Pilot Boats

[deepwater]

Has anyone else had experiance with Harbour Master Launch's and Pilot Boats speeding through harbours in which they set the speed limits. Seems I have to do a max of 5 knots when 15-20 is fine for them.

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[davel]

Can't say I have!

However I have seen lots of police cars speeding along the highways and byways at speeds greter than 70mph.

<hr width=100% size=1>Dave L.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Gosh. We're not talking about Portsmouth are we?

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>

 

[plombier]

Yes, certainly in Chichester & Langstone Harbours

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[StugeronSteve]

Not clocked any in harbours, but our forum trip to Cherbourg nearly ended before it began when we had a very near miss with a pilot boat outside of the forts. To the amateurs on board our boat there didn't appear to anyone looking out of the windows on the launch, but there must have been a good reason hey.

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[deepwater]

No not Portsmouth, up in the Bristol Channel

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[deepwater]

Maybe they needed a pilot!!!!!

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[Stork_III]

Here in Harwich Harbour, the "norm" for the PILOT vessels is well in excess of the 6 knot limit set for mere mortals. OK when breezy but not acceptable when flat calm with coffee in hand.

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[Sybarite]

It's the same in France.

What gets me though is the amount of fuel that these enormous engined semi -planing boats must use at 15/20 knots.

I would have thought that for the vast majority of pilot transfers a large planing RIB would have been sufficient. The big boats could be kept for bad weather.

John

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[graham]

If someone is behaving iresponsibly have you complained to the relevant harbourmaster?

Its important to give details of exactly which boat and time and date or you will get" the not on my watch "syndrome.



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[Mirelle]

\"Don\'t fight City Hall\"

Harwich is the busiest, most commercially important, commercial harbour in Britain.

We mere yotties get very good treatment from the HHA, and if they, the Pilots, the tugs and the Harwich lifeboat, for that matter, want to go blasting past me at whatever speed they choose, that is fine by me. They could make our "fun" use of their place of business a lot more difficult than they do.

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?

 

[tome]

Re: \"Don\'t fight City Hall\"

Have to agree

The day we start sniping at professional seafarers is going to be a day we live to regret. To get a pilotage exemption certificate (let alone a pilots licence) takes an intimate knowledge of a port with depths and tides at every turn, buoy and wharf at all states of all tides in all wind conditions.

Best to back off and live with any wash. I cannot honestly say that I've found Portsmouth, Chichester or Langstone any problem in this respect.

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[Jools_of_Top_Cat]

Yes a few weeks ago in Pwllheli the harbour masters launch was bombing about the moorings in the dark doing about 8kts. He had what seemed like a rally car pod of spot lamps strapped to the roof of the wheelhouse.

They were surveying apparently, and were passing the boats within an arms lengh, after his umpteenth pass at high speed blinding me sat in my saloon I ended up shouting at him to bloody well slow down, which he did appear to knock about a knot off his speed.

It was very frightening, I was waiting for him to hit us, had he shifted the wheel just slightly as he passed by he certainly would have done, that is how close he came.

Very much the other end of proffessional.

<hr width=100% size=1>Julian

 

[qsiv]

Even more prevalent is the exemption certificate which may be issued to commercial fishing boats. I did once apply for such an exemption from the Harbour Office, but they claimed not to know about them.

The French must issue them with Nitrous Injection kits - their trawlers in Concarneau raise tsunamis, not wash.

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[jzaat]

Try the Cannes anchorage. City of Cannes has a special Bayliner type runabout capable of 35 knots blasting through the anchorage at full pelt to enforce the speed limits, charging after jetskis etc

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[TheBoatman]

Re: \"Don\'t fight City Hall\"

I agree too.

To be honest I have thrown a bit of salty language in there direction on the odd occasion, but when you consider that it takes about 500 quid to put a pilot aboard a boat in the Thames area you can understand why they don't hang around.

Of course some of that money goes to replace all the broken ribs and bearers because of the speed they hit the waves at?

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[tcm]

Too right. St peter port harbour staff race around causing one hell of a wash.

Pilot boat wise, worse I found is Port vell in Barcelona - every so often during the day a massive wave lurches into the marina which is a mile or more from the from the sea, which we eventually tracked to pilot boats belting up the main fairway and then (still planing) hanging a left to their dock and long gone by the time the wave turns up. Unfortunately Idon't know the Spanish for "Gits".

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[jhr]

I don't know the Spanish for "gits" but I am told that shouting "Hijo de puta"! at them will produce a smile, a cheery wave and a courteous reduction in speed.

;o)

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