2006-06-27 07:22:28 · 3 answers · asked by Joyce W 1 in Travel ➔ United States ➔ San Francisco
a pilot isn't employed by the cruise ship but by the local Port Authority, and he ( or in a few cases she) will work on many different types of ships; anything entering or leaving a port. Pilots get put on or taken off ships by the Pilot boat, a sturdy 30-50 foot motor boat that, in the Bay area, hangs out by the Farollen Islands. Helicopters are rarely used.
The job of a pilot is to guide a ship the last ten or so miles into or out of a port; they, since they live there and do the trip many times a week, know local conditions, fogs, tides, currents better than a Captain just arriving. In most harbors, ships bigger than 100 tons MUST, by law, take a pilot aboard.
2006-06-27 07:32:27 · answer #1 · answered by yankee_sailor 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
he's there to guide ships to and from their berths in estuarys and the like where there are sandbanks and other hazards, he or she is put aboard or taken off by small boat when requested
2006-06-27 14:30:37 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do you mean captain?
2006-06-27 14:25:40 · answer #3 · answered by Tigger7 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