re: Screw being an operator, I want to be a river pilot.

Biggest crock of shite is that if they frick up, which they rarely do, the Captain is still responsible. Pilots are there to suggest to the Captain where to go. They are basically a navigator.

quote:

---

Biggest crock of shite is that if they frick up, which they rarely do, the Captain is still responsible. Pilots are there to suggest to the Captain where to go. They are basically a navigator.

---

They ground ships a lot more than you would imagine. They just don't hit other moving ships too often.

quote:

---

I think the Coast Guard will issue licenses to everyone who passes the required examinations.

---

It's not just taking examinations..you have to put in the time. From your link...

quote:

---

you must have between 12 and 36 months aboard a ship of more than 1,600 gross register tonnage, of which at least 12 are spent in the deck department standing watch and steering the ship.

---

You really think you're just going to wake up one day and get a job working in the deck dept of a cargo ship with ZERO maritime education or experience? Requirements to get a job like that take years to complete, which includes work experience and education.

quote:

---

You must have between 12 and 20 round trips through the area for which you seek the pilot endorsement, and 25 percent of those trips must be made at night. The last trip must have been made within six months of the examination date.

---

again, this will not happen 12 months from the date you decide you want to obtain a pilots licence.

quote:

---

Study and Training
Take a USCG-approved radar observer's course. Take a first aid and CPR course from a USCG-approved provider. Memorize the “Navigation Rules."

---

quote:

---

Paperwork
Submit the application for endorsement as a First Class pilot, using USCG Form 719-B, available from the National Maritime Center's website. Submit three letters of reference, testifying to your good character. Have your doctor complete USCG form 719K, the results of a physical exam. Submit DOT drug test results that are less than six months old. Submit letters from employers, testifying to your sea service, including proof that you have crossed the waters upon which you wish pilotage. Submit the certificate of completion from a USCG-approved radar observers course and proof that you have taken a first aid and CPR course from a source acceptable to the Coast Guard. Submit the receipt from Pay.gov, indicating you have paid for the examination and the issuance of your credential. The REC will notify you of the place, date and time of your First Class pilot examination.

---

quote:

---

Testing
Pass the navigation rules examination with a score of 90 out of 100. The test consists of 20 questions regarding both the inland and international navigation rules, ship maneuvering, pollution prevention and navigation systems. Additionally, the exam includes questions about working with charts and radiotelephone communications, as well as questions for pilots who will bring large sailing vessels into port.

---

quote:

---

Additional Testing
Because safety is the primary concern in licensing a pilot, the exam may include any other subjects the REC may deem necessary. For example, if in the New Orleans Regional Examination Center, pilotage is only required on the Mississippi River. As part of your examination, you are required to draw an accurate chart of the 33-mile section of the river where you wish pilotage with all features, including the shoreline, any underwater obstructions, shoals, reefs, transitory sandbars and water depth as of the date of the examination -- available on a weekly basis as part of the Local Notices to Mariners, published by the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency.

---

Not going to happen in 12 months buddy..sorry to burst your bubble.....


Now this is from the Bar Pilots website....Ive already posted it once but I'll post it again since you didn't seem to comprehend it the first time...

quote:

---

Becoming a Bar Pilot takes time and experience. By the time one becomes a State Commissioned Bar Pilot they will have:

Earned an undergraduate degree
Minimum one-year at sea on ocean going vessel
Obtained a USCG first class Pilot license
Served several years in the Bar Pilot apprentice training program
Completed nearly 1,000 trips with a State Commissioned Bar Pilot along the waterways we serve.

This means that before becoming a Louisiana State Commissioned Bar Pilot, an individual must dedicate almost a decade of education and training.

---

quote:

---

to $473,692

---

Sweet Baby Jesus.. frick it's just a boat.. Forest fricking Gump can pilot a boat

While on the subject of politics and the Associations, here is a little known fact.

When they approved the Riverboat gaming licenses in Shreveport/Bossier (you know, the scheme that sent Edwards to prison) they quietly wrote into the law that each boat has to have a licensed Pilot on board at all times and must have working thrusters and a working radar. Never mind that the "boats" aren't boats at all. They are barges permanently moored to the docks and enclosed in a coffer dam. In case the river gets too high or low. But the casinos have to absorb the cost of keeping pilots onboard a vessel that can't physically leave the dock just so the Association can bring on some dues paying members.

I didn't believe the story until my buddy that worked at Horseshoe took me up to the pilot house on the roof and introduced me to the "Captain". He was sitting in a chair with his feet up reading the paper and smoking a cigarette. I asked him about the job and he just laughed.

Back when casino gambling was legalized (late 80s?), all of the Riverboat Casinos in LA sailed. Gradually, they jobbed the system in the name of customer safety to stay moored.

Yes. The boats in Baton Rouge sailed. I was around for that. The boats up north were legalized much later in a second round of licensing and they never sailed. Hell the paddle wheels are fake and they don't have a main engine at all.

And the "boats" that were never intended to sail require a river pilot onboard? Interesting...

My uncle is a riverboat pilot and he is grooming my nephew to take over. He is right at 400k/yr

quote:

---

by White Roach
And the "boats" that were never intended to sail require a river pilot onboard? Interesting...

---

At first they were only intended to leave the dock for something like 2 hours in a 24 hour period. Then the pilots and capts refuse to leave the dock all together blaming it on safety