A pilot boat is a type of boat used to transport
maritime pilot
A maritime pilot, marine pilot, harbor pilot, port pilot, ship pilot, or simply pilot, is a mariner who maneuvers ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbors or river mouths. Maritime pilots are regarded as skilled profession ...
s between land and the inbound or outbound ships that they are piloting. Pilot boats were once sailing boats that had to be fast because the first pilot to reach the incoming ship got the business. Today, pilot boats are scheduled by telephoning the ship agents/representatives prior to arrival.
History
Pilots and the work functions of the
maritime pilot
A maritime pilot, marine pilot, harbor pilot, port pilot, ship pilot, or simply pilot, is a mariner who maneuvers ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbors or river mouths. Maritime pilots are regarded as skilled profession ...
go back to
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cu ...
and
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
times, when incoming ships' captains employed locally experienced
harbour
A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...
captains, mainly local
fishermen
A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish.
Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...
, to bring their vessels safely into port. Eventually, in light of the need to regulate the act of pilotage and ensure pilots had adequate insurance, the harbours themselves licensed pilots for each harbour.
Although licensed by the harbour to operate within their jurisdiction, pilots were generally self-employed, meaning that they had to have quick transport to get them from the port to the incoming ships. As pilots were often still dual-employed, they used their own
fishing boat
A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Many different kinds of vessels are used in commercial, artisanal and recreational fishing.
The total number of fishing vessels in the world in 2016 was ...
s to reach the incoming vessels. But fishing boats were heavy working boats, and filled with fishing equipment, and so a new type of boat was required.
Early boats were developed from single masted
cutters and twin masted
yawl
A yawl is a type of boat. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan), to the hull type or to the use which the vessel is put.
As a rig, a yawl is a two masted, fore and aft rigged sailing vessel with the mizzen mast p ...
s, and latterly into the specialist
pilot cutter
A cutter is a type of watercraft. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan) of a sailing vessel (but with regional differences in definition), to a governmental enforcement agency vessel (such as a coast guard or bo ...
. These were effectively light-weight and over-powered single-masted boats with large, steeply angled keels, making them
deep draft under power and shallow draft in lighter sail.
If legend is to be believed, the first official
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Se ...
pilot was barge master George James Ray, appointed by the Corporation of Bristol in May 1497 to pilot
John Cabot
John Cabot ( it, Giovanni Caboto ; 1450 – 1500) was an Italian navigator and explorer. His 1497 voyage to the coast of North America under the commission of Henry VII of England is the earliest-known European exploration of coastal Nor ...
's ''
Matthew
Matthew may refer to:
* Matthew (given name)
* Matthew (surname)
* ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497
* ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith
* Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chi ...
'' from
Bristol harbour
Bristol Harbour is the harbour in the city of Bristol, England. The harbour covers an area of . It is the former natural tidal river Avon through the city but was made into its current form in 1809 when the tide was prevented from going out per ...
to the open sea beyond the
Bristol channel
The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Se ...
. In 1837 Pilot George Ray guided
Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...
's ''
SS Great Western
SS ''Great Western'' of 1838, was a wooden-hulled paddle-wheel steamship with sails the first steamship purpose-built for crossing the Atlantic, and the initial unit of the Great Western Steamship Company. She was the largest passenger ship in ...
,'' and in 1844 William Ray piloted the larger ''
SS Great Britain'' on her maiden voyage.
Use by country
United States
In 1840, there were only eight New York pilot boats. They were the
''Phantom,'' No. 1;
''Washington,'' No. 2;
''New York,'' No. 3;
''Jacob Bell,'' No. 4;
''Blossom,'' No. 5;
''T. H. Smith,'' No. 6; ''John E. Davidson,'' No. 7; and the ''Virginia,'' No. 8.
In 1860 there were twenty-one New York pilot boats and four under the New Jersey dispensation.
[Charles Edward Russell, ''From Sandy Hook to 62°'', 1929, page 159]
In the spring of 1896, the New York and New Jersey pilots discarded pilot-boats and moved them to the
Erie Basin in Brooklyn. They were for sale because of the change from wood and sail to steel and steam pilot boats.
Great Britain
In Great Britain, pilot boats were rigged as schooners in
Fleetwood
Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the 2011 census.
Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830s, when the principal lando ...
,
Swansea
Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the C ...
and
Liverpool
Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
. In Liverpool, the ''Pioneer,'' No. 6 was built in 1852 and was 53-tons. The clipper ''George Holt,'' No. 10 was built in 1892.
India
The Bengal Pilot Service was established by the British
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sou ...
to control
piloting. The pilot boats were responsible for guiding
East Indiaman
East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...
, and other vessels, up and down the
Hooghly River
The Bhagirathi Hooghly River (Anglicized alternatively spelled ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli'') or the 'Bhāgirathi-Hooghly', called the Ganga or the Kati-Ganga in mythological texts, is the eastern distributary of the Ganges River in West Bengal, In ...
between
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...
and the sea.
[
]
Some historic pilot boats still sailing
* Eighteen
Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters are believed to survive worldwide
* German pilot schooner, ''Elbe, No. 5'' was launched in 1883 and had a long history as pilot boat, as private yacht named ''Wander Bird'' and later as home to hippies in San Francisco, before returning to Germany and being restored as a traditional sailing boat
* German pilot schooner ''Cuxhaven'' was launched in 1901 and survived as a sailing boat, renamed
''Atalanta'' and still active as a traditional sail training ship
* US motorboat
USS ''California'' was completed in 1910 and served in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
on harbor patrol duty
* US two-masted gaff-rigged schooner
''Adventuress'' launched in 1913, saw service as a pilot boat, and during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
served with the
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, m ...
