Topic starter
19/11/2012 7:31 pm
Back in the "day", the only naviagational aid in the DQ's pilothouse was a marine radio which was about the size of a small steamer trunk. In order to change channels the pilot had to walk back to the radio, set the new channel and then turn the antenna trimming crank to get maximum signal strength.
The only river chart was stored in the drawer under the lazy bench and it was never brought out except to explain something to some passenger. Channel reports were either mailed or picked-up at a boat store. The pilots back then knew the river and were licensed only for the stretch of river they drew by memory. Yet you didn't see boats run aground nor wrecked on bridge piers or lock walls.
Now days they have GPS's, chart plotters, AIS's, thrice daily river bulletins, computers, etc., etc. Heck, pilots aren't even called pilot....they are navigational mates.
Are all today's naviagatinal aides really necessary?
19/11/2012 11:36 pm
I'm not sure they are all necessary, Jim, but they are required by the USCG to be there, and in fact, each item you mention plus several more must be checked off on a "Pre-Sailing Checklist" or "Voyage Plan". The electronics items mentioned are a great help in many situations, and are good tools, but they are only that...TOOLS. And just as a mechanic may have a hammer in his tool box or a carpenter a saw, those things are not needed when a screwdriver or a square are called for in a particular instance.
Much of the new requirements are a reaction rather than being proactive. I think GPS and electronic chart interface with GPS is a wonderful thing, since it shows who is around bends, their true speed, etc. This helps deal with folks who don't monitor the radio or who may have inadvertently turned the volume down, and it also eliminates lying about one's present position and their speed.
I might also beg to differ about boats running aground or hitting bridge piers or lock walls. those things happen and have been happening since boating began. Yes, I do think the First Class Pilots were better at what they did before the all-encompassing Master's license rule took effect, but then I consider myself a pilot and not (as the preferred term seems to be these days) a "wheelman". A wheelman I am not.
If I could have but one aid to navigation in the pilothouse, it would be the radar, hands down. That and the radio are all one really needs if they know what they are doing.
20/11/2012 8:57 am
I second that posting....i am a "river pilot"
AS MANY "MARINE INCIDENTS" OR MORE IN GOOD OLD DAYS. CREW MEMBERS COULDN'T TAKE PICS AND POST ON FACE BOOK BACK THEN. DAWN DISH DETERGENT TOOK CARE OF MANY "REPORTABLE" SPILLS.
MANY YACHTS HAVE BETTER ELECTRONICS THAN TOWBOATS. DAYLIGHT RADAR BEST INNOVATION FOR ME FOLLOWED BY CELL PHONE (PHONE A FRIEND FOR INFO.....while deck crew on cell phones they don't learn about my job!....love em).
ON TAX RETURNS OR ANYTHING ELSE I LIST MY OCCUPATION AS "RIVER PILOT". WHEELMAN??? PLEASE!
21/11/2012 1:30 am
I agree with both of you. When people ask me what I do for a living, I tell them I am a pilot on the river. Even running the forward watch I'm still a pilot! I may technically be Captain of the boat, but I'm a pilot first. It was explained to me once when I was a kid growing up on the Ohio River the reason why pilots are still called Captain, even though that person is not running Master, is simple. It takes a Pilot to be Captain, but it also takes a Captain to be a Pilot.