Coastal Link: Vancouver/Sunshine Coast Passenger Ferry | Suspended

Rusty Gull · #1 Posted **Jan 13, 2010, 5:31 AM**

From Ihab Shaker, President of Coastal Link Ferries:

Good day everyone, and greetings from Coastal Link Ferries.
I have GREAT news to share with you today,

After almost a year and a half of safe, consistent, reliable, efficient, and successful service to Bowen Island, and three months to West Vancouver,

COASTAL LINK FERRIES (CLF) is commencing service from the Sunshine Coast.

Working with the Sunshine Coast Regional District, we were able to secure docking at the Hopkins?s landing, just 600 meters South of Langdale terminal.

We will initially start with a limited commuter schedule departing the Sunshine Coast @ 6:30 am, with a quick stop on Bowen and arriving Downtown Vancouver 7:45. Returning from Downtown Vancouver @ 4:30 pm, again with a quick stop on Bowen, arriving Sunshine Coast @ 5:45 pm.

This schedule will be extended to a four to six return trips a day as we get closer to the summer and as the market develops.

The cost will be $400/month for commuters (which is about $18 return, based on 22 commuting days a month), and $25 return for a single ticket. Included in the fare, is a free shuttle to and from Langdale Terminal. The shuttle is added due to lack of parking on Hopkins road. Service commences Monday, March 1st.

Finally, please note that seating is limited to 40 passengers as we are NOT abandoning our Bowen and West Van. markets. However, should your reply show greater demand we will commit the bigger boat to the Sunshine Coast, and replace her with a smaller one on our other routs.

We appreciate your reply and feed back as it will help us commit to the right size vessel. PLEASR forward this emails to anyone you think might be interested in our service, as we are rebuilding our contact list on the Sunshine Coast.

I look forward your input and reply, and we wish you all the best for 2010.

Ihab Shaker
Coastal Link Ferries

Chikinlittle · #2 Posted **Jan 13, 2010, 5:55 AM**

I think there's great potential there. I wish them well.

jlousa · #3 Posted **Jan 13, 2010, 6:02 AM**

There was an article in one of the papers just a few days ago stating that on most days the passengers number between 5-6, and that's not each way. I wish them luck I just think the market isn't there at the price that needs to be charged by a private company to cover costs.

Chikinlittle · #4 Posted **Jan 13, 2010, 6:09 AM**

They were referring to the new Ambleside-Coal Harbour route, which already exists as an extension (extra stop) enroute to/from Bowen.

From what I know, even in the depths of winter, the Bowen run carries 20+ pax each way each day. Last summer it was between 30-40.

Conrad Yablonski · #5 Posted **Jan 13, 2010, 6:50 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chikinlittle

From what I know, even in the depths of winter, the Bowen run carries 20+ pax each way each day. Last summer it was between 30-40.

There are two (2) services from Bowen to Vancouver Coastal Link as mentioned and the newly renamed English Bay Launch who's service is much more frequent.

Thanks for the info on the Gibsons Run by Coastal, the main problem has always been parking on the Gibsons side I wonder how that will shake out.

twoNeurons · #6 Posted **Jan 13, 2010, 5:28 PM**

Great route for peninsula residents, as long as you can park on the Gibson's side or get dropped off.

Even $25 one way is a fair price. That's the regular cost of the Ferry + Vehicle and it doesn't get you downtown.

Chikinlittle · #7 Posted **Jan 13, 2010, 5:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Conrad Yablonski

There are two (2) services from Bowen to Vancouver Coastal Link as mentioned and the newly renamed English Bay Launch who's service is much more frequent.

Thanks for the info on the Gibsons Run by Coastal, the main problem has always been parking on the Gibsons side I wonder how that will shake out.

The other difference between the two Bowen services is that English Bay Launch docks at Granville Island, where as Coastal Link docks at the foot of Bute Street next to the floatplanes in Coal Harbour.

Captain · #8 Posted **Jan 24, 2010, 3:47 PM**

Any comment?

