BC Ferries has warned passengers that this Canada Day long weekend is going to be a busy one.
This is typically a hectic long weekend for the provincial ferry service, but one of their routes — Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay — will be especially strained.
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The plan was to add a third major vessel to the route last weekend.
However, repairs to the Coastal Inspiration are taking longer than expected, prompting cancellations of some reservations and a warning that everyone travelling on the Thursday and Friday of the long weekend should anticipate long lines and big crowds.
BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall said they had no other option.
“We do need some more resiliency in our system. We don’t have any spare major vessels,” Marshall said.
“When it comes to summer schedule all of our major vessels are in operation and unfortunately we just don’t have an extra ship.”
The Coastal Inspiration is undergoing planned repairs to its propeller hub. It should be back on deck for July 2, the company said Thursday.
In the meantime, BC Ferries has added a 12:30 a.m. sailing from Horseshoe Bay on both the Thursday and Friday. Passengers can make reservations for these sailings.
People are also being encouraged to consider travelling as foot passengers and catch a sailing early in the morning to beat the midday rush.
None of those tips will help Candice Johnson-Saric. She made a reservation back on April 16, travelling to Cumberland via Horseshoe Bay.
However, this week, she said she received an automated message saying her June 30 reservation had been cancelled.
She was told rescheduling wasn’t an option.
“I thought for sure they would give people with reservations the preference over people who didn’t have a reservation and were coming on standby,” Johnson-Saric said.
“I suggested that to the lady on the phone and she said it doesn’t work that way.”
Johnson-Saric said she was told she can show up at the terminal and “beg to be let on” but, given the larger than anticipated crowd, she shouldn’t expect to catch a ferry until about 11 p.m. on Thursday night.
“I think that when they cancel a boat they should definitely give people the option,” she said. “You need to get people where they’re going. We’re out time with my mom now, we’re out hotel costs. They don’t care. They just said too bad, there’s nothing we can do.”
Marshall said had it not been a long weekend, they could have accommodated Johnson-Saric.
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