Snow arrives on the islands

Thetis Island webcam



Rathtrevor Beach,  Parksville webcam

This morning's snowfall on Salt Spring Island - as captured by Gulf Islands Driftwood

There's always one......

We've all seen them. Drivers who leave long gaps in the ferry line-up; drivers who stop alongside their pals for a chat; drivers making a quick u-turn in Taylor Bay Road to join the line-up ahead of the guy who's just gone round the turning loop.

But today, this idiot just took the biscuit. He (or is it she?) saw the chance to join the line-up at the North Road/Taylor Bay junction and did just that - oblivious of the chaos caused by his or her trailer, which was left blocking the whole exit lane from Taylor Bay.

Never mind how many near-misses occurred as a result - it's good to know that he (or she) avoided all that extra driving to turn round on Taylor Bay Road. Or maybe the trailer was so overloaded that the brakes wouldn't hold on the hill. Either way, you deserved a ticket.

Too good to last.....

Remember how we all celebrated back in October, when BC Ferries hacked a massive 65 cents off the cost of taking your car from Gabriola to Nanaimo and back, courtesy of the government's decision to let the corporation off paying import duty on its new ferries?

Well, let's hope you didn't let it go to your head, because from December 1 that fare goes straight back up again, because BC Ferries has decided it's time to drop the 2% fuel rebate.

It was fun while it lasted I suppose......

BC Ferries still want us to go to Duke Point

Last week, BC Ferries produced a document entitled Opportunities for Enhanced Efficiency in Performance Term Three to the BC Ferry Commissioner, as part of their Performance Term Three Submission, from which the Commissioner will determine price caps for each of the route groups for a four-year period from 2010 until 2016.

Emphasising that these opportunities for enhanced efficiency are not, in fact BC Ferries' proposals, but are "matters of public policy for consideration", the report goes on to propose the scrapping of two southern routes and significant changes to several others. Among the changes suggested is the following:

Change in Terminal Location for Route 19 – Gabriola to Nanaimo Harbour

Cost savings and better utilization of the Quinsam in the form of additional sailings, could be realized from moving the Route 19 terminal on Vancouver Island from Nanaimo Harbour to BC Ferries’ Duke Point Terminal. Please note this option was rejected by local residents in a recent survey.

Also up for consideration - and being promoted in order to deliver cost savings on fleet and terminal renewals - is the withdrawal of Route 12 between Mill Bay and Brentwood Bay, the elimination or restructuring of Route 9 (Salt Spring - Tsawwassen) and the closure of Salt Spring's Long Harbour terminal. Plans for a cable ferry between Buckley Bay and Denman Island are also still on the table.

None of us would argue that some of BC Ferries' vessels are long overdue retirement, and maybe it is time to review the future of the Mill Bay route (the only route in the BC Ferries' network for which there is a road-based alternative) but we must hope that the Ferry Commissioner will not be tempted to reopen the Duke Point debate once more......

The full text of the BC Ferries' Efficiency Statement can be found here.

Long way back

The journey between our old home in the UK and our new home in Gabriola is always long and tiring. No matter what time of year, the uncertainties of transcontinental flights make it unwise to commit to booking floatplane connections at this end, only to find that you're still somewhere over the Rockies as your floatplane soars off across the water, taking your money with it as it goes.

Add to that the challenge of making the journey at the start of Thanksgiving weekend, and all prospect of a smooth return to the island goes out of the window. 24 hours before my arrival at YVR, pretty much every floatplane seat to Gabriola or Nanaimo was sold out for Friday afternoon - and warnings of walk-on passenger overloads on BC Ferries had also appeared.

I hadn't chosen to travel yesterday because it was Thanksgiving weekend, that was just a bonus (?) - Friday 8th October was a date when I could get a return flight from the UK - with taxes - for
just £350 (about $550) with Thomas Cook, and it seemed an offer too good to miss. Especially when you think how much it costs to fly anywhere in Canada these days. But there again, if I hadn't flown to Vancouver, I could have flown to Italy and back for just £20 ($32) with Europe's favourite (and most reviled) low-cost airline, Ryanair. How do they do that?

