682 replies to this topic

[sebberry]

Owch, looked up float plane costs to get me and the wife to Vancouver and back. With all fees and taxes, was about $700. It saves 2 hours from our trip, but I'm not sure 2 hours are worth the extra $640. Any inside scoop on how to get better deals?

Three letters: P C L

[Baro]

PCL is pretty expensive too and only shaves about 30 min from my trip as compared to taking the Express transit bus.

Transit bus takes 45 min and costs us nothing
ferry for 2 walk-ons is $28 and taks 1.5 hours
bus to bridgeport then canada line downtown about an hour

So round trip for 2 people is about $60. Add in that I can probably get a ride to the ferry terminal going there, and picked up coming back, and the float planes just can't compare.

PS anyone know how much the canada line costs or have had any experience taking the translink bus to bridgeport then the train downtown?

[julienne]

The Translink connection is inconsistent in terms of timing. A few times I had to wait for the bus which turned out to be not the direct route to the Canada line station. i still haven't worked out which bus is direct and their schedule. Even the long suffering bus driver couldn't help. But if you do connect right away, the $5.00 fare is worth it.(Cash only).

I have yet to take the return trip from Vancouver via the Canada Line and linking up to the bus to the ferry.
Here is a link to the fares http://www.translink...VR-AddFare.aspx
I'm constantly checking for floatplane fare deals. On occasion Heli-jet will offer a oneway standby fare - last time it was $75. one way. you can also buy a book of tickets on West Coast air, most likely Harbour Air as well, that will save you something.
The costs to get to Vancouver overall, are getting out of hand.

[phx]

PS anyone know how much the canada line costs or have had any experience taking the translink bus to bridgeport then the train downtown?

You can get a day-pass on the ferry, then take the bus/train into Vancouver. I don't remember the cost, but it quite convenient.

[sebberry]

PCL is pretty expensive too and only shaves about 30 min from my trip as compared to taking the Express transit bus.

Transit bus takes 45 min and costs us nothing
ferry for 2 walk-ons is $28 and taks 1.5 hours
bus to bridgeport then canada line downtown about an hour

So round trip for 2 people is about $60. Add in that I can probably get a ride to the ferry terminal going there, and picked up coming back, and the float planes just can't compare.

PS anyone know how much the canada line costs or have had any experience taking the translink bus to bridgeport then the train downtown?

I think the PCL makes up for it in terms of convenience. It's about as good as having a car without the expense and hassle of parking.

I hate fussing about with connecting busses, etc, so to each his own

[G-Man]

There is always Orca Air for YYJ still more than the ferry but roundtrip for 2 comes in at about 400 and you are at the canada line in Vancouver. Of course you have to get to YYJ.

[North Shore]

Owch, looked up float plane costs to get me and the wife to Vancouver and back. With all fees and taxes, was about $700. It saves 2 hours from our trip, but I'm not sure 2 hours are worth the extra $640. Any inside scoop on how to get better deals?

So if that's too much, then what is a fair price?

Why not just fly one way, and ferry it the other...

[Saltspring Air]

Owch, looked up float plane costs to get me and the wife to Vancouver and back. With all fees and taxes, was about $700. It saves 2 hours from our trip, but I'm not sure 2 hours are worth the extra $640. Any inside scoop on how to get better deals?

Hi Baro, you should give us a call, we fly 4 times a day from Pat Bay to Downtown Vancouver by the Westin Bayshore and to YVR. $125 per person, or follow us on www.twitter.com/saltspringair where we do frequent 50% off offers. www.saltspringair.com

[Rob Randall]

I saw something pretty interesting today. I was waiting for a picture of a floatplane and lo and behold, two landed as one was taxiing out. Then a big fishing boat came out--right at the narrowest part of the harbour, beside Laurel Point.

Everyone was where they were supposed to be, no chaos or danger.

[Mike K.]

That's a great photo, Rob.

[Rob Randall]

I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

A few minutes before this the Coho was getting ready to exit the harbour. A sailboat was entering right down the middle. The harbour patrol rushed out with his flashing blue light and rendezvoused with the smaller boat who promptly moved to the side.

[Hotel Mike]

In spite of so-called new safety studies by the anti marina folks, the harbour has an amazing record of safe operations. I often watch with admiration as all the transportation systems seem to mesh so well.

