SOS...

Ain't privatization grand?!

This little number used to be called the M V Sonia

And:

From September 24, 2001, it was Atsalakis 010;
on August 04, 2003, it became the Adamantios Korais; then back to the Sonia on July 26, 2004 and three months later it became the Adamantios Korais again and
then the Sonia again on November 08, 2004.

It flew the following flags:
Greece in 2001;
Italy in 2004;
Greece in 2004;
Italy in 2005 and the
Bahamas in 2005.

Some former registered owners:
the Tomasos Brothers, September 24, 2001,
Itali-Hellenic November 11, 2004.
January 06, 2005, it went back to the Tomasos Brothers transport.

On January 11, 2005, four days
after it was registered as a Tomasos transport, it went on to be re-registered under new owners unknown.

So the Tomasos Brothers were registered as the owners on January 06, 2005 in Italy or Greece; then it was returned to the ownership of an unknown person on January 11, 2005.
The unknown managers are International Shipping located at 4770 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami Florida, United States of America

It was alleged that the "Sonia" operated
in the Mediterranean for 11 days last year then developed engine problems because of an explosion aboard. This has been denied by officials of the Port
Authority of Trinidad and Tobago have denied.

Sounds just peachy.

from http://www.ttparliament.org/hansard/house/2005/hh20050114.pdf [page 528/9]

No video games?!?!

God forbid they have to talk to their families...

Another Gordo Lemon?

It seems Gordo has bought a lemon, but will the press say anything? Not!

...

There must be some way we can pin this on the NDP...

Are we surprised?

So, who got the bribe?
That ship obviously was a "white Elephant" !
Along comes Gordo desperate to get a replacement for the Queen of the north.
Just the scenario for some "Airbus" type of dealing; quiet backroom deals where the taxpayer gets hosed (again)!
That is the sort of thing that happens when business savy people are allowed to run the governments business!
Forever the "me first" attitude and let us not worry if the transaction has any merits!
A ferry where you have to back your vehicle on board?
The fast ferries look a design marvel in comparison.

Quote:There must be some way

And if not then surely we can find a way to pin it on those pesky unionized rabble rousers that staff BC Ferries.

wow! what a story! who'd a

wow! what a story! who'd a thunk it? the tyee publishing an article critical of 'gordon campbell's liberals'. maybe we should commission glennocchio to build some new ones.

Elliot

I didn't see a single mention of the BC Liberals or Gordon Campbell in this piece of journalism.

DO you know something the rest of us don't know?

And you put the reference in inverted commas too, how come?

There are references to BC Ferries and Transport Canada - but not a single one to Gordon Campbell. Do you actually read the articles or just troll the comment thread?

The Elliott Advantage

is in not actually having to make any valid points in a post. Simple derision as a substitute for facts and debate.

Who'd a thunk that would come from a right-whinger?

M/V Sonia

Having a deep-sea shipping background, the whole aura around the M/V Sonia is nothing but bad luck. I wouldn't sail on her at all, even as a passenger and stay away from her as far as possible. I advise others to do the same. I'm not normally superstitious but around ships I have a feel, and around this one it's not good. This is definitly a case of the Sonia is a hole in the water and B.C. Ferries is just going to be throwing money into it.

Thanks G West......

Thanks for your research on the "Northern Adventure"....this ship is a big blue and white lemon!
Too bad for those who have to rely on this vessel.

Typical!

It's painfully obvious that the writer is unaware that Hecate Strait is a notoriously rough stretch of water and is almost always calmer @ night-thus the late night departure time.

The story as written is a POS but is useful in that it reflects the gimme gimme attitude so many QCI residents have.

Moving to a remote place means doing without, and sending a crybaby writer on a first voyage means paragraph after paragraph of ignorant carping, b*tching and whining.

thanks for the info sam.

thanks for the info sam. needless to say, the tyee doesn't always appreciate both sides of the story.

The rest of the story

Maybe the other side of the story is that the ship is even worse than the review.

Second hand (or worse) yet

Second hand (or worse) yet over $50 million, money leaves the country so no chance of getting it back in taxes, having to back vehicles on board, few creature comforts, has to leave in the middle of the night cuz the water will be calmer yada yada yada

Oh ya, much better than one of Clark's Fast Ferries, LOL

Looks like a tub

When I first saw this thing on the idiot box I couldn`t believe it...what a cheap looking
piece of unseaworthy shiite.
Looks like a railcar ferry.
We built good solid ships and ocean going tugs here at one time.
You`ll never get me on this tub.

good ship lollipop

crapola!