Anyways, back to yesterday. Having got a good deal on my flight from London, I thought I would see whether I could carry that through on the rest of the trip to Gabriola. With meticulous planning and a following wind, I had worked out an itinerary which seemed doomed to failure at every step of the way - but if it worked I'd be here in time for fresh-cooked pizzas with my cousins at around 6 in the evening.

Getting from home to Gatwick Airport before 8am is always a bit of a lottery, but on Friday mornings the traffic around London's orbital motorway is lighter than usual, as so many people seem to take Fridays off work these days. Travelling with just hand luggage doesn't actually save you any time at check-in with Thomas Cook (you still have to get in line for your boarding pass) but it sure does when you get to the other end. The flight departed on schedule at 1010 and touched down at YVR five minutes ahead of schedule, at midday. So far, so good.

I knew that my itinerary would succeed only if I could be on the Canada Line before 1230, and arriving just behind our plane was a Korean Air 747 no doubt laden with complex challenges when they all reached the immigration desk. My luck held, and by 1220 I was on the Canada Line platform with transfer ticket in hand. Fortunately, someone had handwritten a whiteboard next to the ticket vending machine to say that Horseshoe Bay was a two-zone fare; there was nothing on the machine or the posters behind to tell me that. Maybe TransLink really wanted me to pay $10 for a 3-zone ticket just in case?

Just after 1245 and I stepped out from Vancouver City Centre station to find the bus stop for the Horseshoe Bay Express. I knew it was close to the station, but couldn't remember where. The bus stop outside helpfully said "downtown". Nothing else. I head back into the station looking for an interchange map, or even a real person to ask. Nothing. Undeterred, I crossed the street to where a large crowd of people were gathered around a bus stop. Half of them were waiting patiently in line, the other half under the canopy of The Bay, keeping out of the rain. Bus stop says that the 250 to Horseshoe Bay and the 257 Express both stop there. Just when was anyone's guess. The 250 was the first to arrive and I ponder the idea of not waiting for the Express, in case it's full, or doesn't turn up. About half the crowd packs into the 250 and away it goes, leaving the rest of us standing there. Hopefully.

My mental itinerary told me the express bus went at 1300 and it wasn't long after that the bus appeared and, creaking ominously under a very  full load of passengers, headed off a few minutes later towards Horseshoe Bay. I made it to the last seat, right at the back, and was very grateful that I didn't have a suitcase in tow. Thankfully, only one more passenger boarded along the way and with about 20 standing along the aisle, it wasn't really surprising that the driver was very careful NOT to pull to a complete halt at the stop signs as he climbed 15th out of Park Royal to the highway. I'm not saying the bus wouldn't have started again if he had, but I did begin to wonder.

As we crossed the bridge high above the ferry line-up at Horseshoe Bay, the full joy of Thanksgiving weekend on BC Ferries was unfolding. Diving through the maze of narrow streets that is Horseshoe Bay village, the bus misses all this mayhem and pulled up right outside the ferry terminal just before 1350. I avoid the queue for tickets and head straight for the self-serve machines - and the message that says no tickets will be issued less than 15 minutes before departure. It's 1352 and my ferry leaves at 1410. The machine fails to read my card first time, so I curse, and quickly sort out another card. Done - with 1 minute to spare!

It was good of BC Ferries to schedule an extra ferry at 1410 on October 8th. They must have known I was coming. Saved me an hour's wait for the regular ferry - and aboard Coastal Renaissance the line-up for food goes halfway round the ship. I opt for the easy option - a large Latte and muffin at a window seat in the coffee bar. Sitting with me are a couple from Alberta who joined the ferry line-up in their car a full half hour before I landed at YVR. I'm feeling sort of smug.

As we approach Departure Bay, the rain's running down the windows and I try and remember what time the bus leaves for downtown Nanaimo. It's 1547 as I walk through the terminal. I know that, as I thought to myself that I wouldn't quite make it onto the 1545 ferry to Gabriola.  Next one was 1700 and as I left the terminal, found the bus stop. No information, just a bus stop. My memory said there wasn't a bus until about 1615, so (taking heed of the advice that everyone seems to give about Nanaimo's buses) I decide to walk. The rain's stopped and I've plenty of time.

