You’re away, but planning to come home to Gabriola soon? Don’t plan to spend any time in the waiting room at the Nanaimo Harbour terminal, because it’s not there anymore. See that photo? The view shows Gabriola in the background, and one of those huge Machines of Destruction where the waiting room building used to [...]
Filed in ferries,Gabriola Island,Nanaimo 8 Comments so far
If you summer on Gabriola but live elsewhere, you may have been surprised last summer when you returned to the island. You’d saved a booklet of ferry fare tickets for the Quinsam from the year before… and nobody told you they’d expire before you returned to Gabriola. Money gone, and plenty of you were annoyed [...]
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This is the Quinsam’s on-deck telephone, which has come to us straight from some previous decade. The directions: Select your station. Turn crank clockwise until you hear a loud beeptone. Lift off receiver and keep button pressed during conversation. Are there other odd old phones on Gabriola, or on ships nearby? I’ve always wondered. The [...]
Filed in ferries,Gabriola Island 5 Comments so far
From the Gulf Island Driftwood: Petition seeks to make ferries an election issue. A Gabriola Island resident is seeking public support for a petition she hopes will make ferry affordability an election issue. Doris Gallas created the online petition calling for B.C. Ferries to return to public control as an essential service under the Ministry [...]
Filed in ferries,Gabriola Island 13 Comments so far
Looks like we can expect Gabriola ferry fares to keep going up. The Province explains: B.C. Ferries warns major fare hikes are on the way for minor routes. In the interview with Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer, Hahn said his company’s submission, if accepted, would mean minor routes could see a 14- to 16-per-cent increase [...]
Filed in ferries,Gabriola Island One Response so far
We can always find out where the big ferries are. Just go the BC Ferries web site and find the Vessel Positions page. The major routes are all there. See http://orca.bcferries.com:8080/cc/conditions/maps.asp. The maps are really neat. They display the position of the vessel on a satellite map, Last Update, Vessel, Status and Destination. Alas, the [...]
Filed in ferries,Gabriola Island 3 Comments so far
The Tyee reports that Ferry Maintenance Mess-up Hurt Passengers. In the days after the Queen of Nanaimo ferry slammed into the berth on Mayne Island, toppling motorcycles, injuring several people and sending one passenger to hospital with a head injury, a company spokesperson blamed the accident on line from crab traps getting tangled in the [...]
Filed in ferries One Response so far
Now that Gabriola is back in the Season of Serious Rain, prepared people are sporting serious raingear. This member of the Quinsam’s crew is decked out in a bright yellow sou’wester — just the thing for the Salish Sea’s fashion runway!
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Travelling between Gabriola and Vancouver? If you go through Departure Bay as a taxi-taking foot passenger, you’ll be relieved to learn that the no taxi at the terminal insanity is coming to an end. The Daily News reports that BC Ferries and Nanaimo taxi companies have come to an agreement.
Proposed changes to the Gabriola ferry route are in the news today. First there’s this, from the Daily News: Ferries advisory group will make case for higher subsidy to avoid fare increases. The government-appointed group that represents Gabriola Island ferry users will pressure the government to increase the ferry subsidy to head off fare increases [...]
Filed in ferries,Gabriola Island 9 Comments so far
Gabriola residents might remember Jeremy Baker’s suggestion about the Quinsam: that it dock at Duke Point instead of in Nanaimo Harbour. (See Should the Gabriola ferry dock at Duke Point?) Well. Seems Jeremy isn’t the only one thinking that this would be a fine idea. The What’s New page on the BC Ferry Commission site [...]
Filed in ferries,Gabriola Island One Response so far
In the rain, in the rain, in the never-ending, bone-chilling November rain, here we are. We’re waiting for the Quinsam to dock in Nanaimo Harbour and ferry us home to Gabriola. In the car we’ve got extra blankies, good books, and yes, even electric socks. The signs are blurry through water-swamped windows. I think I [...]
Filed in ferries,Gabriola Island 3 Comments so far
Until now, you’ve been able to take a Greyhound bus from Vancouver to Nanaimo. (Or Nanaimo to Vancouver.) All very handy, especially the part where the bus would drive you — and your heavy luggage — aboard the ferry. Just the thing a travel-weary Gabriola resident needs, right? Well, no more. Now Greyhound wants to [...]
Filed in ferries 4 Comments so far
A few months ago Gabriola’s ferry schedule changed – we moved to this sailing schedule in order to improve the on-time performance of the Quinsam. The Daily News reports that we’ll be keeping this Quinsam’ schedule through the winter. The kicker is that: B.C. Ferries is still studying the question of who pays for it. [...]
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Psst! Hey, Gabriola photographers — has BC Ferries pilfered your photos? The Hook blog at Tyee.ca reports that: Several participants on a ferry discussion website say British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. has used their photos of vessels without asking, paying or even providing credit.[continue] Well, hmph. If your photos of BC Ferries’ vessels are on [...]
Filed in ferries,photos One Response so far
Where should Gabriola’s ferry dock on the Nanaimo side of her route? Jeremy Baker thinks the Quinsam should go to Duke Point, not Nanaimo Harbour. He’s sent a letter to the editor of a Nanaimo newspaper, listing 11 reasons for his position. I don’t imagine that this proposal will be very popular with those who [...]
Filed in ferries,Gabriola Island 4 Comments so far
When you’re on your way home to Gabriola from Vancouver, do you take a taxi from the Departure Bay ferry terminal to the Nanaimo Harbour ferry terminal? If you do, there’s a new complication. The Daily News explains that you’ll have to walk all the way off BC Ferries’ property to get a taxi. B.C. [...]
Filed in ferries 7 Comments so far
This sign on the Quinsam reminds me of Alice in Wonderland, in which Alice finds objects bearing commands: a bottle that says drink me! and a cake that says eat me! Alice would be right at home on the Quinsam. I’m sure she would Break Glass For Key, as the sign commands. Though I do [...]
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