It's not a long weekend, but if you were trying to catch a ferry off Vancouver Island Friday it might have felt like it.

An unusual surge in travellers at BC Ferries' Swartz Bay terminal led to up to four-sailing waits in the afternoon.

The company's website showed fully sold-out ferries to Tsawwassen on the 3, 4, 5 and 7 p.m. sailings.

The 8 p.m. sailing was more than 50 per cent full as of 3:10 p.m.

The company said it was unsure what was driving the huge demand, but they guessed it might be linked to favourable weather for travelling.

 

Service shutdown in Comox

Meanwhile up-island, the new Salish Raven vessel that services Comox-Powell River was taken out of service due to mechanical issues.

BC Ferries said it developed propulsion issues Wednesday night and the problems persisted through Thursday morning.

The issues forced ferry cancellations between the two communities on Thursday.

The Salish Orca vessel has since been brought out of refit to service the route until the Salish Raven is back up and running.