You can fool some of the people...
-------------------------------------------------------

Entering troubled waters

January 22,2010
Ian Jacques/Editor

You have to give them an A for effort, but after that, Coastal Link Ferries (CLF) gets a failing grade for communication and consultation.

CLF announced plans recently to try to commence commuter ferry service from the Sunshine Coast or, more specifically, from Hopkins Landing to Vancouver.

You may remember this is the same company that tried to start a service through Gibsons two years ago, but captain Ihab Shaker failed to negotiate a deal with the Gibsons Landing Harbour Authority. Since that failed try, Shaker has been running a service from Bowen Island to Vancouver.

He claims the service here will be reliable, efficient and a viable alternative to B.C. Ferries. He plans to launch the service from the dock at Hopkins on March 1.

But the one aspect that doomed his service plans here last time is the same aspect that will probably doom him again this time — a lack of consultation with politicians and, more importantly, the public.

In an e-mail sent out on Jan. 12, Shaker claimed, “working with the Sunshine Coast Regional District, we were able to secure docking at Hopkins Landing.” That statement took directors at the board table aback, saying they had little or no consultation with Shaker. Staff have had talks with the captain, but how can you claim you have a deal in place when no such deal exists?
A further point was brought up by West Howe Sound director Lee Turnbull, who at a recent SCRD meeting, stated many residents had concerns with the idea of a ferry using their area dock. Once again, there was no consultation with the residents, just big claims from Shaker saying there would be no problems — no problems with parking, with traffic or congestion. The ferry will just come in, pick up and drop off passengers and be on its way. Why are we having a hard time believing that?

We’re also wondering who is going to drive to the B.C. Ferries terminal in Langdale, park and pay for their vehicle, then get on a bus or walk to the Hopkins Landing dock to take the Coastal Link vessel to Vancouver. By the time that ferry gets to Bowen then heads to Vancouver, the B.C. Ferries vessel will already be docking in Horseshoe Bay. Shaker’s plans just don’t hold water. He claims to be keen on talking to residents and politicians about his plans. If that were the case, why hasn’t that already been done? Shaker is putting the cart before the horse again and it spells only one thing — more troubled waters for his operation here on the Coast.

Conrad Yablonski · #9 Posted **Jan 26, 2010, 4:14 AM**

Quote:

We’re also wondering who is going to drive to the B.C. Ferries terminal in Langdale, park and pay for their vehicle, then get on a bus or walk to the Hopkins Landing dock to take the Coastal Link vessel to Vancouver. By the time that ferry gets to Bowen then heads to Vancouver, the B.C. Ferries vessel will already be docking in Horseshoe Bay.

Agreed, I think the problem is that CL is looking at the situation from the POV of someone who doesn't live on the Lower Sunshine Coast, it's always more complex than one thinks.

Conrad Yablonski · #10 Posted **Feb 1, 2010, 7:48 PM**

A lot of info on the situation here

11 pages of info/comment/opinion.

Captain · #11 Posted **Feb 18, 2010, 11:11 PM**

CLF no longer have a vessel. It was arrested for non payment of mortgage. No boat, no business, no credit, big problem. Next.

Rusty Gull · #12 Posted **Mar 15, 2010, 5:08 AM**

The full story from the North Shore News...

WV ferry scuttled by loan dispute

Munisha Tumato
North Shore News

Friday, February 19, 2010

Coastal Link Ferries ended service between West Vancouver, Vancouver and Bowen Island Feb. 12 after its vessel was seized.
A struggling Ambleside ferry service that was just beginning to pick up steam sank Friday as a result of a court decision to arrest the company vessel.

Coastal Link Ferries will no longer provide ferry service between West Vancouver, Vancouver and Bowen Island. Owner and operator Ihab Shaker, who launched the ferry service 16 months ago, picking up passengers from West Vancouver's 14th Street pier since mid-November, said the turn of events is "frustrating."

The Coastal Runner was seized Friday after a B.C. company that holds the vessel's mortgage claimed the owner hadn't been paying his bills.

