Approaching Ketchikan took place under gathering clouds. The closer we came to Tongass Narrows the greyer the sky turned and by the time we were five miles from the dock, it started to rain and drizzle. Ketchikan lived up to its reputation. Luckily for all of us, the rain later moved away and by the time we sailed the sun was shining and it was a beautiful sail away.
We picked up the pilot around 5 am. at Twin Island which is at the far Eastern side of Ketchikan, about 20 miles away from the dock. This is where the Alaskan inside passage starts on paper and from where the pilotage becomes compulsory. Taking over the pilot from the pilot boat is an affair that is carefully planned and executed. It can be a dangerous operation during bad weather but even during perfect conditions stepping from a small boat into the door of a big ship, while both are traveling at 10 to 12 miles of speed, has to be planned and executed properly otherwise the pilot might end up in the water or even worse get crushed between pilot boat and ship.
Thus when we call the pilot boat, the first thing that is being discussed is the best (lee side) for boarding, the speed during the transfer and the location of the transfer. As soon as ship and pilot boat come to an agreement, the whole operation comes in motion. The ship slows down and the pilot break door is opened by the boatmen. These are specialized sailors whose main duty it is, to open break doors, rigg gangways, and maintain lifeboats. They are hooked up with safety lines to the ship, so while they are doing their job, they cannot fall overboard. If it is a small or low (above the water) pilot boat, the pilot ladder is rigged. Before the pilot steps on board the ladder is checked and tested by the officer supervising the transfer. If there is big pilot boat coming alongside, the pilot sometimes only requests a hand rope to hang on to when stepping onto the ship.
As mentioned, the transfer is supervised by an officer. This has to be a licensed officer, e.g. a navigator with a deck officer license. This is an international rule and has been made up to ensure that there is at all time’s good supervision for the pilot transfer. Same goes for the pilot ladder. Also here are specified international rules. The rope ladder with wooden steps is only allowed to be used for this one particular purpose. It is not allowed to be painted (so you can see cracks if they occur) and should be in a good and clean condition. On ships with a high hull, such as tankers in ballast, the rope ladder quite often ends at a more regular gangway which the pilots then can climb to the deck. Some ships have little pilot lifts to bridge the large vertical distance. Cruise ships have doors close to the water line for tender service and provisioning so here the pilot does not need to climb more than one or two steps.
Pilot boats are there in all shapes and sizes. From merely a rowing boat with an outboard engine, to “mean machines” that can operate in even the worst weather. Some pilot boats are just regular boats; some boats have been especially built for the purpose. I have attached a few variations of boats that we come across on our travels. There is also the option to bring the pilot on board by helicopter. The general consensus among pilots is that they do not like it very much as it means them being lowered onto an un-controlled environment (ships deck) with quite often a lot of turbulence around the helicopter due to the moving ship and the wind blowing around the ships superstructure.
In a row, dutch pilotboat, Fort Lauderdale, Prince Rupert (for the BC pilots), San Francisco and the yakutat pilot boat
Apart from the word “Pilot” painted on the side, most pilotboats can also be recognized by the H flag (white and red vertical: meaning I have a pilot on board)
We only board one pilot by pilot boat in Alaska and also for going off, it is only one. The 2nd pilot comes onboard in the first port and leaves in the last. Most of the time we have two pilots onboard as the stretch to be traveled between the ports is most of the time longer than 8 hours. This requires a second pilot to relieve the first one.
We left on time for Haines, where we should have reasonably good weather tomorrow. There is southerly wind and that means that the mountains should be blocking the rain from drifting in.
July 14, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Captain Albert, I have really enjoyed reading your blog since I discovered it. We sailed with HAL in May ’04 from Seward on the Ryndam and your blog has explained and reminded us about so many things on that trip. We are sailing this Aug 29 th on the Veendam from Seward, but I understand that you will not be on the ship at that time. I just wanted to tell you that your blog is so informative and that we are disappointed that we will not have a chance to sail with you this trip !
July 15, 2008 at 4:09 am
Captain: Please clarify………… if you already have a pilot onboard as you stated in your comments above, then why is it necessary to take on a pilot at each port of call? I just a bit confused by your comments stated in your next to last paragraph above.
July 15, 2008 at 9:45 am
Captain Albert,
Want to thank you for writing this blog as it gives me a much better insight as to the complicated nature of providing a great vacation experience to guests aboard. Was on an 11 day run from Seattle to Seward and back in 2005 and was facinated by all the activity about the ship while in transit and proceedures involved in docking and undocking at different ports.
I do have a question —– I noticed that while docking, between 8 and 10 lines are payed out to secure the ship to the dock. I also noticed the large tidal fluctuations and was curious as to how proper tension is maintained on the lines. Is the tension maintined automatically through the windlass or are there crewmembers assigned to monitor the lines and manually adjust them as needed? Thanks and I look forward to reading more of the Veendam and her travels.
Another quick question — is the Veendam, do to her size, able to take routes the larger ships (100,000 plus) can not?