Fears of vandalism on the ferry....

extract of an article from the "Flying Shingle" - 3 July 2009

If BC Ferries upgrades lounges and bathrooms on the Gabriola ferry, will they not just be destroyed by vandals?Committee member John Woods asked this question of BC Ferries (BCF) staff at the June 16 meeting of the Gabriola Ferry Advisory Committee (FAC).

Woods was alluding to an upcoming “mid-life refit” to the Quinsam, the ferry that services Gabriola Island, and the fact that the lounges and washrooms frequently suffer from vandalism. He said that the crew sometimes will deal with people who are vandalising the lounges and washrooms etc, and sometimes they don’t want to.

There needs to be a plan to prevent the damage, or if it can’t be prevented a plan is needed to make repairs as necessary, he said.Chris Frappell, marine superintendent for the Southern Islands (including the Gabriola route) said that generally passengers are respectful of upgraded lounges and that the public are usually less likely to do damage when their surroundings are in good shape. “If you give people good things they tend to feel that they want to look after them”, he said.

IslandBlog says : The main reason there is vandalism in Quinsam's passenger lounges is that there is no view from the car deck of what is happening in the lounges. BC Ferries should consider cutting windows into the bulkheads between the car deck and each of the passenger lounges, so that there is a clear view into each lounge. The mid-life refit provides the ideal opportunity for this.