* US two-masted
gaff-rigged schooner
A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoo ...
''Zodiac'' was built as a racing sailboat in 1924 and named ''California'' after being acquired by the
San Francisco Bar Pilots Association for use as a pilot boat
* US schooner ''
Roseway'', built in 1925, owned by the Boston Pilot Association for thirty years until 1973, now a registered
U.S. National Historic Landmark operating in Boston and St. Croix, USVI by World Ocean School,
Camden, Maine
Camden is a resort town in Knox County, Maine. The population was 5,232 at the 2020 census. The population of the town more than triples during the summer months, due to tourists and summer residents. Camden is a summer colony in the Mid-Coast ...
* US pilot-boat
''Moses H. Grinnell'' was built in 1850 and designed by
George Steers. It was owned by
George W. Blunt. In 1863, the ''Grinnell'' was hit by the steamer ''Union'' on the outer
Middle Ground. The ''Grinnell'' was named after
Moses H. Grinnell
Moses Hicks Grinnell (March 3, 1803 – November 24, 1877) was a United States Congressman representing New York, and a Commissioner of New York City's Central Park.
Early life
Grinnell was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on March 3, 18 ...
, a successful New York merchant and shipper.
The ''Zodiac'' and ''Adventuress'' are both listed with the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
and are now cruising in
Washington state
Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a U.S. state, state in the Northwestern United States, Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first President of the United States, U.S. p ...
after restorations.
Modern pilot boats
Modern pilot boats can be from 7 metres to over 25 metres in length, built to withstand heavy seas and bumping against 100,000 ton
tanker and cruise ships. They are high-powered and hence both very quick and durable purpose-built boats. They are normally painted a highly visible colour such as orange, red or yellow.
In terms of design,
monohull
right
A monohull is a type of boat having only one hull, unlike multihulled boats which can have two or more individual hulls connected to one another.
Fundamental concept
Among the earliest hulls were simple logs, but these were generally unsta ...
hullforms are most commonly used, though examples of
catamaran
A Formula 16 beachable catamaran
Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States
A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-sta ...
s,
SWATHs and Wave Piercing Hulls also exist. Although some pilot boats are still constructed from steel, the need to travel quickly means lighter weight materials such as aluminium, fibreglass and composites are now commonly used. In some instances, such as the Berkeley Class vessels produced in Australia, a combination of materials is used.
Gallery
Image:2021-11-19 03 PACIFIC GUARDIAN (Transport Canada Vessel Registration - 844850.jpg, Pilot boat rounding lighthouse at Victoria, Canada and heading out to guide in a ship
Image:Mar 2008a 049.jpg, Pilot boat pulls alongside a cruise ship
Image:Pilot Boat Marjaniemi Hailuoto 20160803 01.jpg, An orange-colored pilot boat at berth in the Marjaniemí harbour in the Hailuoto Island
Hailuoto (; sv, Karlö) is a Finnish island in the northern Baltic Sea and a municipality in Northern Ostrobothnia region. The population of Hailuoto is (), which make it the smallest municipality in Northern Ostrobothnia and the former Oulu Pr ...
, Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
Image:2pilot-boats hg.jpg, German pilot boats, normally stationed at sea
Image:ICS Hotel.svg, ''H(otel)'' signal flag
Image:Navigationlights Pilot.jpg, Pilot boat in Almeria, Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
, showing the white-over-red night lighting
Image:Pollux (IMO 9496953).jpg, Pilot boat ''Pollux'' serving the port of Rotterdam
Signalling
Pilots identified pilot boats with a large number on the
mainsail
A mainsail is a sail rigged on the main mast of a sailing vessel.
* On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast.
* On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the sail rigged aft of the main mast. The sail's foot i ...
and by flying a large pilot flag, bisected vertically into two colors, usually white and blue, which added to the boat's visibility. In distress, they would fire rockets and blue-lights at night. A brass signal gun was carried to be used when there was fog and sometimes on fair days.
Pilot boats are specially marked to indicate their function. During the day they fly the "H" flag and normally the word PILOT (or PILOTS) is written in clearly visible, large, letters on the sides.
At night they have special navigation lights: in addition to the "normal" navigation lights,
Navigation Lights
, visited 24 April 2012 a pilot boat has a white round light at top and below that a red round light, while a fishing vessel has the red light at top and the white light below.
To remember this, some people use the mnemonic "white cap, red nose" to reflect the idea that pilots consumed a lot of alcohol while waiting for ships, thus the white captain's cap with a red nose below it.
Pilot boats often also use bright colors, like flashy yellow, to make them clearly visible and distinctive in even the worst conditions. This last mainly applies to the so-called pilot tenders: the vessels that go to the ships to bring the pilot on board of arriving ships or pick them up from departing ships. Depending on the local situation the tenders might be launched directly from a nearby harbour or they are coming from the central (large) pilot station: a pilot boat located at a pre-defined location at sea near a pilotage area. In earlier days nearly all pilots came from a "pilot station" at sea, but with the modern very fast tenders it is often more practical not to have a permanently manned pilot station at sea, but transfer the pilots directly to/from shore.
See also
* List of Pilot boats
References
External links
The Sandy Hook Pilots website
Digital Commonwealth Pilot Boats website
Current List of Pilot Boat Manufacturers worldwide
{{Authority control
Ship types
Maritime pilotage
*