After a planned mid-July start-up came and went, Coastal Link Ferries (CLF) is still waiting for a berth from which to operate out of Gibsons.
The company has been speaking with the Gibsons Landing Harbour Authority (GLHA) in the hopes of hammering out a docking agreement for a space at the government wharf.
But so far, the fee being asked to moor the newly built 65-foot Coastal Runner is prohibitive, said chief operating officer captain Ihab Shaker.
"I think they're trying to take advantage of me," he said, adding he's being asked to pay more than the GLHA's published rates for commercial vessels ($4.42 per foot per month) and pleasure craft ($5.08 per foot per month). Shaker said CLF was initially told they'd have to pay $3,600, but after three months of negotiations (without a face-to-face meeting), said the price came down to $1,200, a price Shaker still believes is too much.
The harbour authority approved a rate increase in April, their first in two years, said assistant harbour manager Jim Conway. Carol Doyle, president of the GLHA, said she won't discuss the particulars of the rates being offered, but noted they're "not out of line at all," compared to what other harbour authorities offer. She added a vessel such as the Coastal Runner doesn't fit into the same category as commercial vehicles or pleasure craft.
Gibsons Coun. Chris Koopmans noted the harbour authority's federal funding gives precedence to working harbour functions over tourism or recreational uses, and CLF marketing director Peter Green said the GLHA's reticence is understandable."At no time has the harbour authority expressed anything more than trying to be good stewards of the harbour," Green said. "They have never said 'no' to us." The new vessel has completed its Transport Canada-required sea trials but has no operating certificate yet, Shaker said. He'll need to know the schedule and crew size before applying, something he said can't be determined until a docking agreement is in place. The proposed foot passenger service, which would run between Gibsons and downtown Vancouver with a return ticket price of about $25, could begin immediately if a dock space were secured in Gibsons, Shaker said. On the Vancouver side, a port facility is not a problem, he added. Space is available at a public dock near the foot of Bute Street, and the company has put in a bid for a space being tendered by TransLink on the outside of the SeaBus terminal. They'll hear the results of that request for proposals at the end of August, and Shaker is confident Coastal Link will get it.
Shaker said he doesn't expect parking for passengers in Lower Gibsons to be an issue. Parking spaces are hard to come by only in the summer, he said, when visitors from the Lower Mainland travel to Gibsons in their vehicles via B.C. Ferries."Our service will help reduce the parking issue," he said, noting travellers wouldn't need to bring vehicles if they could disembark at the landing in Gibsons.
A dock at Grantham's Landing was looked at as an alternative possibility, but with no parking and no vehicle access, the idea quickly became unfeasible. And a berth in Gibsons Marina would mean tediously slow docking, Green said. Though the vessel was built specifically for the Gibsons to Vancouver run, Green said Coastal Link may have to look at other routes.
"This is one of five or six markets that we identified initially," he said, adding a Burrard Inlet run from Port Moody to the downtown SeaBus terminal may get another look. "It surprises you where the most resistance comes from."
