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Swimming bear, then a naked person delay B.C. Ferries sailings on weekend

Passengers and crew on two B.C. Ferries vessels were delayed on the long weekend, with one incident involving a swimming bear and the other a naked human. On Monday, Coastal Celebration, set to leave Swartz Bay at 4 p.m.
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B.C. Ferries' Queen of Oak Bay stopped briefly on the Departure Bay-Horseshoe Bay run on Saturday morning to give a swimming bear a chance to pass.

Passengers and crew on two B.C. Ferries vessels were delayed on the long weekend, with one incident involving a swimming bear and the other a naked human.

On Monday, Coastal Celebration, set to leave Swartz Bay at 4 p.m., was delayed about 30 minutes after a woman was reported to be intoxicated and naked in a vehicle.

RCMP responded and an investigation continues.

On Saturday morning, Queen of Oak Bay was held up briefly at Departure Bay in Nanaimo to give a swimming bear a chance to pass.

B.C. Ferries spokeswoman Astrid Braunschmidt said the ferry was set to leave at 8:45 a.m. for Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver, when the crew noticed the swimming bear.

“She had to slow down because some of the crew noticed a black bear swimming just outside the berth,” said Braunschmidt.

“So they took a few minutes to let the bear pass and docked in Horseshoe Bay about 10 minutes late,” she said. “There was a bit of a delay but they had to let the black bear pass.”

Otherwise, ferry travel on the long weekend was relatively smooth. A few passengers without reservations had to wait for a sailing or two to leave Vancouver Island.

But reserved passengers all travelled without delays, Braunschmidt said. “It’s been a pretty good long weekend for us.”

B.C. Ferries laid on extra sailings for the long weekend: 66 extra sailings between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen, 15 between Departure Bay and Horseshoe Bay, and 11 between West Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast.