Risky Pilot Job

We sailed on the Carnival Triumph to Mexico last week. The first stop was Progreso, a port city on the northern side of the Yucatan. As we left the port, I went up to the forward deck on the 9th floor to watch the ship leave the long channel. I was treated to a scene of death-defying courage by the city harbor pilot. He does this twice a week. There's not enough money ion the world to get me to take his job.

Shot with a 7D, using a 100-400mm L. C&C welcomed.

This first shot shows the harbor pilot's boat waiting for us at the end of the channel. He was just sitting there at first, burt as we passed, the pilot boat gunned the engine.

great set, yep, that's something i don't think i would want to do

You got a great series there. Well done both on noticing what was going on & on the photo series. I spend a lot of vacations in Cozumel (to dive) and basically I've come to accept flip flops as their idea of work boots, both at construction sites & on the dive boats. I'd guess they've found what works in the wet, but I don't think they suit one job I watched years ago. 2 men were doing road repairs using hot patch (a large area) in flip flops.

BioSci wrote in post #14114171
He does this twice a week.

He probably does it much more than that. EVERY cruise & large maritime ship (and some military ships) are guided in and out of the harbor by a harbor pilot on the bridge. They know the channel and the lay of the harbor. The captain is still in charge but the harbor pilot gives directions to make sure the ships navigate in and out safely.

It is really not that dangerous. Regardless of how it looks, the cruise ship at this point is probably only going 5 knots or less. The pilot boat is nudged up against the ship and it is really just a step off one on to the other. The biggest risk is if he falls into the water and is hit by the pilot boat. Given the number of transfers from every ship in every port around the world, a harbor pilot accident is extremely rare and a fatal accident even moreso.

As a side note...they are extremely well paid. In the US a harbor pilot will make between $100,000 to $400,000 per year. The average fee every time a pilot steps on a ship in a US port the fee is around $1,500 it can be much more depending on the size of the ship.

cicopo wrote in post #14115029
You got a great series there. Well done both on noticing what was going on & on the photo series. I spend a lot of vacations in Cozumel (to dive) and basically I've come to accept flip flops as their idea of work boots, both at construction sites & on the dive boats. I'd guess they've found what works in the wet, but I don't think they suit one job I watched years ago. 2 men were doing road repairs using hot patch (a large area) in flip flops.

No OSHA in Mexico...

You did a very nice job of showing the story in this sequence!

Worker safety in Mexico seems to be the responsibility of the worker, and with the huge unemployement problem in most areas contractors hire people willing to do anything for steady work. I used to have these on line but the site was shut down & I didn't copy the album to my current site. I just dug them up & have added them to an existing album about Cozumel. Notice the worker on the truck & one standing in the hot patch are both in flip flops. In the second shot you'll see another common practice, working ankle deep in cement in bare feet. I can't help but wonder how good that is for the skin when done day after day.

The guy on the pilot boat looks like he is wearing sandals, not flip-flops.

cicopo wrote in post #14115916
Worker safety in Mexico seems to be the responsibility of the worker, and with the huge unemployement problem in most areas contractors hire people willing to do anything for steady work. I used to have these on line but the site was shut down & I didn't copy the album to my current site. I just dug them up & have added them to an existing album about Cozumel. Notice the worker on the truck & one standing in the hot patch are both in flip flops. In the second shot you'll see another common practice, working ankle deep in cement in bare feet. I can't help but wonder how good that is for the skin when done day after day.

You don't even want to think about the shoddy electrical systems I've seen nor count the number of restaurant fires blamed on wiring. Maybe someday down the road they'll start protecting workers & teach them safe practices.

First off, it costs a great deal of money and time to teach safety- and to those workers (and contractors)- it's money they won't recoup anyways. So, they don't care.. Besides, if it burns down, they might be involved with the cleanup and rebuild- a win-win situation for them.. If someone dies on the job, there's probably up to several hundred people waiting to fill that position..
If it makes you feel better- I've witnessed a fair amount of housing projects here in the states- they use migrant workers extensively, mostly from the south (Mexico and farther south)- for similar reasons.. The builders- American builders, figure that it's the job of a single foreman, and the local building inspectors- to identify problems- and of course the home buyers responsibility- but not the contractors.. Of course, the builder gets workers that he does not need to pay for incidentals on (medical, unemployment, other benefits), at significantly lower wages, and of course the workers end up paying no taxes either. This problem is not limited to just homes, nor is it limited to just the south.. I've seen this occur with commercial properties being built out in the Washington DC area.. They take as much care when they go north of the border as they did when they were south of it..

Its what you are used to. Until this time last year I worked as a sailing instructor (offshore) and we prided ourselves that we ran the courses regardless of the weather.

The images the OP has put up show the sea state was reasonable. I'd have been perfectly happy to do the same.

Sadly I had a series of black-outs last March which have put paid to my sailing, I believe for good.

shack wrote in post #14115300
It is really not that dangerous. Regardless of how it looks, the cruise ship at this point is probably only going 5 knots or less. The pilot boat is nudged up against the ship and it is really just a step off one on to the other. The biggest risk is if he falls into the water and is hit by the pilot boat. Given the number of transfers from every ship in every port around the world, a harbor pilot accident is extremely rare and a fatal accident even moreso.

+1
When I was in the Coast Guard we used to do a similar move almost every time we took crewmembers on and off of the small boats when underway. The Coxswain operating the smallboat has the hard job of keeping the small boat against the hull of the larger boat, not too bad unless the seas are rough. It looks like you had nice weather for your cruise, at least at that port.

My wife and I cruised the triumph in January on the same trip. Loads of fun. Nice shots.

Spent a week working with a pilot when I was young. Amazing experience. Rope ladders up the side of ships was not a big deal - getting crushed between the pilot boat and the ship in heavy weather was the real hazard. One transition we lost a few wooden rungs before we even started up - you read the swells best you can.
Pilots are well paid and treated as VIPs onboard (they over rule the captain when onboard) but for most it is a retirement position for sea captains.

cool series! wasn't the pilot i was thinking of when i opened the thread.

enjoyed the shots.

. . . great series, properly sequenced with good clear captures !!