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

published on 19 August 2025

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Article Colombo Dockyard delivers two pilot launches built for Sri Lanka Ports Authority

by Marine-Pilots.com - published on 30 December 2019

Colombo Dockyard PLC (CDPLC) at a ceremony held on Monday delivered two Pilot Launches as per an Agreement signed with Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) on 1st February 2019.

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Video Port of Liverpool - Pilot Boat "Petrel"

published on 4 August 2025

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Video Algoluna/Pilot Pickup - Port Huron

published on 22 March 2024

The pilot boat Huron Spirit picking up a District 3 pilot from the downbound oil/chemical tanker Algoluna on the St. Clair River in Port Huron/Sarnia on March 9, 2024 as captured on the StreamTime Live Camera.
https://www.youtube.com/live/eLUGwEv9IBk?si=O_QyOD3sAMvp_SQd

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Video A view to the other side: Pilot Ladder Preparation in South Korea

published on 3 June 2025

Other countries, other morals. What do you think about the work of the ship's crew? Do they work carefully in accordance with the regulations?

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