Oregon camping, pilots and boats

June, 2021

“Pilots and boats”? What do airline pilots have to do with boats?

Well, there is a boating term … “pilot boat”. That might sound odd and you might wonder what a “pilot boat” is and does. All of you folks know that pilots fly airplanes so you might ask why there would be a pilot “boat”. Well, pilots do other things than just fly airplanes, although flying an airplane is critical work and takes training and experience. But some pilots don’t, in fact, fly airplanes … they pilot/steer/command ships … big ships … really big ships.

There are pilots in the world who have no airplane training at all. In fact, some of them may never have been on an airplane even as a passenger. But still, they are professional pilots. These pilots are trained to guide large ocean-going ships in through channels, in through a waterway, a slough, around islands and sandbars, up the deepest part of a river, into a specific port or destination. These types of pilots exist all over the world. They work onboard a ship as that ship enters the pilot’s home country waterways. The pilot has primary control of the physical steering and navigation of the ship … the captain and crew must take orders from the pilot. The pilot’s work is critical to the safety of the ship that they are guiding, and to every person who is on another boat around that ship … and to the safety of those on land … and to the safety of those women and men in the US Coast Guard and to other life-saving organizations in all other countries. And that’s not to mention the safety of the crew on the big ship … and we haven’t even mentioned the organization and people who own the ship and/or the cargo on board. Being a pilot of an ocean-going ship is a big deal.

You’ll remember our very own big ship coming into the Columbia River. And yes, the red marker buoy was on the right hand side of the ship as the ship was returning up-river from the ocean. Red, right, returning, as reader Rob very appropriately said.

And you’ll remember that our ship passed a number of other ships that were already anchored in the river.

And, yes, it passed by a great number of wood pilings that had Green Algae on them (thank you, Ruby).

And our ship passed by the very last ship that I could see, and then our ship finally anchored up-river from that ship.

I stood on the southern bank of the Columbia River and took those photos. And I continued to stand there and watch the clouds and the birds and the river. But eventually, I saw this …

A very fast boat zipped right past me and headed away from me, heading up-river. Turns out it was heading up-river to that big ship (our big ship) that had anchored. This fast boat then snuggled up against our big ship so that the pilot who was onboard could leave the big ship, climb back down into the fast “pilot boat”, and then he/she would be brought back to shore so he/she could go home here locally.

Once the pilot was off that big ship and onboard this small fast boat, this fast boat seemed to take its time getting back to the dock. I’d bet there are all kinds of times that the weather puts all of those people in grave danger, so for them to take a leisurely spin back to the dock seemed A-OK to me.

The accepted universal language of shipping is English. But not every captain knows English very well. And not every captain or crew knows the language of any other country that happens to be their destination. So local, professional, trained, experienced pilots fill those gaps for these huge ships and their crew all over the world. Every country has their own pilots.

All over the world, these professional pilots are put on an in-coming (or out-going) ship in order to guide large ocean-going ships into port (or back out onto the ocean after the ship leaves port), including piloting ships across the Columbia River bar (inbound or outbound). Having someone who knows the local terrain, the local water, the local weather, the local language, will go far to reduce the need for the US Coast Guard to dash into action to save ships and people.

In my last blog post, I was thrilled to see our ocean ship coming in under the bridge. How cool! You can bet that ship had a local pilot on board … someone who had already been taken out to the ship while the ship was still out on the ocean, not too far from the Columbia River. And then that pilot took the helm of the ship (likely with Captain and crew ready to assist if needed) and guided the ship into the Columbia River, across the bar, and then through a circuitous series of marker buoys on the river, under the bridge at Astoria, and further up the river in order to anchor the ship, in order to bring the ship in safely. The mouth of the Columbia River is dangerous … but once a ship is anchored up-river, then the pilot can be removed from the ship, and the ship will then continue up-river to its destination without a pilot.