You`ll need shots for cholera before "venturing" aboard this tub.

Northern Adventure..thats for sure.

Flat bottom?

Looks likes its flat bottomed...sits high in the water...a real bobber..a corker for sure.

Sam Salmon...

...from Haida Gwaii are you? Know all about the Hecate Strait do you?

Highly doubtful considering your comments.

I had family members on that particular ride. And we take the ferry all the time as it is our only source of economical transportation off the islands. Yes, there is a price to pay to lve here, however, why should we get stuck with the shitty lemon? Because we're a bunch of whiners? For your info. NW resources feed the wallets of the lower mainland and all we get is the dregs of everything! Shitty health care, shitty ferry system and service, etc etc. Typical is right.

For your info. the ferry typically travels at two times, evening and morning. 10 pm and 10 am. It has nothing to do with how calm the Hecate Strait supposedly is at night. What a load of crap that commnet is!!

apathysux

Sorry ...got my dander up!

..that should read 'comment'.

BTW...the ferry does not ever typically leave at 2 f**king am!!

apathysux

apathysux, 2am is only the time they will begin loading all the cars backwards. It'll be hours later before the actual sailing time.

LOL

Campbell is a super-genius

In fact, you know, maybe we don't give Gordon the premier enough credit. Maybe loading everything backwards is the way to go.

A man that signs a 999 year lease with a company that can't keep its trains on the track can't be all bad now can he?

I'm starting to get into this loading backwards thing. The world is in such a rush, we have a slow-food movement, why not a "slow-ferry" movement?

I'll take your word....

I've never been on the new boat, but I've been on the Queen of the North a couple of times. It wasn't the smoothest ride either.....

I think we boarded at 6-7AM is....I don't ever remember getting on at 2AM - though I've only sailed from Port Hardy.

my oh my. how desperate

my oh my. how desperate these lefties are.

What do you mean El?

Seems like a non sequitur to me.

The only desperate post I've seen here was your small-minded reference to people who live in some islands off the north end of Vancouver island and even that was a hat tip to another inaccurate and mean-spirited reference by another poster who sounds a lot like you:

posting more of the kind of thing we usually hear from you.

And the 'gimme, gimme' stuff, I think that's an awful lot more typical of the West Van/ Lower Mainland ethos than anything I've heard coming out of Haida Gwaii.

How long was it last spring that these folks did without a regular ferry?

Real complainers aren't they?

LMAO...

...Frank...you have point there...leaving typically happens 2 hours AFTER boarding...
...and if the Campbell govt. started doing things backwards they might actually get something right for a change!!;-)

My points were 2am is a ridicullous time to leave and is not normal for the route regardless of BC Ferries typical lack of consideration for us on the northern routes and the Hecate Strait can be rough regardless of the time of day. It is not typically less rough at night. In fact some of the rougher sailings I have been on have been at night. As for our whining, apparently we don't whine loud enough as we still seem to get the shitty end of the stick!

BTW...Elliot...you're an idiot!
We 'lefites' are not desperate at all...you all give us plenty of ammo.

Move to Alberta!

"The chicken in my chicken burger was like a piece of leather"! Boo-hoo. Have you never eaten on a BC ferry before?! What a whiner. Maybe you should move to Saskatchewan so you won't have to deal with the ferries...

poindexter

Ya, what he said! And haven't you ever backed onto a ferry before and waited hours before leaving? If you don't like it go back to Russia!

The BC Ferries defence team

The BC Ferries defence team is making a lot of noise. If the boat makes folks throw up I guess that'sj ust part of the cost of buying some slightly used boat from somewhere else. No desire to buy a BC boat got them into a position that they bought what was availqble. Backing up onto a baot middle of the night will be more fun than a video game. The Ferry bosses knew that would be an issue and some PR person said, fery staff would be hanging around to do the backing up for those who can't.One of the Us ferries operating out of sidney has a back up issue if one is going to one of the smaller islands. It sure wastes a lot of time in the loading.
I do recall the fast ferries were modified at some expense as well as increeased weight to accomodate loading from the ends. They did the modifications before building. The Liberals scoffed about the changes. Since my money is being spent on that dog, I feel that anyone with compaints should be OK with me. But expect to be instantly called left wingers, by the Government apologists. Let's be very clear the government still holds at least part of the purse.wonder why they didn't call it " The spirit of free enterprise"

Actually, DPL

Now that the former 'Sonia', former 'Adamantios Korais' now 'Northern Adventure' is plying the waters of Hecate Strait maybe it's just as well Hahn and the marketing gurus didn't call this turkey the 'Spirit of Hartley Bay' after all.

