| And so we headed to
Nanaimo and the ferry from Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay which is just to
the north of Vancouver on the mainland. This was our ferry arriving. |  |
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These are quite big ferries running every couple of hours. They take about
an hour and a half and carry up to 360 cars. (Trucks, motor homes and
trailers do reduce this but it was not particularly full.) |
| BC Ferries operate about
37 ferries on a number of routes. Some of them are quite colourful but they
are only about an eighth of the size of the new cross Channel ferries. The
waters they ply are much more sheltered. |  |
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Departure was smooth. There are in fact four car decks and two loading
decks. |
| The ferries are double ended
with bridges and propellers at each end. The only way you know which way is
which is by the location of the food hall. |  |
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The plan of our ferry shows this more clearly. Built in 1981 it is 139ft long and weighs
almost 7000 tons. It can travel at 22knots. |
| The coast north of
Vancouver has no roads and almost no towns. The mountains go a long way to
explain this. Today was a peaceful calm day with clouds and a light breeze. |  |
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Arrival at Horseshoe Bay was equally smooth and we were soon heading east
the 10 miles to the campground. |
| It was a big campground
at the foot of the Lion Bridge. These were all rental units, different every
night but uniformly containing Germans. |  |
|