Walking past Nanaimo Shipbuilders I can see the hulk of the MV Sun Sea - towed in that morning from Victoria, where it arrived on August 13th with 492 Tamil migrants aboard. It beggars belief that someone made a fortune selling weeks of hell to hundreds of people so they could be packed like sardines onto a rusting hulk. It's incredible that only one of them died along the way - or so we were told.

Crossing Maffeo Sutton Park, I pause to watch an impatient wedding photographer trying in vain to choreograph a dozen or so suited wedding guests (bride and groom in the centre) to join hands and jump in the air simultaneously in front of the harbour wall for the wedding album. At the third failure, they all collapse in fits of laughter and I decide that it might be a long wait. 

As I approach the harbour, the floatplanes are roaring in packed with more fortunate souls, and I catch sight of the Quinsam rounding the harbour entrance. I quicken my step just a little, to be sure I don't miss it. I curse to myself as I realise I left my BC Ferries experience card on Gabriola back in August and grudgingly pay my $8.90 for the privelege.  Even so, I've made it; against all odds my itinerary worked and I saved over $50 in the process.

Twenty minutes later, and at the end of my 20 hour journey, I see friendly faces waiting to give me a ride back to my island home. Bad news. They haven't had time to light the pizza oven.

Come on Gabriola, take a leaf from Bowen's book

It's almost two years now since Gabriola floated the idea of Car Stops - a concept pioneered by the local community on Pender Island which, like Gabriola, has no public transportation.

The Pender Car Stops scheme started back in 2008 with 16 signs funded jointly by the Regional District and the Lions Club of BC. Because these were permanent signs, permission had to be obtained from the Ministry of Transportation & Infrastructure (MOTI) before they could be erected. A further 13 Car Stops were added in 2009, with the aim that there should be a Car Stop within walking distance of every home on the island.

Gabriola's hopes of establishing a similar scheme in 2009 were dashed by bureaucracy - when a generous $3,500 grant offered by MOTI flew straight out the window while we waited in vain for the Regional District of Nanaimo to issue permits for the signs and to decide whether they would accept liability and maintenance responsibility. Since then - nothing. Despite every good intention, the community seems to have accepted that the whole idea is just too complex and there's nothing we can do about it.

Back in the UK, hundreds of small rural communities have developed voluntary car schemes with no formal signage and no intervention required from local government. So why can't Gabriola do the same, I asked. No, it can't be done here, I was told - the insurance regulations wouldn't allow it. And anyway, there's probably no-one with the time to co-ordinate such a scheme.

Then, along comes Bowen Island with a voluntary lift-giving scheme that does just what it says on the tin

Launching their new website this week, Bowen LIFT needs no roadside signs, no co-ordinator, no funding from MOTI and no government permits. It's just a self-help website on which offers or requests for rides can be posted, and self-printed car signs to let folks know that you're able to offer a ride in the direction indicated on the sign. So simple, it could have been invented for Gabriola.

How often have we walked onto the ferry and trekked the lines of cars hoping to see a friend or neighbour who can offer a ride home? Or set off up the hill, telling ourselves that there's no point thumbing a ride until we've made the turn into Taylor Bay, North or South Road? With a small sign in the front of the car, it would be so easy to spot cars heading in the right direction - even on the ferry.

So come on Gabriola, don't sit there with your head in your hands saying it's all too complicated. It can be done - and I, for one, will be watching with interest to see how Bowen Island's initiative pays off. And if, like me, you think this is a scheme worth promoting, let me know by email at john@islandtransportsolutions.com . We could have this up and running in no time!

Extreme fire alert reinstated

Gabriola Fire Department have today reinstated the Extreme level of wildfire alert, meaning a complete shutdown on the use of gas powered equipment at any time.

Double whammy for regular ferry users

Hot on the heels of BC Ferries' announcement that they are to reduce the fuel rebate on the minor routes from 5% (average)  to 2% came a splendid email yesterday to those of us who are registered Experience Card holders (or "valued customers" as the email calls us) informing us that, in future, the rebate will now be calculated as a percentage of the discounted fare, rather than as a percentage of the standard fare. 

