I was away for the launch of the new SeaBus, the Burrard Pacific Breeze on December 23. However, several lucky blog readers made it on board and sent along photos and commentary!

(By the way, I’m told that the Breeze doesn’t have a fixed “in service” schedule this week, as a bit more staff training on the new SeaBus is currently underway. However, for the week of January 11, the Breeze is expected to be in service from 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Just in case you’re trying to catch it!)

Here’s devoted SeaBus rider Dave Olson pictured above. He wrote about the first sailing of the Pacific Breeze for the Vancouver Observer, and here’s a choice quote:

Along with my co-conspirator Rebecca AKA Miss604, we rode out the inaugural voyage outside in the breeze, on the upper deck. Nope, you can’t go there. We were invited to the bridge, interviewed the first officer (b. 1979) and checked out the spacey-looking bridge controls before stepping outside for the journey. We leaned on the rails and I waved to passing boats like an old sea commodore, I just needed a pipe to complete the perfect Vancouver morning.

Dave also says he’ll have a podcast up soon about the Breeze – I’ll link to it once it’s up.

Rebecca from Miss604 put up her own lovely SeaBus post describing the maiden voyage of the Breeze. You can also check out her full Flickr set of Pacific Breeze photos – she’s got some awesome photos of the bridge and the outer deck!

Jamey G took this shot of the Breeze upon the waves. Here’s the complete Flickr set of his Pacific Breeze photos: he’s even got a couple of Robert Waldman, the fellow who named the new SeaBus.

Everyone on board got a certificate saying they were on the inaugural ride – 2000 were printed, and were given away on the subsequent departures until they ran out. Here’s a photo from Adrian of the certificate. Check out his full blog post about the first sailing, as well as his Flickr gallery of photos from the inaugural trip. A neat quote:

I also had the opportunity to ride on the bridge of the new vessels. Saying it was cold was an understatement, but well worth the ride up. The views are nothing short of spectacular. I’m told that there will be a camera placed one of the seabus vessels during the Olympics, giving the official Olympic media the best views from Vancouver.

Dennis Tsang also got to ride the Breeze on its first day. That’s one of his photos above, and please do check out his full set of Breeze photos at Flickr!

And last but not least, check out this video from the North Shore Outlook about the voyage.

Feel free to e-mail me if you have more Breeze photos or such to share!

Edit: Josh Novosad has now sent along his gallery of Pacific Breeze photos. Enjoy!

Edit 2: Here’s a video from Raphael from the Pacific Breeze’s first day.

Edit 2: Bryan Gal has sent in his photo gallery of the Breeze. Thanks Bryan!