I'm on a slightly listing ferry with horrible engine vibration AMA

"gmctavish needs more space" (gmctavish) 10/16/2017 at 21:21 • Filed to: preventative maintenance

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CB > gmctavish needs more space 10/16/2017 at 21:25

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When it goes over, are you expecting to end up more like Jack or Rose?

Also, some music.

gmctavish needs more space > CB 10/16/2017 at 21:26

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Jack, I can’t swim so I’m fully dependent on life jackets. Sitting near them too.

CB > gmctavish needs more space 10/16/2017 at 21:30

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Learning to swim is an important skill in Canada.

Granted, if you can’t swim, then you’ll just drown instead of treading water for an hour before drowning like the old sailors did, so it’s a 50/50 tossup on whether or not it’s a good thing.

Birddog > gmctavish needs more space 10/16/2017 at 21:30

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What ferry? To where?

gmctavish needs more space > CB 10/16/2017 at 21:33

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I sort of could when I was younger, but hadn’t been in water other than a hot tub in years until this weekend. I like boats, but I don’t like being in the water.

Maybe I’ll learn again at some point, but I’ll probably just steer clear of getting in water.

Fair point.

gmctavish needs more space > Birddog 10/16/2017 at 21:36

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The Queen of Oak Bay, one of the old C-Class BC Ferries

Coming back to Vancouver from Tofino, so this ship is going from Departure Bay, Nanaimo, to Horseshoe Bay, West Van.

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > gmctavish needs more space 10/16/2017 at 21:37

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Volvo 140 or 240?

Birddog > gmctavish needs more space 10/16/2017 at 21:37

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Jealous.

OPPOsaurus WRX > CB 10/16/2017 at 21:42

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I went to jamaica and was suprised to learn that a lot of the people who worked there did not know how to swim. I was there for a cousins wedding and my uncle had rented a boat as the reception. HE invited a couple of the bartenders who had been very helpful over the week. they were terrified of the water.

gmctavish needs more space > unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) 10/16/2017 at 21:43

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That’s a hard question....there are varieties of each, and I like them for different reasons. I mean I own a 140, but I also want a 240.

For a second car, 140. But for a daily, 240.

wafflesnfalafel > gmctavish needs more space 10/16/2017 at 21:44

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yikes... you ought to be able to get in before all the storms get bad tonight.

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > gmctavish needs more space 10/16/2017 at 21:47

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Relax, it’s simulating a left turn with some body roll.

someassemblyrequired > gmctavish needs more space 10/16/2017 at 21:47

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Did they charge you $150 for the privilege? I remember it being like $100 a decade ago - I can only imagine what it is now.

gmctavish needs more space > wafflesnfalafel 10/16/2017 at 21:50

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Yeah we’re just docking now. Hopefully we’re out of north van before the storm starts

gmctavish needs more space > someassemblyrequired 10/16/2017 at 21:52

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Not so bad...only $90 ish for the two of us and the car

someassemblyrequired > gmctavish needs more space 10/16/2017 at 22:04

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Yeah that’s actually not too bad, not Washington State Ferries cheap, but less than my last Tssawwassen to Victoria trip.

vicali > gmctavish needs more space 10/16/2017 at 22:10

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I remember the QCI ferry, dishes wouldn’t stay on the tables, you couldn’t walk down the hall, everyone was pale white except the staff, they had seen much worse.

Plus it takes 7 hours so you got used to it.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > gmctavish needs more space 10/16/2017 at 22:14

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I got a card to get a discount for the ferry crossings ... and I don’t even live in Canada! If I lived there, I’d definitely have one...

I took my wife (girlfriend at the time) on a big loop trip with a crossings to Nanaimo, then another to Powell River, then to the Sunshine Coast (man has that’s place changed in the last 10 years, I barely recognized it), and finally to Vancouver...

The coolest car ferry to/from Vancouver Island is the Black Ball Line’s Coho between Port Angeles and Victoria.

