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BC Ministry of Transportation Inland Ferries


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  • 4 weeks later...

I did a bit of a roadtrip the other day going down HWY 6 to Naksup and back up to Revelstoke via HWY 23 over to HWY 1 back home.

The Needles Cable Ferry is still active on the lower end of Arrow Lake but the MV Columbia is now sailing between Galena and Shelter Bays on the north end of the lake.

The MV Columbia is quite a bit bigger than both the MV Shelter Bay and MV Galena Bay who are both now moored at Shelter Bay. Interestingly, they've also updated the loading and unloading procedure by creating 2 lanes on the ramps so 2 lanes of traffic can load or unload at the same time.

MV Columbia ...

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MV Shelter Bay and MV Galena Bay ...
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Here's a some pics I took a few years back ...

When the MV Galena Bay was running, during peak times they'd do some extra runs with MV Shelter Bay. Once her day is done, the Galena Bay would dock up with her at Shelter Bay to pick up the crew before continuing on to the dock at Shelter Bay ... always kind of a neat experience ...

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And an older photo onboard the MV Galena Bay ...

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  • 2 weeks later...
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  • 9 months later...

Kootenay lake terminal in Balfour could move to Queens Bay. The public comment has been expanded to see if the changes to the route: 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/kootenay-ferry-1.3677002

I personally think they should study the impact to the community because the study doesn't determine that: 

http://www.nelsonstar.com/opinion/386636061.html?mobile=true

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  • 9 months later...

MV Osprey 2000 has been taken out of service after one of its engines catastrophically failed, spilling 400L of gear oil into the lake.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ferry-leaks-400-l-of-gear-oil-into-kootenay-lake-b-c-1.4072107

It's expected to be out of service for at least a month. Tourist season is starting to approach, so hopefully it can be returned to service before too long. Having only MV Balfour doing the route on the Victoria Day weekend won't be pleasant.

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  • 2 years later...

Updates have been made to the Kootenay Lake Ferry Service Improvements project. Renderings have been released for the terminal upgrades at Balfour and Kootenay Bay terminals, which includes new washrooms, sheltered waiting areas, and expanded greenspaces at both terminals. Balfour will also get a dedicated bus lane and road improvements.

A new 55-car ferry will also be built to replace the 28-car MV Balfour, which was built in 1954 and is 65 years old. The new ferry will enter service in late 2022. Once in service, the new ferry will operate 8 months of the year (November-April and July-August), while the larger MV Osprey 2000 will shift to operate only during the busier summer periods (May-October).

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