Despite a 20-month layoff, the MV Coho looked like it hadn’t skipped a beat Tuesday with the vessel successfully landing at its Belleville Street terminal several times as its captains practised coming into Victoria’s Inner Harbour ahead of regular service resuming next week.
It may have been a dry run for the ferry ahead of its return to service between Victoria and Port Angeles, but it was also an emotional moment for the crew and management.
“It was emotional for all of us,” said Black Ball Ferry president Ryan Burles, as the vessel docked for a third time Tuesday morning. “I was just thinking about all of our people, guys we haven’t seen in 20 months.”
Burles, who has worked alongside some of the crew for 30 years, said it meant everything to see the vessel and its crew come into the harbour – even for a rehearsal.
“I know how much these guys care,” he said.
With a small crowd stopping to watch from the sidewalk along Belleville Street, the Coho’s crew made several landings as they got back into the groove of running a car ferry before it returns with its first load of vehicles and passengers Nov. 8.
Burles said preparations have been going well and they have most of their crew back. Some have other job commitments but are expected to return eventually.
He said the sailing of the vessel should be the most straightforward aspect of getting back into operation, as the crews have been able to take the Coho out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca a few times over the last year and a half.
The trickier piece will be getting comfortable with explaining to customers what is required of them.
Passengers heading to the U.S. must show proof of vaccination.
However, passengers coming to Canada must provide proof of vaccination and submit travel information via the ArriveCAN web portal within 72 hours of arrival, and provide a negative COVID PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test result.
All travellers must wear masks while on board and inside the terminal.
Burles said they have been getting direction from both Canada Border Services Agency and FRS Clipper, which ran its passenger ferry service for a few weeks in September between Seattle and Victoria and had to work through kinks in communication.
“We have learned from what they have done,” he said.
Less than a month after it started sailing, FRS Clipper was forced to suspend operations due to low ridership, the surge of the Delta COVID-19 variant, and the added barrier of COVID testing for entry into Canada.
The 72-hour PCR test requirement prior to arrival into Canada proved to be a significant barrier for many of their passengers, according to Clipper.
Burles said they will face the same hurdle, and as a result they expect to miss out on at least 50 per cent of their foot-passenger traffic.
They will, however, have plenty of snowbirds on board for the first week.
The first seven days of operation are full heading south as Canadians travel to warmer climes for the winter.
Burles said unfortunately the traffic will be significantly lighter coming north. He said they expect the vessel to be about 10 per cent full coming from Port Angeles, though he is hopeful there will be pockets of volume around U.S. Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Paul Nursey, chief executive of Destination Greater Victoria, said having the Coho back in service is great news.
“It’s a big deal when you have any transportation route connected,” he said. “Sometimes we forget we live on an island and without access we don’t have much of an economy.”
Nursey said most of the ferry’s traffic will be snowbirds heading south, but even having a trickle of cars coming from the U.S. means a little revenue.
Destination Greater Victoria is not planning to market into the U.S. until next spring, when it plans to make a “big re-entry” into the market. Until then it will concentrate on regional markets like Vancouver, the Interior of B.C. and Alberta.
There is no on-land welcoming event planned for the Coho on Monday, but there is expected to be a flotilla of boats welcoming the vessel back into the harbour that day.
The vessel’s first sailing is out of Port Angeles arriving in Victoria at 9:50 a.m. Nov. 8. It will return to the U.S. at 10:30 a.m.