[arfenarf]

I rowed out of the Gorge for a few years. I think they've tightened up rules at the club since I was there, but I remember a quiet dawn when we were turning a quad in the basin down off the Undersea Gardens.

We were merrily going about our business when one of us looked up and realized that Coho was looming Right. There. Her engines had been rumbling all along as she got ready to depart, but we hadn't heard anything change as she left the wharf and prepared for her own spin. This great wall of steel simply appeared behind us.

We got the h3ll out of there in a hurry, tipping a hat to the skipper as we left.

We used to routinely row out to the windsock and sometimes even to the mouth of the outer harbour and worked in with whatever traffic was there. I don't see shells out there any more and wonder whether there were too many close calls.

Ob.Floatplane: ...and I just love the days when I can look west down Pandora and see one of the float planes careening in over the JSB at what looks like a lunatic angle. It's one of my favourite "here I am in Victoria" moments.

[aastra]

Everyone was where they were supposed to be, no chaos or danger.

You're a professional artist. It would have been easy for you to Photoshop out all the carnage and wreckage.

[Mike K.]

Harbour Air confirms flight cancellations at Victoria's Inner Harbour terminal due to low visibility as the snowfall continues.

http://www.harbour-a...hp?view=Vic2Van

[JohnN]

Victoria Harbour floatplane safety issue is being brought forward now by Transport Canada and there will be more developments early in the New Year 2011. The Save Victoria Harbour group is most concerned about the proposed marina and floatplane safety, but important to include the CRD's proposed (unnecessary) sewage plant at McLoughlin Point, as that site is currently under a frequent low-altitude landing approach by floatplanes - map. A September 2010 report discusses need for a "safety case" for Victoria Harbour airport.

[G-Man]

This same issue has been stated about every new building that is above 4 storeys. I think that if the planes somehow avoided the fuel tanks that were there for years they will be able to avoid the sewage treatment plant.

[manuel]

JohnN - are you trying to find any argument that could possibly gather traction to oppose the sewage treatment plant? I'm curious about the root of your opposition, is it: (a) cost, (b) infrastructure projects, © perceived lack of need for sewage treatment; (d) living in the neighbourhood of the proposed plant; or (e) something else. Raising a tangential argument about height for floatplane approach isn't likely to help your cause, particularly for the reason G-man mentions above.

[JohnN]

My point is that since the the large gas tanks were demolished a few years ago, the low-altitude landing zone over the site has become frequent and routine. I think this leads to the question that if pilots are choosing this approach, they do so because they think its optimal for safety. If a sewage plant is built on the site and it again becomes off-limits as a landing approach option, will the return to the official landing zone be less safe? At the very least, some discussion about safety and a new routine with pilots might be wise.

The discussion around floatplane safety in the context of the Victoria Harbour has begun and groups that are anti-marina are fully engaged, with Save Victoria Harbour group having gone so far as to contract Qualatech Aero Consulting to prepare a report advocating for a safety plan for the Victoria Harbour Airport.

Besides being a frequent passenger on Harbour Air, I view the whole land-based sewage plant project as environmentally-unnecessary and economically-wasteful - and the issues such as siting a sewage plant and all the related connexions are just more evidence of the hazard and impairment that the land-based sewage treatment plant will bring to our community.

Even those who nominally support this additional, land-based sewage treatment project, such as Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins, are concerned about the McLoughlin Point site.
Another Esquimalt-based pro-treatment group, STAG, has also voiced their rejection of the McLoughlin Point site.

For more information on the unnecessary sewage treatment plant:
aresst.ca
rstv.ca
sites.google.com/site/sewageplantsvictoria/

[G-Man]

As someone that often flys on the floatplanes I can assure you that if the tanks were back tomorrow and you did not alter the landing trajectory of the planes there would not be any accidents. While they may seem low to you they are still much higher while crossing that point than you believe. I really can't even imagine this being an argument.

Seaplanes have operated in the harbour for probably 80 years and for a large proportion of that time the tanks were there and the harbour was busier than it is now. The removal of the tanks a matter of months ago has not changed the ability of pilots to negotiate the harbour should some facilty be put back there. Also it should be noted that the sewage plan calls for a facility that is acceptable to look at. There are not goino be huge holding tanks here. While not an expert I would guess the height of the facility to be less than the previous tanks.