DutchieDC2R > gmctavish needs more space 10/16/2017 at 22:32

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Hows the booze...? (in terms of quality and price...)

gmctavish needs more space > vicali 10/16/2017 at 23:01

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Oh god, that sounds just lovely

gmctavish needs more space > someassemblyrequired 10/16/2017 at 23:03

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I hardly ever take that route, I can’t remember what I paid last time. I’m pretty sure it was more than $90 though

gmctavish needs more space > DutchieDC2R 10/16/2017 at 23:04

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None, which isn’t too disappointing since I’m sure it would be crap and expensive if they had any, as with anything on these ferries.

gmctavish needs more space > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 10/16/2017 at 23:08

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I didn’t even know there was such a card....what is it?

That sounds like a really good trip. I have a friend who grew up in Powell River and always says I should go there. The Sunshine Coast is always lovely.

Ooh now that is a good looking old ship

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > gmctavish needs more space 10/17/2017 at 07:45

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http://www.bcferries.com/travel_planning/cards/experience-card.html

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > gmctavish needs more space 10/17/2017 at 08:46

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I love it up there. Some of the old parts of Powell River are more like I recall the Sunshine Coast being in the past. The Coast is simply too close to Vancouver and has changed from being a sleepy remote area into a commuter housing area that is now pretty expensive, busy, and aloof. I remember the last gasps of the Beachcombers era, back when it was just starting to get overrun by people from Vancouver, since it still had the colorful local characters (fishermen, fish merchants, mill workers, loggers, and assorted hustlers were everywhere) and general dilapidation you expect in a somewhat remote area.

The good weather there probably doesn’t help with the effect, either. It was/is nice, but the last time I was in Roberts Creek it had lost every bit of charming weirdness it once had, going from a bunch of hippies (“Creekers”, the locals called them, which were mostly a bunch of old Vietnam draft dodgers and their wives/girlfriends that lived in funky old houses. Everyone there smelled like patchouli, incense, and weed. This is also the first place I ever saw marijuana outside of an anti-drug context, the first time I saw someone smoke it, and the first time I smelled it burning. I obviously declined, but it was quite the shock.), to an expensive enclave of newer houses with high-priced restaurants...

I know so much about the area because I spent a summer up there after the dot-com crash. When it became clear that I wouldn’t be finding a real job in the industry anytime soon, I had a wild hair to go to the PNW (my brother’s wife is from Bellingham) and Alaska, then I ended up there when I found the weather/environment/people friendly. I camped in the woods/parks, foraged for some of my food, and couch surfed (because people kept offering). It was back when broadband had arrived there (Canada was way ahead of the US), every AP was open, and many people didn’t have (or constantly use) cell phones, plus the people there just seemed to like to be outside, talk to random strangers for some reason, and invite me over for dinner. So many memories. I also lost about 40 pounds that summer and was in the best shape I think I’ve ever been in....

gmctavish needs more space > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 10/17/2017 at 10:25

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Wow, that sounds like an experience, and very different from what it is now. I hear people mourning the changes that different areas go through around here, but I don’t hear too many good descriptions of what they once were.

ranwhenparked > gmctavish needs more space 10/17/2017 at 18:20

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Unfortunate, I remember when Clipper Navigation chartered Queen of Burnaby for Seattle-Victoria service - the food was surprisingly decent. I mean, if it was at a restaurant, you wouldn’t have gone out of your way to eat there, but definately better than you’d expect for an inter-city car ferry.

gmctavish needs more space > ranwhenparked 10/17/2017 at 21:57

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Oh that’s an old girl, she’s docked now unless the usual Powell River ferry needs repaired, I believe.

They all have White Spot/Triple O’s on board, which have pretty decent food, I’d feel better about it if it were cheaper than eating in an actual White Spot, or if the quality was on par. Worse quality, with the same prices as the actual restaurant is not cool.

Breakfast, however, is pretty inexcusable.

ranwhenparked > gmctavish needs more space 10/17/2017 at 22:03

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I remember it had a buffet and a beer garden up top when Victoria Clipper ran her. Dismantling the latter was one of the first things BC Ferries did when they got it back.

gmctavish needs more space > ranwhenparked 10/17/2017 at 22:07

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That’s the most BC Ferries thing they could do. I bet they raised ticket prices to pay for taking down the beer garden....