Passengers spend night aboard as high winds prevent B.C. ferry from docking

TSAWWASSEN, B.C. – A ferry trip from Vancouver Island to Tsawwassen turned into an overnight marathon when high winds swept across Georgia Strait.

Deborah Marshall of BC Ferries says 21 passengers and the crew of the Queen of New Westminster had to spend the night aboard the vessel as blustery conditions prevented it from docking at Tsawwassen.

Winds were already picking up as the ferry set out from the Duke Point terminal, south of Nanaimo, just before midnight, about an hour behind schedule, for the two-hour trip to the mainland.

Environment Canada reported gusts topping 100 kilometres per hour around some of the southern Gulf Islands and Marshall says docking at the exposed Tsawwassen terminal can be difficult under those conditions.

She says when the weather did not improve as predicted, the captain decided to stand off the terminal until the winds calmed.

The ferry docked just before 7 a.m., concluding the seven-hour journey. (CKNW)