Watch out, Queen of Surrey - here comes the Coastal Runner.
At a meeting with Gibsons council May 6, Coastal Link Ferries (CLF) unveiled their plans to run a 50-minute crossing between Gibsons Landing and downtown Vancouver. "In an era where B.C. Ferries fare increases coupled with double-digit pay increases for directors have fueled criticism of that publicly-funded service, an alternative has quietly arrived and is setting up shop in Gibsons," said CLF marketing director Peter Green in a recent press release.
Green said the 22-metre, 70-passenger vessel is close to completion at Sylte Shipyards in Vancouver. Sea trails will begin in two or three weeks, and the first sailing will be scheduled for mid-June. The company was incorporated in January, and Coun. Gerry Tretick said what he heard at the meeting is encouraging.
"They're looking at running it in a fuel-efficient way," he said. "It sounds like they have a fairly realistic view of how to run their business."
CLF's chief operating officer, Capt. Ihab Shaker, who has experience running ferry services on Lake Ontario and on the Nile River, commissioned the building of the first 70-passenger ferry. He describes the deep-hulled vessel as "like a sight-seeing bus but on the water." He said large windows will extend halfway to the roof, and seating will have two passengers facing two others across a table.
Green told council fuel costs are expected make up 60 per cent of all operational expenses. Transport Canada's incoming marine security (MARSEC) regulations, which will require secure terminals and some passenger screening, look like "they will have some implications for us," Green said.
Dock space has been allocated at the government dock in Gibsons, but Gibsons Landing Harbour Authority (GLHA) board member Carol Doyle said a contract won't be signed until after sea trials are complete. Doyle also noted another company, who is not ready to go public with its plans, has also expressed interest in using a slip at the dock. GLHA and CLF would also need to work out an arrangement for a passenger waiting room on the dock.
"In the past, organizations have failed, so we want to make sure once we sign the moorage away, that [the ferry] will work," Doyle said, referring to past failures of services that hoped to provide an alternative to B.C. Ferries.
After a false start in 2002, Astrolabe Marine Group launched a commuter service catamaran ferry, the Bruno Gerussi, in fall 2003. It ran just three days before problems with the muffler and transmission shut the new boat down and left passengers stranded at the Gibsons dock. Later that September, the company was hamstrung with insurance issues."Astrolabe didn't pan out at all," recalls Tretick. That vessel ran a 50-minute crossing time as well with capacity for just 42 passengers. The service charged $30 before tax for a same-day return ticket, while CLF is proposing an $11 one-way fare.
Tretick, formerly chair of the Gibsons Economic Development Partnership (GEDP), noted previous efforts at running commuter ferry services only in morning and evening have failed. A full-day service is the solution, he said. A 2003 study commissioned by the GEDP (which evolved into what's now called the Gibsons Community Initiatives Association) shows "it could be done, based on a certain ridership," said Al Mulholland, executive director of Community Futures Development Corporation. The study also looked at parking and partnerships with businesses on the Coast. Tretick suggested Green try to partner with housing developers in Gibsons to provide a convenient service for homeowners who plan on commuting. Green said CLF's business plan includes forging a partnership with Les Clefs d'Ors, an international concierge association that will be able to promote daytrips to Gibsons for guests at high-end hotels in Vancouver.
"What I'm learning from everyone I talk to, I'm hearing people say it's needed," said Green. "This is a margin route that B.C. Ferries is too big to handle." Coastal Link ferries will be holding a public meeting later this month in Gibsons, Green said.
