for the Bay and River Delaware. The Pilots are responsible for the safe
passage of each vessel transiting the Delaware Bay, Delaware River and
the Chesapeake-Delaware Canal. All vessels of foreign registry are
required to have a Pilot onboard to assure that the vessel arrives without
incident. Pilots are trained for specific waters and then licensed by the
United States Coast Guard as well as each individual state in which they
perform their duties. When a ship is arriving or departing, the Dispatcher
for the Pilots will notify us. It is our job to take the Pilot to a departing
ship or off of an arriving vessel. We go along side the ship to the Pilot
Ladder (Jacob's Ladder). At this time we must stabilize the boat and stay
in position for the Pilot to climb the ladder. Considering the fact that
ships sail at all times of the day and night and in all types of weather, we
must all be proficient boat operators. Some times we are maneuvering
between working tug boats, working against the current and the wake of
the tug. We often operate in dense fog conditions, where we have to locate
the ship on radar and then find the Pilot Ladder.
