When I was a kid in the 70’s, my uncle and aunt lived on Vancouver Island. Our first ferry trip was memorable, but not for the sights and the sounds, but for the wait, the worry, and the wondering. We left Cache Creek at a respectable 3:00 p.m. on Thursday before Easter. So, a quick … Continued
The Charlottes are the most isolated part of the BC Ferries system, says researcherPublished in the Queen Charlotte Observer, 2007 Haida Gwaii has little in common with the rest of the communities served by BC Ferries, says a university professor who is researching the ferry system. Phillip Vannini was here earlier this month, arriving aboard … Continued
The Queen of the North was settling in for her return trip to Port Hardy. A reciprocal cruise was scheduled the next day as the Queen of Prince Rupert was relieved of her duties to sail south to Tsawwassen. The Queen of the North was an old lady of thirty-seven years, and was due for … Continued
“Good morning!”“Good morning!” I greet back as I shut the car door, reminding myself that I don’t need to lock it. I have an issue with trust, but, really, how is anyone going to steal my car by driving it off a moving ferry?“How do you like your Santa Fe?”“I like it a lot,” I … Continued
“Boarding pass?” asks the loading crewman“Oh geez, I forgot the drill,” answers a woman in her late thirties, “I’m sorry.”“You need to sleep some more, Ellen!”“It must be that new boyfriend of yours keeping you up late at night,” her fellow commuters tease her. “The drill” is not as simple as it may seem. There … Continued
From the general store at old Gillies BayIt’s twenty-two minutes or more I might say If you drive a bit faster, it might be less,‘Cept if at the recycler you unload your mess. And longer, I swear, sure it will take,If of lunch at the Tree Frog you do partake, Slow down to salute our … Continued
How much luggage can an islander strut around the passenger deck of a ferry without feeling the need to check it in? Forty pounds? Sixty? More? That young family over there has practically enough carry-on luggage to fill a U-Haul trailer. Both parents are smart enough to use the smaller pieces as foot-rests, while the … Continued
The Ghosts of Sailings Past is a magazine-style multimodal essay on the hauntings of ferry mobilities, which can be downloaded as a PDF from this site or best viewed here.
