CHEK News - August 26, 2015<\/p>\n
The \u201cBaynes Sound Connector,\u201d BC Ferries\u2019 newest and only cable ferry has arrived at its new terminal in Buckley Bay.<\/p>\n
The vessel will service the Buckley Bay to Denman Island route replacing the Quinitsa built in 1977.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re beginning the process of hooking the cable ferry now up into the cables and getting ready for operational service. The terminals are complete, the cables are in place,\u201d BC Ferries\u2019 Vice President of Engineering Mark Wilson told CHEK News.<\/p>\n
Cable ferries are not uncommon across the country where 60 such vessels traverse various routes. There are 11 such ferries in British Columbia but this is the first cable ferry in the BC Ferries\u2019 fleet and the Buckley Bay to Denman Island route will be the longest cable ferry in the world.<\/p>\n
This still concerns people who use the ferry today.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the winter time the tides are high. In December it won\u2019t be so good I don\u2019t think. I\u2019m nervous, I\u2019m nervous\u201d said Denman Island resident Greg Brown.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve never tried it before in this sort of a situation, I\u2019m not sure the cable is going to work, I would have liked them to have experimented somewhere else\u201d echoed Judith Scruton who also lives on Denman Island.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve taken those things into consideration, we\u2019ve done a very high level of engineering work and studied it to ensure it will work properly\u201d responded Wilson.<\/p>\n
The new ferry is expected to save BC Ferries $2 million a year.<\/p>\n
It is expected to be in service by early fall.<\/p>\n