When an ocean-going ship comes into a USA port, there will always be a USA pilot placed on board. When an ocean-going ship comes into a Philippine Islands port, there will always be a professional Filipino pilot on board. Once the ship is at port, or has proceeded a designated distance towards its port, then the pilot is removed from the ship by a “pilot boat”. And the reverse happens when a ship heads away from port, out towards sea.

So … that’s what a “pilot boat” is and does. Here below is a photo of a classic retired pilot boat. This one, as pilot boats do today, would have run out across the “bar”, out to ocean ships out on the ocean in order to put a pilot on a big ship in order to guide the ship into the Columbia River. The boat in the photo below was displayed right behind where I was standing while watching all of that other stuff. You might think pilot boats are small … they are huge. The Peacock is 89 feet long, with THREE engines, was built in 1967, and is self-righting, meaning that even if it capsized it would come back up above water and would come back up right side up without the help of any crew or engines.

Notice the smaller boat on the aft deck of Peacock. The boating/nautical term for such a boat is a “daughter”. I estimated this particular “daughter” to be about 35 feet long, no tiny boat herself!

This smaller boat was used to take the pilot (the human) from the Peacock over to the big ship and then retrieve the pilot at the end of the trip, whether up on the river inbound, or back out on the ocean if the ship was then outbound.

So, how the heck does this “daughter” get in the water? They can’t just toss it overboard, and there are no winches or davits and pulleys. Ah, but look at the stern of Peacock and you’ll notice a dark vertical line. And then look underneath too.

The entire aft end of Peacock opens up. It swings outwards and down on that huge hinge.

And then the “daughter” simply slides down into the water. I suspect there is a winch of some sort inside the Peacock that then retrieves the “daughter” when she returns to the pilot boat.

That was all very cool. I loved seeing all of that happen right in front of my eyes without even knowing any of it would be happening … the ship coming in and anchoring, the pilot boat heading up river to retrieve the pilot off the big ship, etc., as well as seeing this old classic pilot boat right behind where I just happened to be standing. I’m glad I turned around and looked! A friend of mine says this about life … drive slow, stop often, look everywhere.

But then, even more happened! Later that very same afternoon, I was no longer in Astoria, but was driving around the very small towns of Warrenton and Hammond, around the back waterways and along the Columbia River, always on off-shoot small roads. I was looking for something, never found it. BUT, I found something else that I didn’t know I was looking for. 🙂

I was lollygagging along this one back road, a dead end gravel road, kind of frustrated that I couldn’t find what I was looking for. I passed this building (photo below) and slowed WAY down because it looked interesting, so clean and professional looking. There was plenty of room in the driveway, outside the locked gate, for me to pull over and park.

So I pulled over and parked, and then I walked to the gate and took photos through the chain link fence.

Shipping pilots!! Wow, what a find. It’s where the pilot boats are moored. I practically danced. I quickly looked this organization up online on my phone and found they offered free self-guided tours of the buildings, and sometimes guided tours of one of the pilot boats. Oh my heart, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

But the gate was locked. Hmmm, what?

While I was standing there, a really nice fellow walked over to the gate (he was inside the gate). I first thought he would tell me to go away, but he didn’t. He apologized profusely for not being able to let me in, but because of COVID they had closed the building to the public.

He could see how interested I was. He asked why I was there, saying almost no one finds this place by accident. I told him about my two boats (and 29 years of boating on Puget Sound) and how fascinated I was with pilot boats, how deeply I appreciated the US Coast Guard and shipping pilots who risked their lives. He listened and nodded and then apologized even more profusely about not being able to let me in. He and I stood there and talked for more than an hour. He described what it was like to go out on a modern pilot boat, the dangers, the beauty, and the camaraderie of the women and men who do that work. He described the boat maintenace they did, the engines, the navigation equipment, the safety requirements, even bits about some of the personalities of the local pilots who they took out and/or retrieved from ships. He had the highest regard for those pilots!