Graham Walker, a lawyer for the lender, said the vessel was seized after months of missed mortgage payments.

The amount owed on the vessel is $650,000, not including the accumulated interest, said Walker.

But the vessel's captain emphatically denied missing any payments. "She was paid in full, on time for the entire duration of the agreement we had."

The seizure came just days before the vessel, which was approved as a transport vehicle by VANOC's integrated security unit, was to be privately chartered to ferry dignitaries to West Vancouver.

Shaker said that ridership has increased "tremendously" since the beginning of February with the surge of Olympic event-goers. Every one of the 70-seat vessel's hourly runs was filled to capacity on Friday, and Shaker said the phone calls and emails for bookings were flooding in. That same Friday afternoon, the vessel was arrested.

"It has been a devastating weekend," said an emotional Shaker in an interview Tuesday. "Not only because of the money I've invested in the boat . . . but also because of the hard work -- waking up almost every morning at 4 a.m. for almost a year, working very hard for almost a year and a half, subsidizing the business because I knew eventually it would work. And sure enough, it did."

Shaker said he went to a private investor in 2008 when he was unable to secure a bank loan to buy the Coastal Runner. When he attempted to renew the one-year contract in November, Shaker said his investor refused.

It appeared that the ferry service, which struggled with low ridership in the first three months of its trial run, was beginning to garner support. Shaker said he had set up a meeting with Translink to discuss the possibility of a partnership that would have allowed him to unload passengers at Waterfront Station.

Walker stated that the seizure of the Coastal Runner had "nothing whatsoever" to do with the Olympics. He said his client was concerned for her security as mortgagee when, after six months of effort, a satisfactory arrangement could not be reached. "She decided that she needed to take steps and the timing was just what it was: timing."

Shaker speculates his investor is interested in taking over the operation of the ferry business, a claim that Walker did not deny, saying his client would pursue "whatever appears to us to be the most beneficial solution" to recover the money owed on the boat.

"It is very, very unfortunate, because it was such a well received service," said Shaker. "It was the right boat, the right schedule, the right price, the right destination. It was the right concept. In the past, no one came close to achieving what I achieved in a year and a half."

The idea of establishing a commuter ferry link between West Vancouver and Vancouver was last proposed in council in 1999, but was eventually abandoned because of concerns over cost and viability.

© North Shore News 2010

SpongeG · #13 Posted **Mar 15, 2010, 10:58 AM**

i think if there was demand that translink would have set something up but it doesn't seem like its that needed of a service

Mac Write · #14 Posted **Mar 15, 2010, 8:13 PM**

<cough>Seabus to Bowen Island</cough>

LeftCoaster · #15 Posted **Mar 16, 2010, 1:53 PM**

Seabus to Bowen Island, leaving from the Waterfront Station terminus would take about an hour traveling @ 20knots... Not really that much faster than taking the bus to the existing ferry. Translink service to Bowen does not make sense until much more people live and commute from bowen, currently it is a retirement community supplemented by people who work on and around bowen. There are not many people who live on Bowen and work downtown or thereabouts.

This idea really will not work on a scale sufficent enough to support anything other than a glorified water taxi until Bowen Island fundamentally changes, in either it's demographics or its attitude towards tourism. Being pretty familiar with Bowen I dont see either happening too soon.

There is an additional benefit of opening up bowen more to tourism, but that is an unproven revenue stream and in additional would be seasonal. If there is indeed demand here Translink would be well advised to set up express busses running from canada place to the horseshoe bay terminal during the summer peak season.

Really the true issue here is that land travel is fundamentally faster than sea travel and the majority of this route is well served by land transport. Ferries work well where the connections are out of the way and do not serve as direct of a route (ie downtown to Esplinade... that route is not really used by much of the rest of the north shore as it is faster to bus over the lionsgate or ironworker). I personally dont see much utility for new seabus routes outside the current esplinade run, and a possible run out of deepcove to port moody to link up with the evergreen/westcoast express.