This being such good news, it is, of course, a "system enhancement", as this extract confirms : Effective August 17, 2010, BC Ferries is implementing a system enhancement which will enable us to apply a percentage based system for fuel rebates and surcharges on the fares paid. Customers who use an Experience Card and receive a discount will now see that the rebate or surcharge percentage is based on the discounted fare paid.  Currently our system calculates the rebate on the fare prior to the discount.

What does this really mean for Gabriolans? Well, if you currently pay the regular fare for a car and 2 adults ($39.85) the fuel rebate will reduce from its present 3.6% ($1.45) to 2% ($0.80) - effectively an increase of $0.65 on the amount you will pay.  However, as "valued customers", Experience Card holders will see their fuel rebate reduce from $1.45 to $0.49 - an increase of $0.96 on the final charge. Or, put another way,  that's a 4% increase in fare for Experience Card holders compared to a 1.6% increase on the regular fare. 
So that's not just one, but two more examples of "Ferryspeak" for my fellow blogger to add to his collection:
System enhancement = a mechanism for doubling the fare increase for prepaid customers
Valued Customer = someone who is mug enough to pay the double increase

Rain and Suffering - again?

Of sea lions, the author of Rain and Suffering - the Real Gulf Islands Guide says that the Gulf Islands have twice the load of sea lions as most places. The Californian sea lion, born quite a ways south of here, shares much of the territory of coastal British Columbia with the locally born Stellar sea lion. This unfortunate sharing makes both sea lion populations edgy, and name-calling and fighting can frequently be heard up and down the Straight of Georgia.

True enough, the bellowing at certain times of year can disturb the sleep of those poor unfortunate souls with beachfront property, but for the rest of us the chance to see one of those edgy, angry Californian beasts at close quarters preparing for battle, makes up for all those sleepless nights.

This solitary Californian sea lion prepares for battle on the floating dock right alongside the Mill Bay ferry terminal.  Apart from having to swim out into Mill Bay a couple of times each day for lunch and dinner, only the arrival of the Brentwood Bay ferry every hour so so breaks up the obvious stress of the battle lines.

Rain and Suffering

On a visit this week to Galiano Island, we picked up a great little guide book to life on the gulf islands. Entitled Rain and Suffering - the Real Gulf Islands Guide, it starts to answer some of those questions we hadn't dare ask. Questions like "why do people choose to live here?"

The guide claims to be the antidote to travel guides, stating that "an overzealous travel industry with neither shame nor morals has created the myth that the Gulf Islands are a paradise waiting to be discovered - a myth perpetuated by lying tourists who stayed here and are now too proud to admit their mistake."  Instead, the book focuses on 'the true perils of visiting the Gulf Islands, and the wretchedness that comes with Gulf Islands living' - extending a sympathetic thought or two for those who now realise that island life has its downs as well as the occasional up.

Of Gabriola, the guide says we are a 14.5 km by 4.2 km sausage shaped retirement community - rumoured to rise six to eight feet every week when its senior citizens catch the 9am ferry for their weekly shopping in Nanaimo - and to really get a Gabriola resident going, start talking about how easy it would be to create a bridge across to Mudge Island and on to Vancouver Island. Depending on the company, you might just be returning to Nanaimo duct taped to the last ferry of the night.  Hhmmm - there could be some truth in that.

Of BC Ferries, the author concludes that the management have stripped and sold off anything worth buying on the ferries - including most of the life saving equipment and much of the mechanics of the ships, so spend your trip across the Gulf itemising all items in your car that could be used as flotation gear.  Maybe a little extreme, but after experiencing the best and worst of BC Ferries this week, I can see where he's coming from.

A closer inspection of this picture of the Queen of Burnaby reveals what can best be described as a rotting hulk, still plying the waters between Powell River and Comox. Rust everywhere, bulging decks, sealed off lounges oozing asbestos from every crevice. 

 Not everything is bad about BC Ferries of course - and this week we've enjoyed many pleasant "mini-cruises" aboard that reviled fleet - top among which must be the 50 minute journey aboard the Island Sky between Earls Cove and Saltery Bay - and 40 minutes each way aboard the Bowen Queen (remember the Bowen Queen?) through Active Pass en route from Salt Spring to a relaxed dinner at the Galiano Inn one evening. Active Pass is so much more impressive on a smaller vessel like the Bowen Queen, on which you can actually feel the swirling currents.