A powerful windstorm sweeping across British Columbia’s South Coast has forced the cancellation of numerous BC Ferries sailings on Christmas Day.
Environment Canada’s marine wind warning expects very strong southeast winds at 70 km/hr over open water in the Strait of Georgia, gusting to up to 100 km/hr. The storm’s winds will begin late this morning on Christmas Day and possibly extend into mid-day Boxing Day.
Today, on Christmas Day, there has been a cancellation of sailings on all three major routes between Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island — from mid-morning until at least this evening, with the possibility of some late evening sailings being canceled as well.
As of 9:30 am, here is the revised Christmas Day schedule for the major routes of Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay, Tsawwassen-Duke Point, and Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay.
- Tsawassen-Swartz Bay
- Cancelled sailings, December 25:
- 11:00 am departing Tsawwassen
- 11:00 am departing Swartz Bay
- 1:00 pm departing Tsawwassen
- 1:00 pm departing Swartz Bay
- 3:00 pm departing Tsawwassen
- 3:00 pm departing Swartz Bay
- 5:00 pm departing Tsawwassen
- 5:00 pm departing Swartz Bay
- Sailings at risk of cancellation, December 25:
- 7:00 pm departing Tsawwassen
- 7:00 pm departing Swartz Bay
- 9:00 pm departing Tsawwassen
- 9:00 pm departing Swartz Bay
- Cancelled sailings, December 25:
- Tsawwassen-Duke Point
- Cancelled sailings, December 25:
- 10:15 am departing Tsawwassen
- 10:15 am departing Duke Point
- 12:45 pm departing Tsawwassen
- 12:45 pm departing Duke Point
- 3:15 pm departing Tsawwassen
- 3:15 pm departing Duke Point
- 5:45 pm departing Tsawwassen
- 5:45 pm departing Duke Point
- Cancelled sailings, December 25:
- Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay
- Cancelled sailings, December 25:
- 10:40 am departing Departure Bay
- 10:40 am departing Horseshoe Bay
- 1:00 pm departing Departure Bay
- 1:00 pm departing Horseshoe Bay
- 3:20 pm departing Departure Bay
- 3:45 pm departing Horseshoe Bay
- 5:55 pm departing Departure Bay
- 6:35 pm departing Horseshoe Bay
- Sailings at risk of cancellation, December 25:
- 8:05 pm departing Horseshoe Bay
- 8:45 pm departing Departure Bay
- 10:50 pm departing Horseshoe Bay
- 10:10 pm departing Departure Bay
- Cancelled sailings, December 25:
There are no sailing cancellations at this time on the Horseshoe Bay-Langdale/Sunshine Coast route, but the evening sailings have been rescheduled to depart about one hour later to account for the adverse weather conditions.
A number of minor routes on BC Ferries are also impacted by the storm, including the routes serving the northern and southern Gulf Islands.
Hullo Ferries’ operations for the day are not impacted by the storm, as it does not have any scheduled Christmas Day sailings to provide a holiday break for its staff.