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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 Milford Pilots during lock down (Pilot Movie 3)

published on 1 August 2020

milford pilots during lock down

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Video Pilot Vessel "KOON". La Plata, Argentina

published on 9 November 2021

This video shows the Pilot Vessel "KOON" inside the Canal Acceso a Puerto La Plata when she arrived at Pilot Station Lanchas Del Este, La Plata Harbour, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.
The video was filmed by @ultrabarqueros

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Video Suez Canal UnBlocked - FREEEEDOM For The Ever Given

published on 30 March 2021

The mega containership M/V Ever Given which is free from the Suez Canal. Captain John Konrad discusses how they did it and what happens next! MV Ever Given Freed! Suez Canal Set for Reopeninghttps://gcaptain.com/mv-ever-given-freed-suez-canal-set-for-reopening/ Suez Chaos Will Take Months To Clear Says Maersk https://gcaptain.com/suez-chaos-will-take-months-to-clear-says-maersk/ New York’s Ever Given Crisis Is Bigger Than Egypt’s But Buttigieg Sits Silent https://gcaptain.com/destroy-city-...

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Opinion One-off pilot error did not render port unsafe

by Tom Macey-Dare KC, Martin Dalby, and Joshua Thomson - published on 12 April 2023

In this charterparty dispute, the arbitral tribunal rejected the Owners’ claim for damages for breach of the safe port warranty in a time charterparty, after a laden bulk carrier grounded at the entrance to the port of Chaozhou, China, while under compulsory pilotage. It also held that the vessel was unseaworthy, in breach of Article III.1 of the Hague Rules, due to lack of proper charts, but found on the facts that this was not causative of the grounding.

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Video S-100 in confined waters: an official IHO testbed and sea trial

published on 27 April 2026

What happens when next-generation maritime data is put to the test in some of the most complex navigational environments? This video shares insights from a major international S-100 simulator trial, delivered in collaboration with Carnival Corporation’s CSMART training facility and a wide network of global partners. Together, we explored how S-100 data sets perform in realistic, high-pressure bridge scenarios—particularly in confined waters where precision and timing are critical. Bringing...

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Video Open Waters Program Launch - Maritime Career Development Program

published on 21 January 2022

Open Waters Program Launch - Maritime Career Development Program
Louisiana River Pilots Association - Crescent River Port Pilots - New Orleans-Baton Rouge Steamship Pilots Association

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Opinion Time to drop the pilot? [The wet Detective]

by Mike Wall, Baird Maritime - published on 11 December 2020

The term pilot is defined as, “a person who is qualified and usually licensed to conduct a ship into and out of a port or in specified waters.” The Merchant Shipping Act 1894 states that, “a pilot is any person not belonging to a ship who has the conduct thereof.”

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