I had a family friend who was a bar pilot on the Columbia River bar and a river pilot up the Columbia. He asked me one time if I wanted to go on a pilot job with him and I foolishly said yes, thinking this was going to be a nice quiet little adventure... well, the bar was raging that night when we went out on the pilot boat to the ship. Then they put down this little 2' wide stairwell with a boom that hung beside the ship that we had to get the pilot boat up next to, step over, and climb up the stair boom that was swinging in the wind and the ship was swaying back and forth, so the stair wasn't always close to the ship as we traversed up the 30-40 feet or so up to the deck. Did I mention this was also in the dark? Once we stepped off the pilot boat, he scooted out of there as fast as he could because of the conditions and we were on our own going up that stair/ladder/amusement park ride...
Once we were on deck and in the control room, the Korean crew gave the ship over to the pilot and it was smooth sailing all the way up to Portland- about 60 river miles. Not a job I ever had a wish to do after that night even though at the time they were making very good money and benefits...
Bob
