Tidal Restrictions on Route 23 & Summer Schedule for Route 24

We know there have been questions circulating in the community about two important operational topics:

1. The tidal restrictions on loading low clearance vehicles (like RV’s and commercial trucks) on our Campbell River – Quadra Island route (route 23)
2. The addition of a round trip to our summer schedule for our Quadra Island – Cortes Island route (route 24)

We hope this update will help address some of those questions.

Loading low clearance vehicles during extreme tides

We operate in a marine environment where the tide changes twice per day, and where the timing of those tidal changes varies throughout the year.

Extreme high and low tides, like the tides we’ve recently experienced, can create challenges for loading low-clearance vehicles like RVs and commercial trucks. This is because the ramp that vehicles travel over between the shore and the ship sits at a steep angle and vehicles can bottom out or become stuck. On the infrequent occasions when tides are extreme, some low clearance vehicles are not able to safely transit the ramp until the tide rises or falls.

This situation is not unique to our Island Class vessels and can occur with a number of ships at a number of terminals throughout our fleet. We know these situations are frustrating for customers when they occur. Safety is always our number one priority, and our terminal staff will resume loading these vehicles as soon as it is safe to do so.

Additional round trip for Route 24 this summer

This summer we have added a round trip to the sailing schedule between Quadra Island and Cortes Island to support the Cortes Island community with additional capacity during the busy summer season. The additional round trip will occur Monday – Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The additional round trip is not available on Thursday and Sunday to provide time for fueling, sewage pump-ashore and regulatory fire and boat drills during daylight hours.

We know the addition of a round trip means that the vessel will effectively shuttle non-stop all day, creating a schedule with tight turn-around times and some risk to on-time performance. We recently trialed a version of this additional round-trip schedule that included an extended lay-over in Whaletown. This trial was not successful due to a combination of fueling, pump ashore delays and insufficient turn around times. The schedule we are using for the summer does not include the extended lay over and has approximately five more minutes per round trip.

We will be evaluating the enhanced schedule throughout the summer, relying on crew and community feedback to determine success and/or adjustments that could be made for next season. With the introduction of two-ship service on the Campbell River – Quadra Island route, we anticipate connections to Vancouver Island will be easier for Cortes residents with more frequent service and more capacity available. End of day overloads are not expected with the additional trip, however, if overloads occur at Heriot Bay on the last sailing of the day, crew will continue the practice of completing an additional after-hours sailing to ensure all travellers get to their destination.