What Is It About River Pilots ??

It is the river, Ted. Is there anything more beautiful than looking at a lock at ten minutes to six in the morning, knowing that you are twenty minutes away from it? The gauzy, pearly light, a couple of vagrant clouds, no wind, the aroma of coffee and bacon, and the sound of your partner climbing the stairs - ah that's heaven!

What makes all live near each other. Remember I used to live only a couple blocks from you in Mandeville. My deckhand's, on the Belle, father is a Cresent Pilot. After moving to Mandeville I cann't stop counting all the other pilots I meet. Maybe St. Tammany Parish should be renamed Pilot Town.

River Pilots

I think maybe Alan Bates is right. Hate to admit that. I really think it is the river itself. People away from our industry just do not understand the connection between man and the water. I've been at this for 55 yrears and I still don't really understand, but I know I'd never be happy somewhere else. The river and I have a love / hate relationship but most of all it has my respect. That's why I built my home only 200' from the water up here on the Ohio at mile 448.5 and yes, its come up and knocked on my door and given me grief. However 99% of the time its my beautiful companion.

As to Alans reference to the lock, I'll bet he was running on slow bell.

Not by any means to denigrate your beautiful response, but I think it is being in the profession of waterborn craft in general. When I was a volunteer sailor on the bark Elissa, post DQ, every professional mariner I came into contact with, whether a tug boat captain, a super tanker captain, or an off shore supply boat captain, we had an instant connection. There's really not that much difference. Tacking a square-rigger is about the same thing as swinging the stage on the DQ. I was amazed to find this out. My husband, whose waterborn circles were totally different from mine, is proof of that.

Only until 5:30, Bill. Only until 5:30.

At the risk of sounding snobbish, I'll say that professional or trade membership is a common thing on and off the rivers. As a musician the only criterion is, "Can the guy play his horn? Nothing else matters - not color, race, political bias or anything else. On a construction site I can spot an ironworker from a half-mile away. I never "clumb steel," but I've known a lot of those guys and they are a breed apart. Either you can climb steel or you can't. That is the entrance fee and the dues.
On the rivers, either you can take it or you can't. I did not make it as a pilot, but I took the knocks and shared the loads and discomforts and got a license. Like the rest of you, I can spot a fellow river worker from a half-mile away.

Shared happenings and hardship

I feel that one of the bonds of the River Rat is the shared hardships that the industry has plenty to go around. Another is the different type of work and work enviroment experianced working on any water borne vessel. Lastly is the shared knowledgement that there most likely are easier and better ways to make a living and yet the choice is to be on these, as an ex-wife called them, "Damn old boats".
I feel the physical closeness required on boats, certainaly tugs and tow boats, requires person to person interaction that might not happen on a shore job. The hours and days spent together has a good deal to do with it also. On a shore job, after 8 hours, you don't see your co-workers again until the next day and have a chance to interact with others, such as the people at home. On a tow boat the interaction choices are front and back watch or your pillow.
If you are not the type of person who can and does take pride in your work, I do not believe you will last long in the Marine industry. Part of any good boatperson I have dealt with was a desire to preform at their best, reguadless of presented hardships. This to me tends to breed a respect factor for others in the business. This respect is given up front but can be lost later if proven undeservied. Most persons making a living in the marine industry have great pride in there efforts, know there is no respect recivied unless respect is given and readly admit it's a damn lousy way to make a living but it has as much to do with who I am as it does with how I make a living.
If you have ever left the boats and worked on the bank, you understand what you had on the boats. I'm surpirsed at people I know who have been Capt and Chief on boats and then can't find any sort of decent job on the bank.
I feel that the job pride fostered on boats is also one of the reasons there is often friction between crew members or departments on boat. Finally, except maybe for police officers, I can't think of any job were people from different areas of work depend on each other so much. You may not always like your fellow crew members but you know you depend on each other and that forms a bond not found in many other forms of employment.
In my opinion, one of the reasons mariners enjoy sun sets and rises starts out as looking for some reason to validate why their in the position to even see sun up. From there it grows into a job benefit. Only another mariner truly understands this.

Fred, what a poigniant description, especially so since I know how badly you wanted that and also know how good a boatman you are. Capt. Way says in his book that pilotin' does come natural -- you can't teach someone how to be a pilot, he has to have it born into him. I guess I had enough of it born into me, but boy, I sure made some mistakes and had some hard-learned lessons.

Being pretty good at it also contributes to whether one likes it or not (as we are discussing in another thread). If a person is not any good at what they are doing and they are constantly frustrated, after a while the job and the life lose their luster and appeal. If I can come out here and not have to really work that hard, see the scenery and make a nice living, it makes it a whole lot more likable.

Paramedics, Fred. I got into that a few years after leaving the river and did it for 15 years volunteer and paid. Are you back out there?

I agree with Alan and Bill that it is probably being out on the water itself. And I think it doesn't matter if it's freshwater lakes, or rivers (might also include "blue water" for some, but I personally have little interest in ocean/sea work). My background is sternwheel excursion boating on freshwater lakes. The interest to get out on the water seems to be the same for me now on the river, as it was then, on the lakes.

