BC Ferries route 3 Horseshoe Bay - Langdale

Route 3: Horseshoe Bay - Langdale
Type of Route	Minor but major vessels
Terminals	Horseshoe Bay Langdale
Vessel out of Langdale	Queen of Surrey Queen of Coquitlam** **(Secondary Summer season and refit replacement)
Vessel out of Departure Bay	Queen of Cowichan*** ***(Two round trip during period between October 10 to March 31) Queen of Coquitlam**** (Secondary vessel during shoulder season and refit replacement)
Vessel out of Horseshoe Bay	Queen of Capilano**** ****(If demands warrants her for a trip)
Sailing takes	40 minutes
First and last sailing for the vessel	6:20 am (Langdale, year round excluding January 1 and December 25) 10:30 pm (Langdale, year round) 7:30 am (Horseshoe Bay, year round excluding January 1 and December 25), 10:30 pm ((Horseshoe Bay)

Route 3 is a ferry runs that is under contract from Province of British Columbia to BC Ferries. This is minor route in BC Ferries route network.

Route details

This route sails mainly in Howe Sound between Horseshoe Bay to Langdale.

Berth 1 closures at Langdale

If berth 1 at Langdale has planned closure the two Cowichan Class vessels except Queen of Alberni will operate with decks 2 & 3 on hourly schedule. If it’s an planned berth 1 closure the vessel will operate with all car decks opened but on very long layover at Langdale for unloading and loading.

Number of sailing

• 8 sailing occur daily excluding January 1 and December 25
• 7 sailing occur January 1 and December 25

How to determine the vessel for the sailing?

Sailing leave both terminals between 140 minute to 40 minute depends on the number of vessels on route.

History

This route started in 1951 by Black Ball Ferry Line with Bainbridge and Quillayute with the Sunshine Coast terminal being located in Gibsons but in 1955 the terminal was located to Langdale. In 1961 Black Ball was brought out by British Columbia Government with all asset transferred being transferred to BC Ferries. In 1963 BC Ferries having more than major vessels in fleet was decide to move the Langdale Queen. With the route growing so fast and lack of new build vessels BC Ferries decided to go to second hand market for addition vessels with one found, Sunshine Coast Queen was placed on route with two boat service during the peak seasons. In 1976 with Queen of Cowichan and Queen of Coquitlam now in service that allowed Queen of New Westminster and Queen of Tsawwassen to now service Horseshoe Bay to Langdale route. In 1981 with Queen of Oak Bay and Queen of Surrey now in service BC Ferries allowed the route to get finally get upper deck vessel on the route to help increase car capacity on the route, with Queen of Cowichan being transferred to the route. In 1996 Queen of Surrey was transferred to route because of incident with escalators on Queen of Cowichan. The route got another major vessel in peak season to increase capacity on the route in the form of Queen of Esquimalt from 1996 to 2008. With the introduction of Coastal Renaissance to Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay the Queen of Coquitlam was moved to refit replacement and secondary vessels on the route. In September 2020 Transport Canada has approved Cowichan Class vessels on this route to leave the stern doors open to allow passengers to stay on main vehicles deck during the cross.

Future for this route

BC Ferries is planning on having two boat service year around with the Queen of Oak Bay and Queen of Surrey providing service on route. This will take place when original C-Class are replace.

References

https://www.bcferries.com/schedules/mainland/vasc-current.php?scheduleSelect=sch05142003.html