Boat Stories - Episode 8

In the next instalment of our Boat Stories series we meet the Pilot Boat crews. Pilot boats are the modern equivalent of the gigs that used to race out to meet big ships at sea and escort them safely into harbour. In years gone by, the gig which reached the ship first put their pilot on board and got paid - the losers got nothing.

But as the Pilot boat’s coxswain, John Pavitt explains in this weeks film says, it’s not a modern affair. "For all the technology that has come along nothing has changed from the pilot’s point of view. He is still hanging on to a rope ladder on the side of the ship under any conditions and it’s the crew of the pilot boat that have to get him safely off and on.”

This can also be a tricky and dangerous task. “My job on the pilot boat is to get Roger onto the ships safely and get him off again. I’ve got to judge my speed as well as the speed of the ship, if there is any sea out there I have to position on top of the wave so we’re not at risk of breaking his legs.”

Boat Stories - Episode 8

Roger Hoad is Bideford’s harbour master and pilot. A large part of Roger’s job is to know everything about the estuary so that he can pass on any relevant information to the incoming ships that he is piloting. It’s vitally important to keep an eye on the channels on the seabed in the estuary otherwise ships could be run aground, something that Roger explains could be very embarrassing if that were to happen. So each day, Roger takes his foldaway pushbike and cycles the coastal path checking for movement in the channels as they shift regularly, especially after rain fall.

"It’s vitally important to keep an eye on the channels on the seabed in the estuary otherwise ships could be run aground, something that Roger explains is very embarrassing for him." Could you change the ending to 'Roger explains could be very embarrassing if that were to happen'

The job of a pilot requires working all hours of the day, “Ships working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, therefore we find ourselves working at night. Bideford residents wake up in the morning, open their curtains and they’ll see a large ship that has arrived right on their doorstep.”

This series of ten films was produced by Jo Stewart-Smith and filmed by Simon Vacher, Matt Biggs, Mark Brindle & Rich Stevenson. Find out more at www.boatstories.co.uk