Attention Vancouver Island Lions Fans!

[Solar Max]

BC Ferries has now put on 4 late night sailings for Lions fans after games for the 2007 season.

Lions Sailings

The first is scheduled for the home opener on July 6th, returning at 11:30 PM.
The other 3 are as follows:

September 15th Toronto Argonauts
October 20th Edmonton Eskimos
November 3rd Calgary Stampeders

The BC Ferries Lions Sailing Tailgaters wil take place at Swartz Bay on September 15th, and at Duke Point on October 20th and November 3rd. On September 15, look to the front of Lane 1 for the BC Ferries Lions Sailing Tailgater, and on October 20th and November 3rd, again the head of Lane 25 at Duke Point Ferry Terminal just south of Nanaimo. Look for the Lions' and BC Ferries Flags, and bring some grub, and possibly a folding chair or two.

The late night sailings have been successful so far, and with the support of fans getting the word out there about BC Ferries' late sailings, they hope to continue serving communities and fans with these sailings. It's important that we on the Island get the word out about these Sailings, and for those of you on the mainland, tell your relatives on the Island that they no longer have an excuse, at least for these four dates.

This season, we have Audra Garsys , Manager, Corporate Sponsorship at BC Ferries to thank for these extra sailings, so let's make sure we support the Lions, and their Corporate Partner, BC Ferries. For Canuck Fans, these could be extended into hockey season should they prove even more successful than last year, so if you're a rabid Canuck fan, grab your Canucks jersey, and head to BC Place with us. We're expecting great turnouts this season, so we can continue to have late sailings in 2008!

Take a bow, Audra, Shonna and BC Ferries, and thanks for what you've done for us.

[Ballistic Bob]

Well done SM. Its the squeaky wheel that gets the fish juice. BB

[Lions4ever]

Recipe for Fish Juicetini:

6 parts fish juice
Ice
Shaker
Shake fish juice over ice in shaker
Pour into chilled cocktail glass
Garnish with fish
Enjoy!

[CatsEyes]

Great stuff L4E! Seriously though, so we should expect to see you at the Duke Point terminal tailgater on October 20th? BC Ferries is 100% behind these-should be fun!

[Lions4ever]

Sounds great - as long as I can get the powers-that-be to co-operate!

[Solar Max]

Recipe for Fish Juicetini:

6 parts fish juice
Ice
Shaker
Shake fish juice over ice in shaker
Pour into chilled cocktail glass
Garnish with fish
Enjoy!

An Island favourite for many years now, except now you've let the cat out of the bag, and told the mainlanders about it! Hopefully, they don't have any Starfishbuks stores to buy fish juice at; at least, I've never seen one there.

Speaking of SFB's, that one on Commercial near you is a monster store; two tills. wow.

[Dan_Payne_fan!!]

[Soundy]

Awesome news, almost enough to make me wish I lived on the Island! Props to BC Ferries!

[CatsEyes]

Looks good-way to go BC Ferries!!

[SBBear]

Well done SM. Its the squeaky wheel that gets the fish juice. BB

BTW - Did you guys make there it on time after the game Fri night??

[Solar Max]

Well done SM. Its the squeaky wheel that gets the fish juice. BB

BTW - Did you guys make there it on time after the game Fri night??

Oh...my ..gawd. Barely.

Turns out the traffic on the Cambie Bridge was brutal, so we headed for Granville. Down Oak at Lightspeed in the right lane (if Vancouverites ever figure out that some of us drive in that empty right lane, we'll never get anywhere on the mainland again.) down 99, at XXX km/h..even XXX on 17, arriving just in time to see the booth attendant turning the lights off at 11:25 PM for the 11:30 sailing.

She turned it back on when she saw the car headed toward her booth, yelled that she could only do a credit card and told us to HURRY for lane 28.

Last car on the ferry.

We passed many Victoria licence plate holders and dealer names on the way..who did not make it. On Monday, there were complaints on an open line show that the "Ferry should have waited for us."

Ferries don't wait for anybody. Gotta hurry to get there sometimes.

PS: I am not silly enough to post the XXX speeds that got us there, but this was Parkies' comment: "I didn't know these things could GO that fast." 8)

[No Ordinary Joe]

Yeah when I saw they announced the extra sailings I thought it was a great idea...but when I saw the time I shook my head. Considering a game would end around 10:15-10:30 and then you'd have to fight your way through the crowd to get out of the stadium, then work your way to your car, fight through the traffic leaving the downtown core...it's really hard to get all the way from downtown to the terminal for an 11:30 sailing. If you're taking transit and came across as a walk on? Better bring enough for a hotel! They should have made it a midnight or 12:15 sailing.

[Solar Max]

Many just do what we do: just camp out at the terminal. After a Lions game, there are typically a hundred or so cars that wait for the 5:15 AM.

[SBBear]

Yeah when I saw they announced the extra sailings I thought it was a great idea...but when I saw the time I shook my head. Considering a game would end around 10:15-10:30 and then you'd have to fight your way through the crowd to get out of the stadium, then work your way to your car, fight through the traffic leaving the downtown core...it's really hard to get all the way from downtown to the terminal for an 11:30 sailing. If you're taking transit and came across as a walk on? Better bring enough for a hotel! They should have made it a midnight or 12:15 sailing.

Any possibility of this perhaps happening???

Many just do what we do: just camp out at the terminal. After a Lions game, there are typically a hundred or so cars that wait for the 5:15 AM.

You would think that they might at least on game nights?? Or is there a restriction about sailing times or something??

[CatsEyes]

This is the first year that they've done the late sailings on a 'regular' basis. Last year it was on a piecemeal basis, a sailing here, a sailing there, based on email feedback we provided to BC Ferries.We have been working with Dale Ryan in Marketing at BC Ferries in order for these sailings to become more frequent, and better populated. I asked Dale about possibly extending the sailings until 1145 at the latest. Right now it's a no because of having to pay overtime as it is. She did however mention that if the game was running late, that they would hold the ferry if necessary. I'm working on getting a direct number to the Tsawassen terminal to let them know of these instances. The good news is, the next 3 games where there are late sailings all have 7pm starts, compared to 730 for this last one. That means, the game is over at 10ish, and with getting to the car and getting out into traffic, that should make for a terminal arrival of about 1115 at the latest. That IS however, if people are motivated to get to the terminal, which as SM noted, they don't seem to be. I'm ecstatic that BC Ferries is doing this finally, even if it's for 4 games a year. Also Island dwellers and visitors, keep your eyes peeled for the second annual Swartz Bay tailgate party, taking place on the 15th of September. It'll be a gooder!!