 2023 20:32:45 GMT -8
Fact is, trolley bus service in Vancouver has atrophied since I was a kid. It's expanded along Kingsway from the old Joyce Loop to Metrotown, and past the Blanca Loop to UBC, but there's been nothing else, and it seems that the east-west corridors along Broadway and Forty First have become increasingly diesel, along with a number of other previously trolley only routes. Doesn't seem like there's been any commitment to switch from diesel to electric over any stretch of the metro Vancouver system.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Dec 10, 2023 18:21:32 GMT -8
I took Salish Heron on route 1 which is very weird but it didn’t seem busy which was shocking. But I have notice that berth for major vessels berths with Salish Class docked them seem kinda angled when the ramp comes down. I hope BC Ferries is going to use more reflective sailing times on schedules for temporary routes or vessels on certain routes because the sailing are taking shorter times than schedule says. Four sailings today, varying between 1 hr, 34 minutes and 1 hr, 51. I'm really surprised she can do it in 94 minutes, given her posted service speed of 15 knots, which isn't usually used when she's on the Gulf Islands runs. Anybody check vessel tracking to see if she's ever racing along with wind and tide at 17 knots?
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Dec 4, 2023 14:17:42 GMT -8
Wow. $50k Canadian. She must be in really rough shape.
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