It would have been an insult.

I got a eamil a couple of

I got a eamil a couple of minutes ago and things are worse than reported. I know I should tell you what it said, but won't as I don't have the permission of thw writer. But suffice to say I won't be getting on that boat anytime soon. Nor any of my family. why in God's name couldn't they find one of their won boats to operate the routes and do some serious looking or better still start building right here in' The Greatest place on Earth". Easy answer is, go offshore borow money at higher rates, then grovel with the feds to try to not pay the taxes. all money lost from the BC economy. Fire the US boss of BC ferries before others get hurt.

'Fire the US boss of BC

'Fire the US boss of BC ferries before others get hurt' and therein lies the crux of the problem for the lefties. an american is running the show and he was hired by gordo. how dare they?

Must have been M.V. Sonia's Sister Ship

Took a ferry from Corfu to Vennicia in 1998. The Adriatic was smooth compared to Hecate (took my first trip to Gwai Haanas last September). The trip was about 36 hours but we had few complaints:
the food was good and the wine was cheap enough. In 36 hours diesel soot builds up on the decks abaft stacks so the crew washes everything down early each morning:
travelers (many sleeping on the stern decks)should get up then and at least keep their packs out of the black tide.

I have spent some anxious hours in small craft in these waters. When the windsheild on a 42' Monk blew in near Ballenas Islands in moderate chop a few years ago I took another look at the hull/wave equation.

Now the "Northern Adventure" is only exposed to the Pacific on her run to Hardy near Cape Caution.
Cape Caution is aptly named: wave systems from the Pacific mix with other wave systems from Queen Charolette Sound and (possible) outflow from Smith's Inlet. This boat will stay well off shore (we hope) but that exposes her for a longer run in open water. Ferries are one thing. ocean going vessels are another

Another report on the Northern Adventure's voyage

Northern ferry arrives in Port Hardy without incident after 30-hour delay

Judith Lavoie
Times Colonist
Sunday, April 08, 2007

B.C. Ferries’ Northern Adventure arrived in Port Hardy shortly after noon Sunday without further hitches.

The newest ferry in the fleet, bought last year to replace the sunken Queen of the North, experienced a series of glitches on its trip from the Queen Charlotte Islands to Prince Rupert Friday and was kept in dock in Prince Rupert for more than 30 hours while technicians scrambled to fix the public address system.

The Northern Adventure, with 69 passengers, finally left Prince Rupert Saturday evening after being given a clean bill of health by Transport Canada.

“Everything is working just fine now,” B.C. Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall said Sunday.

On the trip back to Prince Rupert, technicians will keep a close eye on the public address system, she said.

Other teething problems have already been fixed, Marshall said.

On the Skidegate/Prince Rupert trip, dry chemicals spilled from a fire extinguisher which fell onto the car deck and the powder then set off smoke alarms.

Then, the grey water tank — which collects water from showers and sinks — overflowed and ran into the galley, meaning food services had to be closed down.

B.C. Ferries bought the Northern Adventure, formerly the MV Sonia, for $51 million after the Queen of the North ran into Gil Island and sank 13 months ago. Two passengers are still missing and presumed drowned.

The Northern Adventure underwent a $9 million refit at Victoria Shipyards and went into service on the northern B.C. Ferries routes March 31.

The vessel, built in Greece in 2004, was a ferry on the Trinidad-Tobago run in 2005, where it became the target of intense media criticism.

The newspaper, Trinidad and Tobago’s Newsday documented safety deficiencies and breakdowns.

However, B.C. Ferries staff said in December all those problems had been addressed.

The latest series of glitches were described by Marshall as growing pains.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=b2a07ce7-a8a6-4e4b-abb7-2b8ee244024c&k=96962

Must be nice to be perfect

You bitch because you had no ship and now you bitch because you don't like the ship you got, it's not good enough, not built in BC?