I will say it's much more interesting to me being on navigable waters, rather than trapped on a lake, doing countless 10 mile trips around the lake's shoreline. I literally traveled around that lake 8,000 times over 10 years, at a leisurely 8 mph! But I wouldn't trade that experience.

So if it's true that water is the draw, then the next question is, how or why is that so?!
Just my thoughts on it...

Alan , You and Everyone Else Are So Right !

Alan , You and everyone is that replied and posted to this thread are SO VERY RIGHT ! In fact , I believe its all of these things that make " Life On The River " so very unique ! Its the hardships , its the comradie , its the beauty of a river sunset , its the other vessels you see on your destination , its not the destination but the journey . For me its the adrenline " RUSH " of close call encounters or getting socked out in SHUT OUT FOG , when making Algiers Point on a loaded tanker ! Its all these things ! Thank you one and all for your time and your reflections on why its just so unique about working and living on the river .

Alan Bates;9376 wrote: It is the river, Ted. Is there anything more beautiful than looking at a lock at ten minutes to six in the morning, knowing that you are twenty minutes away from it? The gauzy, pearly light, a couple of vagrant clouds, no wind, the aroma of coffee and bacon, and the sound of your partner climbing the stairs - ah that's heaven!

If I may be so bold as to enter a conversation among folks whose skills I have respected and admired for many years, I’d like to add a slightly different perspective.

My “boat” career began not on a steamboat, but on the Captain Red, an excursion boat running most days from either Ft Myers or Marco Island to Key West. The heading to KW from both ports is 180 degrees, so it was due South in the morning on the way down and due North on the way home at night, with Polaris right on our bow. Yes, I was the on board musician and that was my primary function. And often it was not just to entertain the folks, but to keep their minds off the fact that our 120 foot craft was bouncing around the sometimes angry Gulf of Mexico at around 24 knots. If I could hold their attention, there was less need for barf bags. I also learned how to perform, sitting on a stool without falling off whenever we hit a 6 footer head on.

But on a small boat with a crew of 5 or 6, everybody is a mariner. When not humming and strumming, I cleaned, served food, stocked provisions, had a fire station, took part in man overboard drills (I had to lower the ladder from atop the pilot house down two decks) and everything else the rest of the crew had to do.

During those 10 years on the Gulf, I fell in love with all things connected with working on the water. At night, 50 miles off the coast, there is no ambient light from shore. I was so lucky to be outside in the Lord’s planetarium. I learned about the stars and constellations. Orion was my pal. Sirius was my pet. Cassiopeia was my girlfriend and the Dippers, Big and Little were my compass.

Boat folks is boat folks, no matter what their billet. You have to be good at your job, but also, as Capt Ted pointed out, you have to be able to “live the life”. I know hordes of great musicians who could never cut it on a boat.

So I understand the bond. I have a boatload of respect for the deckhands, mates, pilots and masters with whom I have served. Even today, a captain I know will still get a salute and a “Hi Cap” from me. I never use their first name. But that respect is complimented by the shared experiences we all have. Traditional “mariners”, hotel folk, food and beverage servers and entertainers alike all hold in their hearts a love for what we do and where we do it. It never goes away whether on the water or on the bank.

That feeling came into stark focus this past Thursday evening when a lucky coincidence brought me to Memphis and I was able to make a surprise visit to the Mother Ship on her last visit to Memphis this season. First encounters with crew I haven’t seen in a couple of years or more featured conversations that started as if the last conversation was perhaps only a couple of days ago.

So, I guess what I can contribute to this discussion is that when you’re part of the family, you never forget …… and you’re never forgotton.

Hey Ted thats Paul Thoeney in the middle but who are the other two?

Capt. Finley Fraser is on the left. The other pilot on the right I'm pretty sure I recognize but unfortunately do not recall his name.

For me...............it's the Adventure and the Challenge

What draws certain people to the water?.......Adventures?........Challenges?

it's the "adventure" it brings..........something new around every bend of a river. Wondering if it's just like Tom and Huck would've seen it?

it's the orange and turquiose sunsets in the "oil-patch" a hundred miles out of Port Fourchon.

it's the challenge of cooking a meal in 12-14 footers in the Gulf!

it's the adventure of wondering what the H--L I'm doing out here after an eight-footer washes me across the cargo deck?

it's the challenge of dragging 1200 feet of dredge pipe out of Algiers lock and up to the Industrial lock without getting run over or killed!

it's the adventure of dragging said pipe across the Miss. Sound at 2.5 mph as the wind gets up and you wonder how the refrigerator missed your head as it flew so gallantly to the other side of the pilothouse!

it's watching the alligators watch me as I go up the Port Allen route and the Alabama river.

it's the Challenge of getting the Arkansas Queen thru six bridges with a full load of passengers and a heckuva current when the fog is so thick you can't see 'em till you're already there.

it's the Adventure you see in a kids eyes as you let them sit in the AQ's captain's chair and hold the wheel for a few minutes.........knowing you would've given your right arm to do the same at 6 years old.

it's the fun of being on TV in uniform!

it's knowing that the child I let drive the boat for a couple of minutes will remember it for the rest of their life then go tell their friends they drove the Arkansas Queen.

it's knowing that my Grandaddy Boone is watching from heaven and he knows that I love the river as much as he did.

Challenges..........and Adventures...........that's what life is for.