BC Ferries has confirmed that the Northern Adventure will be delayed coming out of refit, and won't replace the Queen of Prince Rupert until after mid-April.Deborah Marshall, BC Ferries spokesperson, told the Observer Wednesday that Ferries decided to delay the Northern Adventure's return to the Rupert-Skidegate route because of work on other vessels."We had a bunch of things going on," she said, "We only have so much manpower." She also said the decision makes sense because the Queen of Prince Rupert is still available to serve islanders.Last week, NDP ferry critic Gary Coons said the Northern Adventure would be delayed because of winter damage to its heating system. Ms Marshall confirmed there were some leaking pipes on the vessel when they started it up, but the damage is far less than the $1-million mentioned by Mr. Coons. "The numbers aren't all in," Ms Marshall said, "but (repairing the damage) is in the neighbourhood of $200,000".She also said Ferries is not sure what caused the leaks, as the vessel had been winterized as is normal.The Queen of Prince Rupert was scheduled to leave the islands for the last time on Thursday March 26, but that won't happen now until after April 16, when the Northern Adventure's refit is finished and it sails north.After its final voyage, the Queen of Prince Rupert will be decommissioned. It's been serving islanders since the early 1980s.