Due to the weather, BC Ferries has cancelled sailings on the Queen of New Westminster between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen on Monday, though sailings on other vessels should proceed as planned.
The weather will result in four cancellations on Monday, the 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. leaving Tsawwassen, and the 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. leaving Swartz Bay.
“Our Customer Service Centre will contact customers with bookings on these cancelled sailings to let them know if we have space available to fit them on an alternate sailing later in the day, or if their booking must be cancelled. In the case of a cancellation, we will refund fees and/or fares,” BC Ferries says in a notice on its website.
“The safety of our passengers and crew is of primary importance to us. We apologize for any inconvenience as a result of these cancellations.”
In an email to CHEK News, BC Ferries says the Queen of New Westminster has a lower operating threshold than the Spirit vessels, which can make docking and undocking a challenge in high winds.
In general, the Queen of New Westminster will see cancellations at 35 knots of wind, while the Spirits and Coastals are cancelled at 40 knots, however, wind direction, sea state and wave height all factor into the cancellation decision.
Additionally, sailings between Cortes Island and Quadra Island have been cancelled through to the 1:05 p.m. sailing, and the company is monitoring the weather conditions and will provide updates through the day.
Environment Canada has issued wind warnings for Greater Victoria, Southern Gulf Islands, and North and East Vancouver Island.
For all areas with warnings on the Island except the North, there will be strong southeast winds near 70 km/h gusting to 90 in the morning. In the afternoon it is expected to ease to 40 km/h. In the North Island, the winds will approach 90 km/h through Monday into the evening.
“This is the first wind storm of this autumn with full foliage,” Environment Canada says in the warnings posted to its site. “The heavy tree branches are more prone to break in strong winds and it may lead to more damage and power outage than subsequent wind storms of similar wind speeds later in the season.”
READ MORE: Environment Canada warns of gusts, heavy rain in forecast for parts of B.C. coast
#ServiceNotice
Due to adverse weather conditions, the following #QofNewWestminster sailings have been cxd'l today:8:00am/12:00pm ex #Tsawwassen
10:00am/2:00pm ex #SwartzBayOther sailings on this route are expected to proceed as scheduled.
More: https://t.co/hSbt3xlztl ^be
— BC Ferries (@BCFerries) September 25, 2023
Laura Brougham
