BC Ferries says it’s still smooth sailing on the temporary Langdale to Horseshoe Bay schedule during berth construction at Langdale, with good reviews from travellers and an on-time performance approaching 99 per cent. But, there have been some small waves on the other route affected by the need to close Berth 1.
During the work at Langdale, the Stormaway, which serves Gambier and Keats islands, is running out of the Gibsons Marina. There aren’t a lot of passengers at this time of year and for most of them the shift, which includes a shuttle bus between Gibsons and Langdale, has been working out fine, according BC Ferries’ manager of public affairs Darin Guenette.
For some, though, the schedule was causing problems. “After one week of our new alternate service, we got some feedback from Gambier-Keats folks including our FAC [Ferry Advisory Committee] about some quirks and shuttles not meeting the Stormaway very well,” Guenette said.
The issue was mainly with the runs in the late afternoon and early evening on Sundays. Guenette said minor changes have been made to sailing times between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., and the shuttle bus schedule has also been adjusted. “What this was doing was allowing better connections back to Langdale and the big ferry back to Vancouver. People are coming off Keats and Gambier on the weekend, and this better allowed them to connect to some late afternoon Route 3 sailings.”
Guenette said there aren’t a lot of daily commuters who use the Stormaway, and only a small percentage of travellers are connecting with the Langdale to Horseshoe Bay sailings, “but when they want that connection, it’s important.”
Kate-Louise Stamford, the Islands Trustee for Gambier, was one of the people who brought the problems to BC Ferries’ attention and she said islanders are pleased with the quick response. “We’re finding that BC Ferries and the Stormaway crew and everybody is doing everything they can to make it work,” she said.
Stamford also said there’s one issue that might take more time to sort out – parking at the Gibsons Marina.
“There’s still not enough parking in the marina area, and that was a concern right off the bat,” she said. “We were assured there’d be appropriate parking. I think they’re trying, but with the building of the [Gibsons Public] Market, they’ve got things they need to do in their parking lots … That’s [also] hard for people trying to use the marina or the Public Market.”
The modified schedules for Route 3 and Route 13 will continue until the work at the Langdale terminal wraps up in early April.
