B.C. Ferries sailings packed on busy long weekend Monday

There were multiple-sailing waits on some major B.C. Ferries routes on Monday, after bad weather led to delays at the start of an already busy travel day across the province.

Routes between Metro Vancouver and Nanaimo, B.C., were particularly busy. By 3:45 p.m. PT, drivers without a reservation were told they'd have to wait more than three hours for thenext available sailing from Departure Bay to HorseshoeBay, or seven hours to travel from Duke Point to Tsawwassen.

Sailings from theSouthern Gulf Islandsto Tsawwassenwere fully booked for the day by early afternoon.

"For people who may have flexibility in their travel plans, it's a good idea to have a look at maybe taking a later sailing if you don't have your advance booking ... or sometimes the early [Tuesday] morning sailings that have more capacity," said Astrid Chang, who manages corporate communications for B.C. Ferries.

"This Monday is one of the more popular times of the entire long weekend to be travelling people who don't have advance reservations should be prepared to wait."

Chang said there could be room for foot passengers on sailings where car space is already full, for those who are able to walk on.

Round-tripsailings between Horseshoe Bayand Departure Bay were cancelled through Mondaymorningdue to high winds in the Strait of Georgia.

Winds through the strait were expected to reach up to 70 km/h on Monday, with gusts up to 90 km/h. An advisory from Environment Canada was lifted midday.

The ferry running between theSouthern Gulf Islands and Tsawwassen was also briefly behind schedule Monday, but not due to the weather: the ship was late because of a mechanical issue with one of its watertight doors.

Officials with B.C. Ferries hadwarned travellers to prepare for a busy day on Monday as the first long weekend without public health restrictions comes to a close.

The advice from Vancouver International Airport and RCMP was similar, asking travellers to brace for potentially long lineups at the airport and Canada-U.S. border crossings on land.

Sunwing Airlines travellers stranded

In a separate issue, travellers trying to flyhome to Canada on SunwingAirlines were delayed bya network-wide system outage on Monday. The problem hasaffected check-ins, boardings and delayedmore than 40 flights for more than 12 hours.

The Toronto-based carrier said in an email that the problem stems from its reservation systems provider, which also serves other airlines, snarling their traffic.

"People are trying to find the best in it, I guess ...but it's incrediblyfrustrating to end a holiday this way," said Alyssa Kelly, who was supposed to fly hometo Vancouver from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on Sunday.

By Monday morning, Kelly's flight had been delayed for more than 18 hours.She said shepaid for her ownhotel stay Sundaynight with "very little communication" fromSunwing.

Canada eased its pandemicre-entry restrictionsonApril 1, meaning fully vaccinated travellersno longer needto get a negative PCRtest for COVID-19 before entering the country by land, air or sea.