The first volume of Pilots concentrated on the stories of American and British schooners. Volume 2 enters what for many will be a less familiar world... that of the remarkable pilot brigs and small undecked craft. Schooners range from the Hiates of Portugal to the beautiful station boats of the North Sea ports of Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, and France. The development of the schooners themselves into such highly sophisticated craft is traced from regional predecessors. Volume 2 of Pilots is not just about boats — the sailors also have their role. The book follows highly difficult manoeuvres under sail, dangerous transfers at sea, the routine of everyday life, and the perils of heavy weather including ships wrecked and lives saved. All aspects of a spectacular and previously unpublished maritime tradition are considered, not forgetting the competitions between pilots to be the best crews.
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Video Cagliarie Ferry Pilot Transfer
published on 6 June 2023
Article Russian Marine Pilot (61) killed in accident on 14 March 2021
by Frank Diegel - published on 17 March 2021
Video Technical Seminar - Arctic Ice Pilotage (BC Branch webinar)
published on 7 March 2022
Video Towards Autonomous Ships – Flag State Involvement and Regulatory Aspects
published on 30 June 2021
Article Summer Edition of the BPC Pilotage Quarterly published
published on 15 August 2022
Video The Boats That Built Britain - The Pilot Cutter - Part 2
published on 8 September 2020
Many consider the Bristol Channel pilot cutter to be the finest sailing boat design ever. Fast, seaworthy and beautiful to behold, the pilot cutter is the perfect combination of form and function - a thoroughbred perfectly adapted to a life in one of the Britain's most treacherous stretches of water. Sailor and writer Tom Cunliffe explores the life of the pilots and sails a perfectly restored cutter to find out just what drove these men and their wonderful machines.