He talked about the Columbia River Bar Pilots organization. Turns out, this river entrance is so dangerous that many years ago, the local pilots decided they didn’t want the US Coast Guard or Foss Tug company or anyone else deciding who would be hired, how they should be trained, etc. So the local pilots formed their own company, their own non-profit corporation, and got permission from the US government to be the only organization on the Columbia River to supply pilot boats and pilots out across the bar. And I had simply stumbled upon it while I was driving around.

[Note: You may have noticed that the small, fast pilot boat first photographed above is owned by Foss Tug. They are allowed to work on the river, but they are not allowed to cross the bar, the mouth, of the Columbia River.]

I could see one of the pilot boats at the dock (the 76-foot yellow Astoria). The fellow told me they are always ready to go, with captain and crew on-call to arrive within 15 minutes in an emergency. Though of course, most of their work is scheduled.

 

As mentioned, we stood and talked for over an hour. He could see I was passionate about boats, and about people who did this work, and it really hurt him that he couldn’t let me in. I didn’t ask to be let in, he could see it in my eyes. I took the photos above through the chain link fence. In the end, the fellow gave me his name and home phone number and told me to call him the next time I was in the area, but call a day or so before I got there, and he would get permission from his boss to let me in, no matter what! Rest assured, I have that info handy.

What a day, eh? Wow.

As I was driving back to the campground, I glanced over to my right, out over the Columbia River, and saw this ship coming down the river, outbound towards the Pacific Ocean. So I pulled over to take photos.

 

This ship was loaded to the gills! She was full of cargo and heading out to the Pacific Ocean. She surely had a pilot onboard to assist with the transit across the Columbia River bar. After this ship was safely out at sea, a pilot boat would snuggle up to the Ken Yo and would take that pilot off the ship and bring the pilot back to Astoria, to her/his home.

I wished the Ken Yo, her captain and crew, a safe journey.

Videos and links to interesting information: (turn your sound on)

For those of you who wish more technical information about the Columbia River bar, the river there, the water leading up to and past the city of Astoria, take a look at the NOAA chart (18521) of the area. You can double-click on the chart many times to enlarge it, and then move it around your screen by dragging it, in order to see more detail … including all of the green and red bouys.

Here’s a VIDEO of a pilot boat coming up beside an ocean ship on a very calm day in very calm water, and then the pilot boards the ocean ship. Notice that the pilot never, EVER, takes one hand off of the pilot boat until reaching for the ship, even in calm water. The pilot boat hangs around for a bit to make sure the pilot is safe. In the USA, pilots are trained to walk on the out-board side of the pilot boat so that if they slip and fall overboard, they aren’t pinned between the pilot boat and the huge ship … but in this video, the pilot walks on the in-board side of the pilot boat. This video is not from the USA so quite possibly there are different regulations and different training in other countries. Still, the video shows you how the transfer happens.

Here’s a VIDEO of a rough water boarding, interestingly with no crew on the pilot boat to assist the pilot. Notice that the pilot walks forward on the out-board side of the pilot boat, on the side away from the big ship, then he crosses over to the on-board side after he gets up to the bow of the pilot boat. One of the comments below the video says that the pilot boat appeared to have an Italian flag, and another comment said it definitely was in Italian waters, so again, maybe different regulations and training. Interesting nevertheless.

Here is wikipedia’s article about ship/maritime pilots … https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_pilot.

Here’s an informational VIDEO that I liked with a great description of what ship pilots do.

And, lastly, another VIDEO that describes what all of these men and women do, and the dangers involved … not just to the pilots, but to the captains and crew on those pilot boats too. Note this video was shot at the Columbia River bar.

I love boating. I loved both of my boats and all the cruising I did on them in Puget Sound for 29 years. With that experience under my belt, including some “interesting” boating experiences of my own in treacherous water/winds, although also in relatively protected water, with all of that experience of my own, these folks on these pilot boats absolutely astound me and so deeply impress me.