In case you were not aware, there were no BC ships available on such short notice. Perhaps you would rather wait the 3 years or more it takes to build a new vessel and be without service every year when the Queen of Prince Rupert goes in for refit, or breaks down??? Was it "Gordo" who was so desperate for a new ship, or was it the businesses in the Queen Charlottes complaining about the loss of their tourists for the summer?

I wonder who people in BC would bash if BC Ferries would disappear. We sure hear enough negatives, why don't you put the same effort into learning about the positive things the company does? Oh wait, that would mean you would not be able to bitch about the ferry system. Answered my own question.

No B.C. ships available? Wrong, monkeybits

There were three (3) ... count 'em ... THREE big beautiful
hardly-used B.C.-built ships available.

Surely you haven't forgotten?

Maybe just maybe the Ferry

Maybe just maybe the Ferry system had a ship they could use in the interim. And are you sure it would take three years to build another one. WAC Bennett started BC Ferries as the private companies were doing a lousy job. Was he a lefty? I rather think not. Maybe a ship could have been leased for the interim.

Since now that BC Ferries, although we pay to keep them running in subsidies are set up so even the public or the opposition don't know just what the government is doing with the service.

Maybe the guy who got the fast ferries for a song might rent out one of those boats, or two, as they were build to do the route. The trip would be a lot shorter. The queen of the North was bought many years ago and was built in Europe. But maybe it was a better selection that the sonia that seems to roll a lot.

many share in your

many share in your frustration with these whining lefties monkeybits. they're looking for an issue, any issue, that they can dis gordo about b/c they themselves are so frustrated about the fact that all the fearmongering re; the libs holding power hasn't come to fruition and never will. they're doing a good job and british columbians are happy. they're not perfect and they've made plenty of erros but the truth is that most people will take the libs minor screwups over the ndp's fiasco's and boondoggles anyday. this pisses these guys off to no end, and to make it worse they feel under-represented by carole james and her ineffective minions. for this i don't blame them a lick.

Wild ride

I wonder if the ride was like this. All 24 hours of it. PEI to NFLD Weather was so bad the ferry couldn't dock for 3 hours after it arrived or so the story goes.

Lefties like Rafe Mair

Is there a vending machine somewhere that -- for a loonie or two -- can process certain brains and with the flip of a switch ... and have them obsessing over Left-Handed People this way?

And are these people being used to best advantage, hidden away here on The Tyee?

Wouldn't they be happier in Ottawa if they got jobs advising Stockwell Day, like, on what colour wet-suit to wear for his next sea-do photo op when he rides around an incoming container ship which CSIS has told him is carrying invisible stowaways.

Such a waste of talent.

Even The Story Title is Stolen!

"Vomit Comet" is a term commonly applied to ferries everywhere in the English speaking world-last I heard it was in T&T 4 years ago, the waters between Trinidad & Tobago are notoriously rough.

The one poster here who claims to be from QCI isn't aware that the Haida always made the crossing from the mainland and back @ night because of weather concerns-as did the famous Haida canoe Lootaas after it as built here and paddled north-I know I was there when it left.

I've also crossed Hecate Strait in a powerboat when it was blowing a gale and in a larger ship when it was flat as a Japanese woman's ass-you just never know.

All boats have 'issues', it's fortunate that for those smug/ignorant northerns that they don't have to pay the full price of fixing them.

That's an incredible video!

Snert, that's a fantastic video of the Newfoundland ferry!

I remember that ferry ride -- an overnighter from (I think) Sydney NS to Port au Basque -- and although the sea was calm, there was a subtle swell which would periodically lift the ship up, up, up ... then down, down, down ... lurching a bit ... holy cats, it was as close as I've ever come to being seasick. I don't want to imagine what shape the passengers were in, on the ship pictured here.

Thanks for digging that one up.

What's your point?

Even The Story Title is Stolen!

There is a good reason you have to back in to this ferry

Firstly, I am not a Gordo fan at all. I am very left-wing but the backing in bitching is a big red herring. The reason they do this is that everywhere else in the civilized world they have banned front loading ferries. Why? Well all those massive ferry disasters involved the failure of the bow doors or the lifting bow like the Queen of the North had. Thousands of people died in these disasters before they banned them. Thus all ferries made in Europe are not allowed to have them. BC actually got an exemption for its ferries so they would not have to abide by the modern ferry rules for safety. Trust me, in rough weather you do not want a bow that can come off. That is a very bad thing.

