Off Campobello Island, the Eastport pilot boat North Sea waited to retrieve the pilot as we headed for sea. It was April 26, 0540… This first pilot had been a walk-on before we left Eastport.
April 27 at 0530, Portland pilot boat Spring Point came to meet us as we approached.
At 0538, the pilot stepped aboard.
At 1753, the same boat followed us out to retrieve the pilot as we headed into the Gulf of Maine.
On April 29 at 0551 Halifax pilot boat Captain E. T. Rogers met us outside the harbor.
Transfer was accomplished safely.
Port of registry listed on this pilot boat is Saint John.
At 1842, the same pilot boat followed us to retrieve the pilot when we were safely out to sea.
The next pilot was April 30 at 1340 off Canso NS, landed from Strait Falcon.
Registry here is given as Halifax.
This pilot would get us safely through the Canso lock.
May 1 at 0529 I almost missed the pilot off Charlottetown, since they appeared not to be on AIS.
Pilot boat JRG was at the dock when we arrived.
Serious winds delayed our departure from Charlottetown, and when we did depart, a walk-on pilot took us as far up as
just past the Confederation Bridge, when pilot boat Bridge Lady
retrieved that pilot. Waterway there is the Abegweit Passage of the Northumberland Strait.
I missed the next pilot pickup on May 4 at 0’darkest off Les Escoumins, but caught the moment half a day later where pilots exchanged places just before Quebec City.
The fresh pilot stepped aboard on May 4 at 1221, and
moments later the overnight pilot stepped off and
Ocean Guide sped him ashore.
Just downstream of Montreal on May 5 at 0754, I caught the next exchange . . . Ocean Maisoneuve II did the delivery and pick up.
Note the muddy water, ie, strong currents, and absence of green on the trees.
Ocean Maisonneuve II has an unusual orange fender built into its hull.
Exchange complete, she speeds off. Notice Montreal upper right in the distance.
Several other exchanges happened in the SLSW locks, but as we approached Lake Ontario at Cape Vincent, we exchanged pilots one last time before Toronto . . .
with the quite new Seaway V doing the honors.
All photos, any errors, WVD, who loses sleep to get photos like these.
Maybe someone can help me with details: is the series made up of Laurentian pilots, District 1 US river/lakes pilots, and then port-specific docking pilots? Any others?
9 comments
Comments feed for this article
May 19, 2023 at 11:26 am
Carol Ecker
I SO ENJOY ALL YOUR WATERBLOG ENJOY THE ONES ON THE ERIE CANAL, TODAY THIS ONE GOT MY ATTENTION MY BROTHER RAN THE PILOT BOAT IN CAPE VINCENT IN LATER 1970 an 1980. TOOK ME OUT ONCE TOEXCHANGE RIVER AN LAKE CAPTAINS. DO ENJOY WHAT YOU DO THANK YOU
May 19, 2023 at 11:27 am
tugster
Thx much, Carol
May 19, 2023 at 11:48 am
Mike
I’m pretty sure out in the Maritimes its all port/harbor specific, but once you get to Anticosti Island the Laurentian Pilots take over. They run to Montreal where the Seaway Pilots take over to Port Weller. From there its the Welland Canal Pilots to Port Colborne and then the Lakes Pilots Association to the mouth of the St. Clair River at Port Huron. North of that and through the rest of Lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior its the Western Great Lakes Pilots Association.
May 20, 2023 at 10:09 am
tugster
Mike– I think you are right. I’d not counted the Seaway pilots. https://seawaypilots.com/slspa/web/main/about. But who covers pilotage from from St. Regis NY (mentioned in the link in this note) and Montreal?
May 22, 2023 at 9:27 am
Mike
Hmm, thats a good question. Typically the last exchange of the Laurentian Pilots is the St. Lambert Lock. I wonder if the Seaway Pilots can’t “claim” any operations further North than St. Regis since its the end of US waters and they are a US company. For all the vessels I’ve sent out the seaway and back from the US I was invoiced from the Seaway Pilots to St. Lambert and then the Laurentian Pilots from St. Lambert to Quebec or points beyond.
May 19, 2023 at 1:38 pm
Anonymous
I particularly enjoyed this post as I find pilot boats absolutely amazing!
May 19, 2023 at 3:01 pm
Lou Cobb
The Charlottetown image is stunning. Pure art. Beautiful!
May 19, 2023 at 3:02 pm
Thebubblytipsymermaid
Stay away from the Grand Banks.
May 20, 2023 at 10:05 am
tugster
Tbtmm– Thx for the warning. Is this because of dangerous shoals? Always good to hear from you. Btw, I will be on Coney Island this year to welcome you for the mermaid parade. Are you coming? https://www.coneyisland.com/news/happynewyearsavethedate