Skip to content

Ferry maintenance leads to delays

The Shelter Bay has been running 24 hours a day until the Galena Bay is back in service, which is scheduled to be May 15.
66075nakuspconstruction1
With the Galena Bay ferry out of commission

If you’ve travelled over the stretch of Upper Arrow Lake between Nakusp and Revelstoke recently, you may have been confronted by a ferry wait or two. And if you’ve been leaving from the shores of Shelter Bay, the reason is clear: the large Galena Bay Ferry has been pulled off duty and the smaller Shelter Bay Ferry has been working hard in its place.

Off to the side in Shelter Bay, the “Galena Bay” is getting her old electrical system replaced with newer solid-state technology.

“It was getting hard to find parts,” said Western Pacific Marine’s Tom Warner about the ferry’s old electrical.

The company is also taking advantage of the pre-peak season time to resurface the concrete slabs on the Shelter Bay side of the ferry route and get rid of a lot of the holes, Warner said.

Big trucks may be in for a long wait if they choose to cross with the ferry. One driver on Tuesday, May 8 was facing a four-hour wait time to get his truck across the water. Western Pacific Marine has cautioned trucking companies about the delay and has been suggesting they divert around via another route if possible.

To compensate, the Shelter Bay is running 24 hours a day until the Galena Bay is back in service, which is scheduled to be May 15, said Warner, plenty of time before the rush of May long weekend traffic.