However, after saying all that the MV Sonia(I refuse to acknowledge any ferries that are not Queen of wherever) is known for being a floating disaster. David Hahn is nothing more than a hack CEO who has zero experience in the challenging marine environment that is BC. They could build much better(and safer) ships in BC shipyards for as much or less as the garbage he is buying now. Why not? Wouldn't want those union shipyard workers get any power, now would we?. Gordo will hang politically if this floating tin can goes down in a storm. It would not surprise me at all that this boat suffers the same fate as her predecessor. The electrical system has already shown it is wonky. Just imagine what it could do in inclement weather in the Hecate Straight if it crapped out. Not fun.

Hahn you are a hack and need to go before there is any more blood on your hands.

'It would not surprise me at

'It would not surprise me at all that this boat suffers the same fate as her predecessor.' sounds like you don't have much faith in the crew. the first sinking was caused by human error, although the union leadership will, of course, flatly deny it. in fact one of the perpetrators is still being paid over a year later.

'Hahn you are a hack and

'Hahn you are a hack and need to go before there is any more blood on your hands.' i'd say the blood is on someone else's hands pal.

What planet are you on, Elliot?

Elliot Quote: "they...are so frustrated about the fact that all the fear mongering re: the libs holding power hasn't come to fruition and never will"

Hasn't come to fruition? Are you living on another planet? Do you actually believe what you read in the Vancouver papers or watch on Global TV? Do you have your head in the sand? Are you in denial and simply look the other way because your bread is buttered by this government?

The fact that there are enough people in the province with this mentality to vote the likes of Campbell in is just plain scary.

Not Canada's east Coast

This video is from Cook Strait, New Zealand.

what

Why is it that people blame the employees of the ferries.. do you think the employees pick the ferry that gets bought and enjoy being on the front lines.. Take a look at their face when they have to tell you what is going on when no one will ever tell them. You people complain about yourselfs and blame them they are not the top dogs they are trash too.. Do you think they enjoy waking up early to deal with grouchy people or putting thier lives at risk sailing everyday on a peice of crap.. No they dont so why dont you complain to the top of the chain not the bottom of the barrel.

Sam Salmon

"Vomit Comet" is a term commonly applied to ferries everywhere in the English speaking world-last I heard it was in T&T 4 years ago, the waters between Trinidad & Tobago are notoriously rough.
The one poster here who claims to be from QCI isn't aware that the Haida always made the crossing from the mainland and back @ night because of weather concerns-as did the famous Haida canoe Lootaas after it as built here and paddled north-I know I was there when it left.
I've also crossed Hecate Strait in a powerboat when it was blowing a gale and in a larger ship when it was flat as a Japanese woman's ass-you just never know.
All boats have 'issues', it's fortunate that for those smug/ignorant northerns that they don't have to pay the full price of fixing them.

Sam? Do you have any idea of how far it is across Hecate Strait? You are saying the Haida could paddle accross in a few hours and over night. Damn fast paddlers I'd say. Perhaps you could enlighten us with your source for this information? And while you are at it you could post something to back up your claim that Hecate St. is calmer at night than in the daytime?

Oh come on people, let's not

Oh come on people, let's not forget that the "Queen of the North" was also a european ferry, as is the Queen of Chilliwack, which can also be a "Vomit Commit" when the seas are rough, I can attest to that.

Quote:I refuse to

I agree, BC Ferries are "Queens", not Spirits or whathaveyou... "Spirits" are SkyTrain cars :)

This is a funny story

However, it is probaby just a few teething probems.

BC ferries saved millions by buying this ferry.

Give it a year and it will be working fine.

And if you want to blame the liberals go ahead. But don't forget the NDP and the fast ferry fiasco that put the last nail in the coffin of the BC shipbuilding industry.

A Ferry management rep was

A Ferry management rep was on TV a week or soa ago. As the fourth owners of the boat, the cost is somewhere around 100 millions and counting.
The water beween the islands and any where along the coast. can be rough. Been there more than once looking for aircraft that got lost in the area. A ship designed in Greece might very well operate in those waters, but somewhere else, well I'm not so sure. Wave forms as not all the same and that's a pretty good reason in my about to be called leftie mind is why local marine architects and builders usually do well. But when all else fails blame the person serving the coffee. Has anyone refused to work on the boat for safety reasons so far?

date ferry was built

It is part of the Liberals spin that the ferry was built in 2004, so they could call it an "almost new ferry".
It was flying the Flag of Greece in 2001, so it couldn't have been built in 2004.

