Pilot boat

This article is about the boat type. For boats named Pilot, seePilot (disambiguation).

Not to be confused withboat pilot.

Pilot boat in Victoria, British Columbia

Woodenpilot cutterLizzie Mayunder sail inBrest, France

New YorkSandy Hook pilotboatPet,No. 9.

New York Pilot Schooner No. 17Fannie,by Conrad Freitag

Apilot boatis a type of boat used to transportmaritime pilotsbetween 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 themaritime pilotgo back toAncient GreeceandRomantimes, when incoming ships' captains employed locally experiencedharbourcaptains, mainly localfishermen,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 ownfishing boatsto 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 mastedcuttersand twin mastedyawls,and latterly into the specialistpilot cutter.These were effectively light-weight and over-powered single-masted boats with large, steeply angled keels, making themdeep draftunder power and shallow draft in lighter sail.

If legend is to be believed, the first officialBristol Channelpilot was barge master George James Ray, appointed by the Corporation of Bristol in May 1497 to pilotJohn Cabot'sMatthewfromBristol harbourto the open sea beyond theBristol channel.In 1837 Pilot George Ray guidedBrunel'sSS Great Western,and in 1844 William Ray piloted the largerSS Great Britainon her maiden voyage.

Use by country

United States

In 1840, there were only eight New York pilot boats. They were thePhantom,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 theVirginia,No. 8.

In 1860 there were twenty-one New York pilot boats and four under the New Jersey dispensation.

Number	Ship Name	Tons	Number	Ship Name	Tons
No. 1	Moses H. Grinnell	90	No. 12	W. J. Romer	90
No. 2	Edmund Blunt	120	No. 13	Mary Ann	70
No. 3	Charles H. Marshall	110	No. 14	Edwin Forrest	100
No. 4	Washington	80	No. 15	J. D. Jones	115
No. 5	David Mitchell	80	No. 16	Christian Bergh	100
No. 6	Mary and Catherine	90	No. 17	Fannie	80
No. 7	Ellwood Walter	100	No. 18	James Stafford	70
No. 8	Isaac Webb	96	No. 19	Mary A. Williams	90
No. 9	James Avery	80	No. 20	Nettle	65
No. 10	J. M. Waterbury	80	No. 21	W. H. Aspinwall	90
No. 11	George W. Blunt	130

In the spring of 1896, the New York and New Jersey pilots discarded pilot-boats and moved them to theErie Basinin 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 inFleetwood,SwanseaandLiverpool.In Liverpool, thePioneer,No. 6 was built in 1852 and was 53-tons. The clipperGeorge Holt,No. 10 was built in 1892.

India

The Bengal Pilot Service was established by the BritishEast India Companyto controlpiloting.The pilot boats were responsible for guidingEast Indiaman,and other vessels, up and down theHooghly RiverbetweenCalcuttaand the sea.

Some historic pilot boats still sailing

• EighteenBristol Channel Pilot Cuttersare believed to survive worldwide
• German pilot schooner,Elbe, No. 5was launched in 1883 and had a long history as pilot boat, as private yacht namedWander Birdand later as home to hippies in San Francisco, before returning to Germany and being restored as a traditional sailing boat
• German pilot schoonerCuxhavenwas launched in 1901 and survived as a sailing boat, renamedAtalantaand still active as a traditional sail training ship
• US motorboatUSSCaliforniawas completed in 1910 and served inWorld War Ion harbor patrol duty
• US two-masted gaff-rigged schoonerAdventuresslaunched in 1913, saw service as a pilot boat, and duringWorld War IIserved with theUnited States Coast Guard
• US two-mastedgaff-riggedschoonerZodiacwas built as a racing sailboat in 1924 and namedCaliforniaafter being acquired by theSan Francisco Bar Pilots Associationfor use as a pilot boat
• US schoonerRoseway,built in 1925, owned by the Boston Pilot Association for thirty years until 1973, now a registeredU.S. National Historic Landmarkoperating in Boston and St. Croix, USVI by World Ocean School,Camden, Maine
• US pilot-boatMoses H. Grinnellwas built in 1850 and designed byGeorge Steers.It was owned byGeorge W. Blunt.In 1863, theGrinnellwas hit by the steamerUnionon the outerMiddle Ground.TheGrinnellwas named afterMoses H. Grinnell,a successful New York merchant and shipper.

TheZodiacandAdventuressare both listed with theNational Register of Historic Placesand are now cruising inWashington stateafter restorations.

Modern pilot boats

Modern pilot boats can be from 7 metres to over 25 metres (23–82 ft) in length, built to withstand heavy seas and bumping against 100,000 tontankerand 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,monohullhullforms are most commonly used, though examples ofcatamarans,SWATHsand Wave Piercing Hullsalso 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

• Pilot boats
• 
  Pilot boat rounding lighthouse at Victoria, Canada and heading out to guide in a ship
• 
  Pilot boat pulls alongside a cruise ship
• 
  An orange-colored pilot boat at berth in the Marjaniemí harbour in theHailuoto Island,Finland
• 
  German pilot boats, normally stationed at sea
• 
  H(otel)signal flag
• 
  Pilot boat inAlmeria,Spain,showing the white-over-red night lighting
• 
  Pilot boatPolluxserving the port of Rotterdam
• 
  Pilot boatGolden Gatein San Francisco Bay soon after launch
• 
  Pilot boat L 238 off the coast of Helsinki.

Signalling

Pilots identified pilot boats with a large number on themainsailand by flying a large pilot flag, bisected vertically into two colours, 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 wordPILOT(orPILOTS) is written in clearly visible, large, letters on the sides.

At night they have special navigation lights: in addition to the "normal" navigation lights,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 colours, 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

External links

• The Sandy Hook Pilots website
• Digital Commonwealth Pilot Boats website
• Current List of Pilot Boat Manufacturers worldwide