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Pilot Boats Stationed at Victoria British Columbia
Pacific Scout steams past a freighter on her way to deliver another coast pilot to a freighter rendezvous off the Victoria shoreline. (Photo from the Murray Polson collection. )
Pacific Pilot Two (Photo from the Murray Polson collection. )
Our Victoria waterfront correspondent, Murray Polson, recently photographed pilot boats at the Victoria Pilot Boat station. These colourful vessels are stationed at the Outer Wharf in Victoria BC. They are specially designed for the task of efficiently transporting Britsih Columbia Coast Pilots to and from the vessels that they are guiding.
The skippers of these vessels are highly skilled at delivering and retrieving pilots to and from the boarding ladders on the sides of deep sea vessels. The vessels rendezvous with the pilot boat, often not stopping for the operation. Pilots have to jump to and from the vessel during the boarding operation.
Pacific Pilot Two and the Pacific Scout (Photo from the Murray Polson collection. )
The Pacific Pilot Two (#345685) 18.78m x 5.06m x 2.29m 47.02gt 31.97rt. She was originally named as the Canada Pilot No. 20. She was built in 1971 in Vancouver BC by John Manly Ltd. In 1971, and as of 2014, she continues to be owned by Pacific Pilotage Authority, Vancouver BC. She is powered by two diesel engines each with its own propeller.
Pacific Scout (Photo from the Murray Polson collection. )
The Pacific Scout (#832934) 19.00m x 6.06m x 2.08m 59.36gt 44.52rt. She was built in 2007 by A.B.D. Enterprises Ltd., Burnaby BC. She is powered by a three diesel engines each with its own jet propulsion unit. In 2007, and as of 2014, she continues to be owned by Pacific Pilotage Authority, Vancouver BC.
The headquarters of the Pacific Pilotage Authority at the Outer Wharf in Victoria BC. (Photo from the Murray Polson collection. )
The pilot station of the Pacific Pilotage Authority at the Outer Wharf in Victoria BC. (Photo from the Murray Polson collection. )
The principal mandate of the Pacific Pilotage Authority is to provide safe, reliable and efficient marine pilotage and related services in the coastal waters of British Columbia including the Fraser River.
In 2013 there are currently six pilot boats in operation on the Pacific coast:
- Pacific Pilot Two 1971 19.8m Victoria
- Pacific Pilot Four 1973 19.8m Prince Rupert
- Pacific Pathfinder 2003 22.4m Prince Rupert
- Pacific Navigator 2008 19.5m Steveston
- Pacific Scout 2007 19.5m Victoria
- R.D. Riley 1976 18.99m (contract vessel servicing the pilot station at Pine Island)
Editor’s Note: A special note of thanks to Isabelle Forget, Executive Assistant, Pacific Pilotage Authority, Vancouver, BC for checking the accuracy of the technical details of this article.
Site News: April 17, 2024
The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 92,205 vessel histories (with 15,628 images and 13,173 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters). The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,616 entries (with 4,013 images).
In 2023 the Nauticapedia celebrated the 50th Anniversary of it’s original inception in 1973 (initially it was on 3" x 5" file cards). It has developed, expanded, digitized and enlarged in those ensuing years to what it is now online. If it was printed out it would fill more than 300,000 pages!
My special thanks to our volunteer IT adviser, John Eyre, who (since 2021) has modernized, simplified and improved the update process for the databases into a semi–automated processes. His participation has been vital to keeping the Nauticapedia available to our netizens.
Also my special thanks to my volunteer content accuracy checker, John Spivey of Irvine CA USA, who has proofread thousands of Nauticapedia vessel histories and provided input to improve more than 11,000 entries. His attention to detail has been a huge unexpected bonus in improving and updating the vessel detail content.