WetCoastKid

Good catch. The file originally arrived in an e-mail as MV Caribou which is one of the Marine Atlantic ferries that run between NS & NFLD. The ship appears to actually be one of those belonging to Bluebridge out of New Zealand and serving on the Cook Strait between the north and south islands.

Darned files get a life of their own once they go viral.

This is part of the blurb for one of them. "Well known as a stable and comfortable vessel due to her good hull design and effective stabilisers, the Santa Regina is a very popular Cook Strait ferry."

A wild ride in any event.

Fastcat fiasco

The fiasco was not in wanting to rescue BC's shipbuilding industry. Economic success lies in diversification and progress. BC is a technically advanced region with skilled workers in industries like computing, fuel cells and nuclear particle research. I'm not at all nostalgic for regression to hewers of wood and drawers of water.

The fiasco had two dimensions. The first is escalation of costs, largely from redesigns during construction (e.g. conversion to diesel). The second was in selling the fleet at an artificially low cost. The Washington group bought the vessels for $6 million each. They had been offering $60 million before the Liberals auctioned them off. I do believe that the Liberals intentionally sacrificed income in order to deepen the woes of the NDP, which has cooperated by failing to fight back in any sort of effective way.

As for this rebadged Greek ferry, I'm just glad I don't have to go up there. I ride to Powell River all the time, and my chicken burgers are usually excellent!

c'mon you guys ?

It's not Gords fault ! Beastly Fairies is a private corporation and
has nothing to do with the government !
Geeeeez....

Is BC Ferries really private?

I think it is not. Can it be sold? Can it be IPO'd? Who are the shareholders? Where do the profits go? Who pays for the losses?

It is not private!

The operating company is run at arm's length from the government. It is called private by the government and interest groups. The operating management company may be private. However, the assets belong to the province. The company operating BC Ferries has it's hands tied. It was a half assed political privatization so the government wuld not have to take flack for rational economic procurement of vessels.

This was not a privatization/sale like BC rail.

Let's not forget that.

It is like a crown corporation, in my opinion. Not like a private corporation.

If it's not private

Then the problems are the fault of the government, no?

LOL

nicely done, Jonagold. Hoist by their own petard as it were!

Geeeez.....

Just so ya' know, flattax, netscaper2 was being sarcastic.

PS: Good one, Jonagold!

Mostly nonsense anyway

Ferries is like a crown corporation, but not. See, a crown corporation pays no GST. BC ferries is subject to GST.

So wouldn't the libs -- you know, them financially prudent types -- want to maintain it as a crown corp, to save money? No, because crown corporations are also subject to scrutiny under freedom of information laws.

So why the fake privatization? Why not just privatize the whole shebang? Make it a private company like, oh, I dunno, CN?

Because that private company would lose hundreds of millions of dollars and go tits up. Or it would have to raise fares even more than the 40 per cent increases we've already seen in the past four years. Either way, it would be a collossal failure in the eyes of the voting public, who would rightly blame the libs for abandoning transportation infrastructure that that old commie Wacky Bennett built.

Brilliant. Chickenshit, but brilliant.

dysfunctional business community...

seems left ...right...centrists...all have forgotten that the FERRIES USED TO RUN 24 HOURS A DAY SEVEN DAYS A WEEK...

SHORT MEORIES OR WHAT ???????????

now a good business sense would tell you...hey ! thats a good idea,lets do it AGAIN...

HOW COME HERR KAMPBELLS KLAN DOESN'T HAVE THE BUSINESS ACUMEN TO REVISIT THOSE YESTERYEAR SCHEDULES...AND RUN THE DAMN FERRIES THE WAY THEY SHOULD BE RUN...

seems he aint as smart a business man as that WACKY crew was....

what's thomas been smoking?

Thomas49, you are hallucinating if you remember ferries that ran 24/7. Once or twice in emergencies, yes, but they've never been run overnight for regular passengers on all but the northern route.

Better improve your memory before you call people nazis.

Thomas49's claim re 24/7

The normal-service on the "BC Ferry Corporation", or the "British Columbia Toll Authority Ferry System" before it, was not a 24 hour / 7 days a week service.

The only instance of continuous 24-hour service was in Summer of 1992 when round-the-clock sailings were tried on the DepartureBay-HorseshoeBay route.

