Comes Sailing Home / Fin! Thrill
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THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C. NOVEMBER 2. \930. 7 When the Ocean Greyhound x • Comes Sailing Home / Fin! Thrill. as Haßiioitaiitg U Pm- - V bBL wfl *§ ? n ?¦ ggg£M| —r; ppra r- x - f T|ri-wL‘ '-^S near Ambrose Light. The gray leaving queen After quarantine a sea is pushed and pulled up the bay by in- “All steamships, no matter what their slae, sky holds no promise of the sun. An until, uith the aid have odd characteristics, like 80-mile gale blows out of the north- dustrious little tugs of her ou'n engines, she is finally made just human be- 17 ings,” said William S. McLaughlin, the favorite east. The waves heave into moun- in the shadou the New York sky line. fast of pilot of the Leviathan's skipper, who recently DAWNtains, with deep and dangerous val- engaged controversy pilots’ in with the asso- leys in between. a the station boat sends out a yawl, the pilot the men ashore ar.d the men waiting their turn ciation because he wanted McLaughlin on every The pilot boat tosses and rolls. A huge bulk drops into the little boat and. arriving at the for piloting. trip. pilot vessel, writes his the blackboard looms out of the gloom, spots the bobbing mid- name on Whether it is a freighter or a fast trans- “You go aboard a certain ship one morning get and slows down to await a pilot, who will in the saloon. Then he waits his turn to board atlantic liner, it's all the same to the pilot, and you find her as hard to handle as a human aee it safely into dock. an incoming vessel. since the association collects all the fees and being who gets up with a grouch. Aboard the pilot boat two youngsters stand Ifincoming shipping takes off the pilots faster he shares equally in the distribution. ‘‘A half hour later she will be as docile as a near the 17-foot yawl. They are apprentices, than they are brought down to the pilot boat When he boards a boat he hopes for a hull kitten. about 20 years old, and as the pilot comes on a relief vessel streams out with another group, that will answer promptly to its helm and a "No, I can't explain why. They are just that deck, bundled in hip boots and oilskins, the transfers them if the weather is good or waits quartermaster who knows his business. There way—hard to handle sometimes and easy to boys step into the little boat. outside until Its complement is used up while is a popular notion that a pilot commands the handle at others. The pilot boat lifts on a wave, drops back the station boat returns to the dock. ship from the moment he boards her until she “Take the Leviathan, for instance. She is again; the boom holding the little boat on a Coastwise steamships are not required to is safe in dock, but the pilot Is merely a coun- about as obstinate a ship as any one would single line springs out, the winch lets her down ship pilots, nor are men-of-war or small boats, selor. not a commander. care to guide in and out of the harbor. Her and she is safely in the sea. such as private yachts. Yet the Sandy Hook He is an expert upon whom the captain sister ship, the Majestic—both ships are virtu- The boys swing the yawl back as the pilot pilots have plenty to do, since they handle most usually relies for advice, but the captain re- ally identical in sise and construction—handles lumbers down the ladder and drops into the of the ships which carry approximately half mains the boss of the ship just as he is on the as easily as a well behaved colt. You can do stern, and they pull with all their might to the the total imports and exports of the United high seas. anything you want with the Majestic, but the liner —. States. horse nearby. is a profession which requires a Leviathan is a of a different color. She’s A Sandy Hook pilot is a traffic guide piLOTING balky.” The liner is hove to. forming a lee behind in what long and arduous apprenticeship, there safety for craft making is probably the busiest harbor but which there is the small in the world. is no lack of youngsters Even in good weather the pilot has his prob- slow He cannot choose wind or weather, but eager to enter the headway to her side. The waves twist and is on ranks. Sea experience is helpful, but the pilots lems when he is bringing the bigger boats turn and tilt the tiny yawl, but expert call to take boats in or out of the harbor when- seaman- come from all walks of life. A pilot-to-be through the upper bay and up the Hudson. ship at last brings the pilot close to the steel ever a skipper hails. must Arabic, storm, have the best of health and good eyesight, and The crippled by a once limped hull. must He know the bottom of Ambrose Chan- a place is made for him only when a pilot dies in with a 10-degree list. A freighter on fire A rope ladder rolls down the side of the ship nel, the floor of the Narrows and the ground or when one retires voluntarily at 65 or on for three days, with her decks so hot that the and a line for the pilot's kit bag. The kit is lines in the upper bay and up the Hudson as account of sge at 70. ' feet of the crew were blistered racing across drawn up, the pilot leaps ladder, as for the and well as a taxi driver knows the streets and First there is eight years’ service as deckhand, them, was taken through the Narrows and he tightly skiff pulls alleys. clutches it and the away downtown boat-tender, mate and pilot boat captain. beached by a Sandy Hook pilot. the liner yaws sharply and he is buried He to his In clear weather, If the barges and be- must have strength, grit and skill row The swell created by the liners worries tthe shoulders in tows to the the sea. have and don't ask Imperatively right- yawl from pilot boat to liner again, pilots. Down at Sea Gate a Summer resort, by for the and back He climbs frantically, hampered his clumsy of-way or saucy small craft don't shoot reck- even in the worst weather, when the skiff the residents have frequently complained that clothes, as the ship rolls back and crashes him lessly across the bows of the liner, it is no great slides and tilts in the menacing curves of heavy the wash of the big ships had almost drowned against the side. His feet pulls slip and he strain to guide the big boats up to their docks, waves. a crowd in bathing and the pilots have orders himself grimly hand-over-hand as the ladder since the harbor lights and buoys mark the There are long watches, little shore leave to slow down In passing through the scanter swings out jvith each wallow the ship and passages. of and channel as clearly as curb lines and street pay from sls to S4O a month. bangs against the plates. A loose grip or a false Then there is lights on a metropolitan highway. But when live years’ service deputy pilot, The big passenger ships need a speed of 13 step and he is swallowed into sea, as in which he up the his fog drops down in a soggy blanket begins by or 14 knots to handle keep their headway, heavy boots and wind guiding boats of 18 feet draught, then and and cumbersome coat giving him and wave beat with elemental force, piloting 24, 28 and 32 feet before and greater speed causes a suction in the Hud- little chance for life; a fate that has been is he becomes the equal perilous and the responsibility .of seeing hun- ot the men who bring in the 900-foot liners. son which will swamp small craft and occas- suffered by men of his profession many times. dreds of lives and a multimiliion-dollar ship He will have taken a thousand ships up and ionally tear a liner loose from its pier. Forty feet he safely up up reaches the rail and an or down the Hudson and the water- down these water aisles before he climbs Because of the long training and ripe experi- officer is there to help him the ways to the aboard over side. On open sea is one that requires the biggest of them and stands on the bridge ence of Sandy Hook pilots, accidents in which deck the officer bridge; courage, judgment calls to the "Pilot nice and great skill. while the ship, leaving Ambrose, steams up the pilots figure are rare in the history of the aboard, sir!” The ladder is coiled up and the The development of piloting as an essential the channel through the Narrows, across the harbor. But there is danger in their adherence yawl, having watched him land in safety, starts profession, with supervision by the Stats, came upper bay and up the Hudson to the dock. to duty in rough weather, when the transfer way pilot Us hazardous back to the boat. The about during the middle of the last century in The apprentice sailing up from pilot boat to ship is fraught with hazard.