The Maryland Pilots between 1950-1965 (a journey through time)

Many people wonder how ships made it across entire oceans without getting lost in the seventeenth century. Aaron introduces seventeenth century navigation to us today by beginning with piloting.

Look at Life - City of Sailors - Portsmouth - 1965
Portsmouth is no longer the sea-faring city it once was; this film from the Documentary Series "Look At Life" Volume 5 - Cultural Heritage in 1965 looks at its changing face.

Let us start a journey back in time. Back to the black and white films of history. The times have changed, but it is good to know what kind of things have changed and where are the roots of pilotage.

Malta Maritime Pilots

There are some problems that never seem to go away and one is the perennial difficulties in providing a safe way of getting pilots on and off a ship.

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To monitor the vessel’s progress, the pilot had set up his portable pilotage unit (PPU). He had connected the rate-of-turn generator to the vessel’s pilot plug and had set a variable range marker on the radar with a radius of 0.5 nm.

Tag along as we journey through Suez Canal into Mediterranean Sea.
The ship is on a 77 days voyage from Asia to East Coast United States in which we've taken the Suez Canal route. By using Suez Canal instead of around cape of Africa, this will save more than 5000 miles of fuel and time.
The time-lapse was taken over 16 hours.

Metalcraft has recently built a Pilot Boat for Port Everglades Pilot's Association to a design by legendary naval architect Bill Preston. See her in motion and admire her sleek, purposeful lines - and hear what makes her design unusual and efficient.