Residents and travellers to Bowen Island celebrated the return of ferry service on Thursday night, following nearly three days of sailing cancellations after the dock at the island terminal was damaged by a storm.
While the answers from the midweek ferry issue have been solved, questions still remain from an incident on Sunday morning where the Queen of Capilano ran into multiple boats at the Bowen Island Marina immediately after setting sail, causing substantial damage to the vessels and the dock itself. There were no reported injuries. BC Ferries say they are investigating what caused the ferry to drift so off course, with the Transportation Safety Board also looking into the case. As of Friday the agency is "currently gathering information and assessing the occurrence," according to an email.
For Brittany Yu, whose boat Kowloon bore the brunt of the ferry collision, it’s led to a frustrating week as she navigates the aftermath of the crash.
“It’s like taking on another full-time job,” says Yu, who along with her husband already own and run Branch and Narwhal on Bowen plus several cafes and restaurants in Vancouver. “It’s been exhausting, it’s a lot. We’ve been on the phone basically every day, all day. Emails back and forth. We’re trying to call captains, shipwrights, insurance, all those things.”
“It’s kind of a nightmare to deal with,” she says.
Yu learned about the incident shortly after it occurred on Sunday morning. “I woke up to a flurry of texts and saw the video on Facebook,” she recalls, after a passenger aboard the 7:30 am sailing posted footage of the crash to the local social media page.
“From that angle it looked like it could have been not too bad. But what we saw from the video that was taken from the dock, you can see the impact is quite significant and the whole dock moves. That’s when we knew that our boat was probably quite damaged,” says Yu.
The full scope of repairs needed isn’t yet known, the boat will need to be hoisted out of the water and assessed for those answers to come. But much of the damage to the classical Grand Banks yacht is already apparent. The Queen of Capilano’s stern smashed through the Kowloon’s cabin, tearing off railings, shattering windows, and crushing the door and its frame. Yu has her fingers crossed the hull will be intact – the fate of the body of the ship will be a major determinant in repair work needed and ultimately the cost of the fixes.
Damages won’t simply be measured in dollar values though – the boat has a high amount of emotional value for its owners. “We just bought the boat last year, we actually bought it off really close friends. They sold it to us knowing it was staying in the family because we’re so close,” explains Yu.
“It’s a beautiful, really well taken care of classical boat. So it’s pretty upsetting to see it smashed,” she adds. Yu is optimistic, but realistic, about the upcoming timeframe. “I’m hoping that my boat will be able to be used this summer, and that we can all move on with our lives. Because it doesn’t seem like a very quick process or a quick fix.”
BC Ferries originally said on Sunday that the accident was caused by high winds at the Bowen terminal. A further release that day attributed the cancellations to “an ongoing mechanical difficulty with the propulsion system.” Passenger sailings didn’t resume again until 6:50 pm.
“We’re still investigating the cause, whether that was due to wind conditions, a mechanical issue, or a combination of factors,” says BC Ferries senior communications advisor Shiryn Sayani. “We’re working really closely with the marina and with the vessel owners to assess any reported damage and determine our next steps.”
Bowen Island mayor Andrew Leonard said Thursday he hadn’t been told a definitive reason for the crash from BC Ferries either, having also received reports about the high wind and mechanical issues. The mayor did have questions however about the timing of events on Sunday morning.
“The biggest issue for myself was that it took a few hours for BC Ferries to respond directly to that incident, and it seemed to be their response was a result of having reported it,” said Leonard, noting he sent video and photos of the collision to BC Ferries leadership early that morning. The ferry completed a few more runs following the collision before it was taken out of service later in the morning and held at Horseshoe Bay until the evening.
Leonard says it will be up to BC Ferries to work with the Marina and boat owners to cover repairs, which includes a portion of the dock which was knocked apart and is now taped off. He adds that this week, which saw two major ferry disruptions on the island, can be especially difficult when factoring in recent history.
“I think it’s impossible not to look at these ferry incidents without looking at the context of all of our other ferry incidents that we’ve seen over the last couple of years – in terms of service disruptions, cancellations, staff shortages, mechanical failures – which have affected the transportation resiliency of our community.”
“All of these incidents taken together speak to the need for more investment in the system and a better understanding of the requirements of our residents and businesses on the island,” says Leonard.
Regardless of the cause of Sunday’s crash, the event has understandably left a mark on Yu. “We are on our boat a lot in the summer, we sleep on the boat, we do big trips, we spend a ton of time on our boat. I certainly don’t feel safe in that spot anymore, and we’ll be looking into alternative spaces where that’s not a risk factor,” she says.
“I think it’s quite disappointing that they left the scene,” she adds of the Queen of Capilano’s actions in the immediate aftermath of the crash. Yu says her husband is often working on the boat on weekends and that her dock neighbours are frequently on their boats during that time of day too, and the situation could have been much worse had they been on board. She filed a hit-and-run report with the RCMP following the incident.
“When it first happens you’re in shock. You’re like we can get through this… now that we’re on day five we’re definitely feeling frustrated and overwhelmed and tired,” says Yu as she recounts all that has happened since Sunday morning.
Yu hopes that in addition to helping her navigate the months ahead, BC Ferries takes steps to ensure there isn’t a repeat incident at the marina. “Having a ferry run into something is really unsafe, so obviously that has to be taken care of on their end.”
