She鈥檚 carried passengers across 小蓝视频 waters for over four decades, but the time for the听听to retire is upon us. And with the 小蓝视频 Ferries vessel鈥檚 end of service comes the chance for pretty much anyone to own her, as the Howe Sound Queen is on the auction block, and the bidding right now is as low as $11,000.
The Howe Sound Queen owns the distinction in the 小蓝视频 Ferries fleet of being their only ship to be built in Canada, but not in 小蓝视频 That鈥檚 because the Howe Sound Queen actually began life in 1964 in Quebec as Napoleon L, where she ran until 1971.
After joining the 小蓝视频 Ferries fleet, the vessel was refitted and renamed, and put on the Horseshoe Bay-Bowen Island route. But it wasn鈥檛 exactly smooth sailing: 鈥淥n that route she was affectionately (or not) nicknamed the 鈥楬ound鈥� for her lack of amenities and poor handling of heavy seas,鈥澨�.
In 1991, the Howe Sound Queen made a hard landing at Horseshoe Bay, sending six passengers to the hospital with minor injuries.
Eventually the Howe Sound Queen made the move to the more easy going Vesuvius on Saltspring Island and Crofton on Vancouver Island route, and now makes on average 84 round-trip sailings per week. While just over a decade ago she underwent a $3-million refit, her time as a 小蓝视频 Ferries vessel is up at the start of June.
Once the Howe Sound Queen retires, the Quadra Queen II, built in 1969,听from the Port McNeill-Alert Bay-Sointula route as a relief vessel.
The plan is for the Howe Sound Queen to be 鈥渒ept warm and operation state鈥� until the new owners take over, according to the GovDeals auction listing.
With no known operational issues, the Howe Sound Queen has the capacity to carry 300 passengers and crew and 52 鈥淎utomobile Equivalents.鈥�
The Howe Sound Queen hit the auction block with a starting bid of $5,000 鈥� a bargain considering she actually works, unlike the Queen of Burnaby, which had a starting bid of $6,000 when听, and that vessel was good for scrap only. That Queen听听for a bid of just over $555,000 (add nearly $100,000 for taxes and fees), which doesn鈥檛 seem like much of a bargain.
That said, chances are with almost two weeks left on the Howe Sound Queen auction, the final bid is going to end up being well over the current $10,751.01.
Here鈥檚 a 2015 video tour of the Howe Sound Queen:
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