2014/06 Haida Gwaii trip - Ferry to Skidegate |
|||||
Friday June 20th
It was still raining and dark in the morning. As instructed we were there at 8am for a 10am departure. This is very different from BC’s other ferries, where you can arrive just before departure and drive straight on. This time, we were sent to a waiting lane and there we waited. The ferry was not in sight, and we waited and waited. Occasionally a worker would come out and select a car and move it to another lane and later it would disappear. We were in a line of truck campers and we didn’t move at all. Some large trucks bypassed the lanes and looked to be getting on. Nothing moved after that for half an hour.
Finally, about noon our lane began to move. The worker indicated that we should drive into a bay and begin backing out along a yellow line. “What about that camper in the bay?” “They’re waiting for one of our drivers to take them on.” I backed along the line out onto a long narrow bridge, around a circular tower, across another bridge, up a ramp and down into the murky hold of the ferry to a gap between the trucks and cars. Now we understood what was taking all the time! I had no problem with the truck and camper but not sure what would have happened with one of our trailers attached, particularly the teardrop.
This was the sequence of ramps and bridges we had to back along. The ferry was the Northern Adventure, one of BC Ferries’ newest, so this procedure would have to be used for many years to come. BC Ferries’ web site describes it as a Roll-On-Roll-Off ferry, but Back-On-Roll-Off might be more descriptive. We’d have to do something similar at Skidegate when returning from Haida Gwaii.
Finally we were off after four and a half hours. The beginning of the 80 mile trip is protected by the coastline and many islands, but then we entered the open sea of the Hecate Strait. The strait is shallow and notorious for forming massive waves during storms, but this time it was kind to us with just a slight swell. The ferry was hustling along and we arrived at Skidegate after five hours at 5.30, just a half hour late.
Next