Normal service in summertime on the main route of SwartzBay-Tsawwassen has historically been sailings every hour, between 0700 and say 2200 hours....give or take 1 hour for the start & end.

But your mixed up fact doesn't negate the seemingly misguided rhetoric of your response that it would be "good business sense" to have 24/7 service. I invite you to sail on an autumn Saturday evening on Duke-Point to Tsawwassen, and see if it's good business sense to increase capacity in low-traffic times.

'smug/ignorant northerners'?

Funny...normally that is what we call lower mainland media, as typically they can't even find Haida Gwaii on a map.

Smug?...Maybe, we do, after all, live in some of the most beautiful scenery in BC and because of being isolated don't have to share our beaches year round with every one else.

Ignorant? ...not bloody likely! We recognize the screwin' over we are getting very well.

You may have been in a Haida canoe, but you damn sure haven't spoken with many 'smug/ignorant' Haida. Soneone is kicking themselves for not throwing you overboard.

Sad, Sad, Sad.....

I never claimed to have made the crossing in Lootaas, however quite unlike the braying masses here I have done it three times under power-so Yes I do know how far it is.

guess i am older than you and not a FERRIES SPINMEISTER

I guess we got a couple of KAMPELL ACOLYTES spinnin fer da DRUNK AND HIZ POSSE...HUH ????????????

and WHO said anything bout NAZI'S ???????

Sam Salmon

Braying masses indeed.

Remember this was part of your first post my friend:

followed by the following:

"Vomit Comet" is a term commonly applied to ferries everywhere in the English speaking world-last I heard it was in T&T 4 years ago, the waters between Trinidad & Tobago are notoriously rough.

(snip)

All boats have 'issues', it's fortunate that for those smug/ignorant northerns (sic) that they don't have to pay the full price of fixing them.

Sounds a lot like a member of a 'braying mass' to me!

I take it you'll be sanguine about paying the whole cost of the next public infrastructure upgrade in your area - say to roads, bridges and the like - that have no relevance or practical use for taxpayers outside a 10 km radius of your own home.

my heart bleeds

"The video games area is gone and there is nothing specifically for youth to do."

I have long been a critic of the way BC Ferries is managed, especially since "privatization" but on this occasion I find myself congratulating BC Ferries for not putting video games aboard. It's high time the travelling youths got off their collective duffs and took an interest in some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. I have always found BC Ferries' position on video games completely hypocritical--on the one hand government decries increasing violence in society and on the other hand promotes mindless violence masquerading as entertainment aboard its ships (yes, its (our) ships as the government is the single shareholder). Now, if they'd just extend the "no video games" policy to the Southern Gulf Islands route I be positively ecstatic.

building

they should have built it in B.C. then we would at least know who to blame.......

Stiil counting

The total cost is now $103 million and still counting to fix problems that come up. Imagine a bunch of tourists backing their trailers down the ramp this summer.

Maybe they should have renamed her

Maybe they should have named her the Spirit of Hartley Bay to avoid all this bad luck. Then on second thought it isn't fair to the folks at Hartley Bay to have a lemon named after them.

quartzheart

I think the 'blame' thing won't be a problem.

build them in bc?

no thanks, i think we all remember what happened the last time we tried that. haha kneedippers and union apologists, the northern adventure is your prize for 'fast catting' your way our of office. suck it!

Davey Hahns Locker

Sounds like it should be called "Davey Hahn's Locker."

Last I heard

Hey neocon last I heard the cats were leading edge technology, could still do almost 40 knots, had not sunk and were still floating. Proving that no BC built ferry ever sank and BC Shipyards and workers are as good as any. Guess who gets to rework Davey Hahn's Locker now....BC workers

NEOCON MENTALITY !!!!!!

suck it!

nuff said...or what ?????????

is this guy even worth answering ?

must be a real CHRISTIAN to utter that...

YES A DEEPLY DEVOTED MAN/WOMAN OF GOD!!!

Hecate Strait

Sailing at night has absolutely nothing to do with the weather. It is strictly schedule related. In the summer, a night sailing is made to connect with the southbound Port Hardy vessel. I the off-season, it is simply a matter of aving to sail around the clock in order to service to entire coast with one ship. I have sailed as a Mate and Master for several years on various ships including Ferries in Hecate Strait. Believe me.....Hecate is like Forrest Gumps chocolate box. Day or night, you never know what you're going to get.