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Crossing the Bar: The Adventures of a San Francisco Bay Bar Pilot (Paul Lobo)

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Crossing the Bar: The Adventures of a San Francisco Bay Bar Pilot (Paul Lobo)
There is nothing placid about San Francisco Bay. Its raucous waters have hosted brutal storms, daring rescues, horrendous accidents, and countless hours of drama and tension. Captain Paul Lobo knows that better than most people. As a federally and state licensed ship pilot of unlimited tonnage for those treacherous waters, Captain Lobo piloted nearly 6,500 ships in a thirty-one year career--everything from mega-yachts, to the USS Enterprise, to TV's Love Boat. Each trip tells its own story, and the Cap'n shares many sea stories,all true. Readers will find gripping, tense adventure stories, all well told.

Reading Crossing the Bar is like being on the rolling bridge with Captain Lobo. Here are tragic deaths and lives saved, inspiring rescues, devastating storms, and the infamous and horrendous oil spill after the Cosco Busan rammed the Oakland Bay Bridge--resulting in the first known imprisonment of a maritime pilot for making an error.

Readers will also find a December sea rescue Captain Lobo was involved during a winter storm with hurricane strength winds and monstrous seas.Without Captain Lobo, two other pilots and the pilot boat crew and their supreme effort, the ship they saved would have foundered on California's Marin County rocky coast line with the loss of all hands. A must read for mariners and armchair mariners alike.
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Article What is a Maritime Pilot? From "Crossing the Bar, The Adventures of a San Francisco Bay Bar Pilot" by Captain Paul Lobo

by Capt. Paul Lobo - published on 22 September 2020

Chapter 3 from the book "Crossing the Bar, The Adventures of a San Francisco Bay Bar Pilot" by Captain Paul Lobo, available on Amazon (link below)

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Opinion The valet parker for ships

by Bianca Reineke - published on 14 November 2020

Review of Capt. Paul Lobo's book "Crossing the bar". The valet parker for ships: More than 30 years of being a Pilot. Book Review by Bianca Reineke, Germany

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Opinion Book review: Practical Ship Handling, Fourth Edition, by Malcolm C. Armstrong

by Kevin Vallance deep sea pilot and author - published on 5 June 2020

Some ship handlers today use electronic instruments from start to finish and these ships usually have powerful engines and thrusters and an almost unlimited number of personnel on the bridge.

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Video "Swiss Cheese" by Ahmed Sati

by Captain Ahmed Sati - published on 13 August 2024

The theory of the 'Swiss cheese' model of incident causation and investigation.

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Article Study on European maritime pilots: Working unusual hours and its relationship to job satisfaction

published on 1 October 2025

This article was published some time ago but is still up to date: The study focuses on maritime pilotage in seven European countries and analyzes the level of job satisfaction and its predictors.

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Opinion Piloting in a Pandemic – A Personal Perspective

by William Hargreaves - published on 25 March 2021

Article and pictures by Captain W J M Hargreaves, Retired Southampton Pilot

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Article Navigation alternative in the event of GNSS failure due to jamming or spoofing

by TRENZ GmbH - published on 7 April 2025

What happens when GNSS fails? In maritime navigation, this isn’t a hypothetical scenario – it’s a growing risk. Spoofing, jamming, and GNSS outages are increasing, especially in the Baltic Sea region. A failure can cripple navigation systems – with potentially serious consequences.

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Video Pilot boat Lorient harbor - Storm Ulla 2014

published on 18 October 2020

Approche d'un navire gros colis par mauvais temps en 2014. Pilotone Troenn de Lorient

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Video My First MEGA SHIP Voyage - Didn't See This Coming!

published on 19 August 2025

It’s my first voyage taking over solo watch as a navigating officer – from bridge commands to monitoring traffic and weather, every second counts. Once we arrive in Ningbo, it’s straight into cargo operations, intense mooring work, and pilotage.

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Article Simulation of Maritime Helicopter Operations with Pilot Assistance for Enhanced Ship Deck Landings

published on 19 January 2022

Pilot-in-the-Loop simulations embedded to a high-resolution maritime environment.

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