The first volume of Pilots concentrated on the stories of American and British schooners. Volume 2 enters what for many will be a less familiar world... that of the remarkable pilot brigs and small undecked craft. Schooners range from the Hiates of Portugal to the beautiful station boats of the North Sea ports of Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, and France. The development of the schooners themselves into such highly sophisticated craft is traced from regional predecessors. Volume 2 of Pilots is not just about boats — the sailors also have their role. The book follows highly difficult manoeuvres under sail, dangerous transfers at sea, the routine of everyday life, and the perils of heavy weather including ships wrecked and lives saved. All aspects of a spectacular and previously unpublished maritime tradition are considered, not forgetting the competitions between pilots to be the best crews.
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Video Disembarking of Danpilot at Skagen V73
published on 15 June 2020
Video Pilot Boat Marseille France port
published on 15 October 2021
Opinion New guidance for PBAs with trapdoors. Released 4.11.2020 by NZMPA
by New Zealand Maritime Pilot's Association - published on 6 November 2020
New guidance for PBAs with trapdoors. Released 4.11.2020 at NZMPA Conference in Dunedin, NZ. Distinct difference to suggestions in many other countries, is that we challenge operators who have the ladder suspended from the accommodation ladder (gangway) and not secured to the ship. SOLAS states that pilot ladder shall be secured to the ship, and securing strongpoints, shackles and ropes shall be as strong as the sideropes.
Article Belgium: Shipping Delays Persist as Pilots Continue Pension Protest
published on 13 October 2025
Article UK MAIB spotlights pilot ladder incidents and accidents
by UK MAIB - published on 28 August 2023
Video Aluminum Welding, Fabrication of Pilot Boats: Snow & Company, Inc,
published on 23 March 2022
Article Sandy Hook pilot Dennis Sherwood has died after falling during embarking
by Marine-Pilots.com - published on 30 December 2019
Video Another Trip From Pilot boat to Vessel's Bridge
published on 14 February 2022
Continuing with the pilot-boarding series, here it is another day in paradise: Doing my normal routine, climbing towards the bridge, in order to start Master-Pilot Information Exchange for a safer berth operation
If you want to see the second part of this ship (From Vessel's Bridge to Pilot boat), go to https://youtu.be/jNvb6gXRHRc
