AILING FERRY CAUSES SERVICE TO FOUNDER
Long waits, stranded passengers cloud summer journeys to Sunshine Coast
Just when B.C. Ferries brass should be doing happy hornpipes over traffic increases — a better than five per cent jump in vehicles over last June and foot passengers up three per cent — we get yet another squall.
Just about everybody’s now heard cries of anguish from the Central Coast, where service on the heavily promoted tourist route through Bella Coola was slashed.
Now lamentations arise on the Sunshine Coast. The Queen of Burnaby, which connects Powell River to Comox on Vancouver Island, is out of service dealing with a recurring oil leak.
Alas, the Queen of Chilliwack, on which B.C. Ferries had just spent $15 million in upgrades to extend its operational life and which was precisely the right size and configuration to serve as a backup, was sold as surplus.
Now, says Colin Palmer, the corporation must play musical chairs on Sunshine Coast routes, shifting around vessels too small for heavy traffic at the height of summer tourist season.
Palmer is worth hearing. He’s lived on the Sunshine Coast for 51 years. He’s a former alderman, a former mayor and has chaired the regional district board. He’s been a regional director. He’s led the Coastal Regional District Chairs ferry group.
Here’s what he reports by email after having persuaded ferry users to use social media to provide him with what might be called an accurate record of what’s happening in real time on the runs from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale (links Metro and the Sunshine Coast), from Earls Cove to Saltery Bay (links North and South Sunshine Coasts) and between Powell River and Comox (the alternate link via Nanaimo or Victoria). These three routes carry more than 3.2 million passengers a year. They span a total of 37 kilometres.
“What is actually happening?” Palmer writes.
“One man took 14 hours to travel from Richmond to Powell River. One commercial business had to overnight his crew on the Sunshine Coast, taking 11 hours travel time to Powell River. His second crew took nine hours.”
Palmer says more than 50 travellers have reported taking 11 hours to make the journey; another 50 reported taking more than nine hours.
He says at any given time there can be 100 cars waiting at Saltery Bay and 150 at Earls Cove. The numbers of stranded passengers overwhelm the capacity of facilities.
“At Saltery Bay customers are being given water and muffins. Doughnuts are available in the parking lot. At Earls Cove the parking lot is full, traffic is lined way up the approach road and a passing lane on the road has been commandeered for parking. Portable toilets are lined up the road and water is being handed out. Three to four sailing waits are common.”
Eek! What a way to spend your summer holidays, chowing down on rationed water, muffin handouts and lining up for portable toilets while roasting on the roadside.
Palmer is sympathetic to the ferry corporation. B.C. Ferries can only work with the tools it has been given by the province, he acknowledges. And he says customers appreciate the efforts of ferry crews struggling with the logistical nightmare under Plan B.
But, Palmer wonders, what’s Plan C in the event another mechanical problem further disrupts schedules? In fact, he asks, “Is there a Plan C?”
If the problems play havoc with freight deliveries, weddings and medical appointments, Palmer observes, a bigger issue lurks in the wings. Travel the roughly 1,000 kilometres from Calgary to Horseshoe Bay and it takes about 11 hours. Travel the 165 kilometres from Horseshoe Bay to Powell River and it’s the same amount of time.
“There is a good chance the reputation of Powell River’s tourism sector will be severely damaged, not only this year but for a few years to come,” Palmer writes. “A number of chickens are coming home to roost and it would be good to have some actions taken which will restore public confidence.”
What a novel idea. Perhaps Transportation Minister Todd Stone can make confidence in the ferry service his Plan C for the summer.