Looks like Gabriola ferry service will be back to normal in a couple of days. Here’s BC Ferries’ news release on the topic: Regular ferry service between Nanaimo Harbour and Gabriola Island will resume in the morning of Thursday, September 1, following the re-opening of Nanaimo Harbour terminal. The terminal was temporarily closed on August [...]
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Here’s something to consider if you plan on taking the ferry between Nanaimo and Gabriola this weekend. BC Ferries says: Please be advised that high traffic volumes are expected between Nanaimo and Gabriola Island due to the Gabriola Theatre Festival held on the island from August 19 to 21. Customers are encouraged to travel to [...]
How long will it be until the Gabriola ferry service gets back to normal? BC Ferries says: Further to the thorough assessment of the structural damage to the dock at the Nanaimo Harbour terminal it is anticipated that the work required to re-enforce the existing structure will take approximately 16 days. As a result the [...]
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From the Times Colonist: Gabriola Island ferry service disrupted after truck plunges off terminal. Ferry service between Nanaimo and Gabriola Island is disrupted today after a paving truck damaged the terminal going into the water. The truck went off the Nanaimo Harbour terminal trestle and into the water during overnight paving work. The driver got [...]
Filed in ferries,Gabriola Island 7 Comments so far
You had a book of paper tickets for the Gabriola ferry, and were surprised when BC Ferries stopped honouring these tickets. I’ve already mentioned the class-action lawsuit for people affected by this. Now the Province reports: Probe launched into B.C. Ferries cash grab. [Source: sorry, article no longer available.] Well, it’s a start, I suppose.
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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
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
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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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
Seems I missed the excitement on the Gabriola ferry the other day. From the Daily News: Police swarm Gabriola ferry and seize fake handgun from teen. Nanaimo RCMP seized a replica handgun from a costumed 15-year-old boy as he got off the Gabriola Island ferry on Halloween. Police swarmed the MV Quinsam as it docked [...]
Filed in ferries,Gabriola Island 3 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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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
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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Here we go again! Repair work on ‘Quinsam’ should start by next week, says the Daily News: The Gabriola Island ferry could be fixed soon now that parts ordered to allow the ship’s specialized propulsion system operate properly are expected to arrive as early as next week. [continue]
Filed in ferries,Gabriola Island One Response so far
A couple of statistics caught my attention in a June 7 article in The Daily News and referred to in Gabriolan.ca on the same day – History of Gabriola’s Quinsam ferry. During fiscal 2008-09 the MV Quinsam carried 823,578 passengers and 386,595 vehicles. Was the Quinsam the only vessel on the Gabriola-Nanaimo run during this [...]
Filed in ferries,Gabriola Island,Gabriola people,history One Response so far
Ah! Here’s why the ferry was late yesterday morning. From the Nanaimo Daily News: Gabriola ferry hits shoreline during early Saturday run. B.C. Ferries will launch an investigation into why the MV Quinsam slammed into the rocky shoreline as it came into the Nanaimo harbour during its first sailing early Saturday. There were no reports [...]
Filed in ferries,Gabriola Island 4 Comments so far
