On Sunday May 24, Jeff Ballou parked in the ferry line-up near Cates Pharmacy to wait for the 3:15 ferry. When the ferry loaded, Ballou drove on but was shocked to realize that his vehicle was one of the last to be allowed on to the ferry. When he got on the ferry and looked back at the vehicle deck, he saw the deck half-full with cars, and a significant line-up still waiting.
The high volume of foot passengers meant that the Queen of Capilano had already reached its capacity. Even though there was space on the car deck for more vehicles, they weren’t allowed on.
Ballou had a similar experience the next Sunday for the same departure, so he wrote BC Ferries a letter.
“The passengers in vehicles who were stuck waiting for the next sailing had been waiting longer than any of the walk-ons, so it was not a first-come-first-serve situation,” he says. “I just thought BC Ferries should know about that.”
Molly Heyes-Chan was disappointed to hear that guests who came to visit her family on Bowen on May 31 were also overloaded for the 3:15 ferry, despite being in the line-up at least a half-hour early.
“They were told it was because of foot passengers,” says Heyes-Chan. “It’s just a bit of a kick in the teeth after the excitement of getting this refitted ferry with more capacity.”
Deborah Marshall, executive director of public affairs with BC Ferries, says they have received a number of letters from Bowen Islanders.
“On both the 24th and the 31st the vessell reached capacity due to a large hiking group,” says Marshall. “We have no further bookings for this hiking group. Unfortunately overloads do happen and we apologize for any inconvenience this caused our customers wishing to travel that day.”
Councillor Melanie Mason, a liaison to the municipal transportation advisory committee (BIMTAC), says she is working to ensure that this issue is on the committee’s agenda for the next meeting and gets brought up in upcoming conversations with BC Ferries.
“There should be a protocol,” says Mason. “When a sales agent in Horseshoe Bay sells a large block of tickets to Bowen, they should be asking the group what ferry they plan to return on. That way, the terminal manager can contact the contracted water taxi operator, Cormorant Marine, to run foot passengers back to Horseshoe Bay as necessary. Leaving a line-up of cars in Snug Cove when the car deck is half full is just not an appropriate option.”
