Ferry-Port Angeles to Victoria BC

[geraldsmith]

Plan on taking the ferry from Port Angeles, Wa. to Victoria, BC this September with my 23FB. Any advise or info on the ferry voyage (especially dragging the hitch or trailer rear on load/unload ) would be appreciated. Thanks, Gerald

[Mark Wiltrakis]

Gerald -
I've taken the ferry to Vancouver Island towing a boat many times, but never with my Airstream and never from Port Angeles. BC ferries generally run close to scheduled departure and arrival times. At low tide, there can be a steep angle between the deck of the ferry and the ramp leading to the highway. Look at tide tables for your dates of ferry travel and try to time your trips based on timing of tides. If at all possible, avoid ferry travel on weekends, as there can be long waiting lines to get aboard due to large numbers of people using the ferry.
Mark

[bolerama]

Gerald

We just came back (last week) from Vancouver Island after a 2.5 week visit. We were on the Victoria to Vancouver ferry. I think the Port Angeles ferry is similar in size, so you shouldn't have any issues. We were parked in the bottom deck with the semis's and buses.

We had a great time on the Island. Enjoy your visit..

PS. Bring a generator. Many sites do not have power and it was cold in the evening and we had to use the trailers furnace.

Regards Paul

PSS Sorry I cant figure how to rotate the photos.

[Isuzusweet]

I know I have written on this issue and expressed all of the pevious posters comments.

With the really big ferries tide height will or may not be an issue as the ramps are very long and accommodating, however travelling between smaller islands like the Gulf Islands, leaving your depatures at or near high tides would be advisable as the ramp will be almost level.

If you are the slightest bit concerned, phone ahead to the terminal for their input. Give them the total length of your tow vehicle, trailer vehicle , including hitch and height to bottom of hitch at level and rest.

Cheers
Tony

[CruizinDux]

We recently ferried from Anacortes to Orcas & back and had no troubles. We have a FC 20 and there were a few SOB of a longer dimension aside from the numerous semi's. We had no problems on or off and didn't hear the scraping of others.

I didn't think abut the tides as the A to OI was much more limited and we needed specific travel times.

Once off the landing, the road up was steep, but the landing areas seemed pretty gradual.

Bob

[Ajax1377]

I just returned from the Island and travelled from Port Angeles both ways with my 23D. My tow vehicle is an F150 with a Blue Ox hitch which sits pretty low. No clearance issues either way so you should be fine. PS expensive with one way $200+. Alan

[eheffa]

Originally Posted by geraldsmith

Plan on taking the ferry from Port Angeles, Wa. to Victoria, BC this September with my 23FB. Any advise or info on the ferry voyage (especially dragging the hitch or trailer rear on load/unload ) would be appreciated. Thanks, Gerald

Hi Gerald,

Greetings from Victoria, BC.

The Port Angeles route (on the MV Coho) is a nice way to get to the Island. (We have used that route many times with our Truck - trailer combination: Safari 25 FB SE.) This route allows you to get here without having to tow your rig through what seems like and endless freeway (I-5 through Seattle and North). The alternative to Port Angeles is to come up to Tsawassen and use the BC Ferries. They are nicer boats and run more frequently but you fight a lot more traffic getting up and through the border to get to the ferry terminal.

It's really no big deal to get on the Port Angeles ferry with your setup and you don't really need to do anything special to your setup. The ramps are adjustable to the tide level allowing a relatively level entry to the ferry. It can be tight down below but they have deckhands who will help you get positioned and parked.

Make sure you have reservations for the Port Angeles ferry though as it can be busy.

Enjoy your trip!

-evan

[rucos]

We live in Victoria and have taken the port angeles ferry many times with and without our 23"airstream .......first off don't pay any attention to the tides!!! .... the ferry loading has taken that into consideration..... 2nd this ferry is nothing i repeat nothing like the victoria - vancouver ferry .... it is built in 1953 I believe and the vict-van boats are probably up to 2-3 times the size and the spirit class were built for the olympics a few years ago.they also have restaurant and coffee shop .. the port angeles ferry is downtown to downtown in about 1 1/2 hrs and is priced in us$ ....it only has a few sailings per day and is advisable to reserve a couple of days ahead
vanc-vict works out a little cheaper as the price is in can$ but you would probably spend more than the difference on the extra gas ...it is also about a 1 1/2hr sailing
you can see downtown victoria from port angeles so its a nice ride across open water .... the van-vict run is every hour on the hour 7am-9pm and goes thru some of the gulf islands .... this trip is by far the most beautiful ride and worth considering just for that reason ... most people are amazed at the scenery..
we take the PA ferry because it brings us out south of Olympia wash. and avoids driving thru Seattle on I-5 when heading south.
Provincial campgrounds almost always offer no service connections but often have dump stations ..... in Sept it should be easy staying anywhere as the kids go back to school tuesday after labour day........ enjoy your trip over and you'll have a great time no matter which way you go.

[vito98103]

Making a reservation for either route is strongly recommended as these routes are very popular - both BC and Washington ferry systems have websites.

[Rainstream]

SAVE YOURSELF $400, stay on the Olympic Peninsula (its beautiful) and do a walk on day visit to Victoria.

[DavidsonOverlander]

Originally Posted by Rainstream

SAVE YOURSELF $400, stay on the Olympic Peninsula (its beautiful) and do a walk on day visit to Victoria.

You could do that, but there's a lot more to Vancouver Island than Victoria!

[sgschwend]

Check out the Black Ball Ferries web site, the ship is owned by the employees, a great ride. You load through a side door, lots of folks take trailers, they know what they are doing and you won't have any trouble traveling that way. It is kinda fun traveling on a vintage ship. Prices on the web page, the $450 looks about right for a round trip.

web site: www.cohoferry.com

[FMSports]

For ferry on/off do you disconnect your WD hitch bars? I'm thinking that is a good idea. But then you bust out on the highway and would have to find a place to reconnect them.

[Pete B55]

Originally Posted by FMSports

For ferry on/off do you disconnect your WD hitch bars? I'm thinking that is a good idea. But then you bust out on the highway and would have to find a place to reconnect them.

I’ve done this ferry and many others and never took off the tension. I’ve gone in and out of gas stations with worse inclines/bumps