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- The latest issue: April 2010
PILOT TRAINING COURSES
Nautical Colleges offering Pilotage Training
History
Tyne Cruising Pilot Cutters
The first Tyne steam cutter : Pilot of 1852
The entrance to the River Tyne can be hazardous in bad weather for vessels under sail and was very much more so before the completion of the North and South piers.This fact posed many problems for Tyne Pilots operating a ‘Boarding Service’. Read the rest of this entry »
THPV Bembridge: Pilotage Heritage Preserved
A valuable element of UK pilotage heritage is being preserved by the restoration of the 1938 Trinity House cruising pilot cutter “Bembridge” for use as the head office and museum by the Polish shipping logistics group Magemar based in Szczecin.
THPV Bembridge on station. Photo: A Adams’ collection
The Bristol Channel Sailing Pilot “Skiffs”
In the October 2007 issue I ran a feature on the pilot gigs of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. That feature was based on information contained within a, long since out of print, book called “Azook” by Keith Harris who kindly permitted me to freely use his research for my article. In addition to the gigs, the waters of South West England were also frequented by another famous pilot craft, the Bristol Channel sailing skiff, or cutter as it now more commonly known as. Despite the ongoing massive popularity of this sailing design, the only authoritative book on the craft was written in the 1970’s by Peter Stuckey. The book was updated and re-published in 1999 but again has long since been out of print and used copies rarely appear and attract very high prices. At the time of writing there is one copy on the internet in the USA with an asking price of $216! In what was probably my best investment in recent years, I purchased a copy in 1999 when it was republished and Peter Stuckey has kindly granted me permission to use extracts from the book for this article. As an introduction, I cannot better Peter’s own which dedicates the book to: those brave men of the Bristol Channel who, with their stout boats, went seeking “downalong”
Read the rest of this entry »
Liverpool Retirements: Letter from Barrie Youde
S.S. William M Clarke: Cutter No4 on inspection day. c. 1937
Photo: Liverpool Pilots’ Archives
John Curry’s article on the retirement of Stuart Wood, Geoff Rafferty and John himself marks both a vintage year at Liverpool and nothing less than the end of an era in pilotage, quite possibly throughout the entire world.
SS fort Camosun & Japanese submarine I-25
The late ex Manchester pilot, John Law whose obituary appears here was on board the SS Fort Camosun when it was torpedoed of the NW Coast USA by the Japanese submarine I-25. The following is his first hand account of the action.
“We got off in Vancouver then made the short journey across the straits to Victoria, where the SS Fort Camosun was being built. Read the rest of this entry »
Piloting ship to ship transfers 1970′s
The Dutch tanker Nacia approaches a Bergeson VLCC / OBO. (pilot J. Morrison) These vessels were the largest two vessels to undertake the transfer operation. Photo E. Ramsay. The Isle of Arran is visible to starboard.
As many of you are probably aware there have been several proposals tabled during the last few years to permit ship to ship oil transfers at several locations around the UK coast especially for the export of oil cargoes from Russia where the depth of the Baltic precludes the use of large tankers. Read the rest of this entry »
The pilot cutter “Protector”
Wendy Cummin has kindly granted permission for her research into the loss of the pilot cutter “Protector” to be placed on this website. The photographs have been supplied by retired Harwich pilot, Andy Adams.
The pilot cutter “Protector”
Although not as common as in WW2, there were many civilian deaths in WW1. Read the rest of this entry »
TO BE A PILOT: THE STORY BEHIND A PAINTING
THE CHARLOTTE KILNER
Many pilots are descended from shipping families but all too often the records are lost over even a couple of generations. Retired Humber pilot David Raddings came across the following record Read the rest of this entry »
TYNE PILOTS: THE END OF AN ERA
On 31st March 2008, an era in the history of the river Tyne ended with the retirement of John Marshall and Alan Purvis, the last traditional Tyne Pilot family pilots. 
L – R John Marshall, Eddie Cowell & Alan Purvis
PILOT GIGS OF CORNWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES
THE PILOT GIGS OF CORNWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES
The pilot gigs of the Isles of Scilly and Cornwall are totally unique six oared open boats which were used to ship pilots onto ships arriving of the South West approaches to the United Kingdom. This feature actually started as a review of a fascinating book that I found in the bookshelf of a holiday let in Cornwall. Titled : “Azook: The Story of the Pilot Gigs of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly 1666 – 1994”. Read the rest of this entry »
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