Those Who Serve: Columbia River bar pilots risk their lives to guide cargo ships

It's early December and 10 miles off the Oregon coast or northwest day, anyone dumb enough to get off the big ship is called a vogue amia, she's the length of two football fields, and she needs to navigate the Columbia River to pick up

cargo

. The portion of water that separates the

river

from the ocean is called the bar, and the Columbia River bar may be one of the roughest sections of water in the world. More than 2,000

ships

have sunk here since the late 18th century, which is why a bar pilot is used. about to come aboard and help steer the big ship safely across the bar, these are self-employed people who go to work every day and

risk

their

lives

, so I think a lot of people in the industry admires them.

John Coyle is president of the Columbia River Steamboat Operators Association, which is an industry group involved with large

cargo

ships

, these guys are fearless, they surface in storms and you know, we have terminals, grain elevators, we have all types of industry that are waiting for these vessels. and schedules are very important because there are huge amounts of money involved in getting it to where it's supposed to be on time because we have all this cargo coming in by rail and barge and if the ships don't arrive on time it costs money it's a logistical dance full of constant pressure between the trains that deliver wheat and grain and the elevators that load the ships and the boats that clear the docks so others can join the traffic on the Columbia River and closer to Portland, the Willamette River is almost constant with an average of ten boats that cross the bar every day.

Oregon Brand Graves created this graph showing traffic for 30 days during 2014, the total value of all that trade is about $24 billion a year, yes that's with a B I recently got. go out with the

pilots

to see what a calm day is like our

guide

is Dan Jourdan spent 24 years on big boats in seas around the world and for the last 14 years he has been pilot of the Columbia River Bar no, I still like boats I like working on the water and being a pilot takes me home on board today we will go out on a six million dollar boat owned by the

pilots

so this is the pilot boat story is what will be taken out today to board a A couple of boats look at

their

steps when you are here.

The bar pilots each own a part of their company, something like partners in a law firm. They, in turn, are paid by the companies that own the ships in which they have invested in fast and safe transportation. these pilot boats to get them to the ships quickly and without any problem no matter the weather 70% of the time when the weather is not bad outside they arrive using their helicopter lowered with a lift to the ship below the mission is simple we are here to make sure ships enter and exit safely and cause no damage to infrastructure or the environment, that's a fancy way of saying they don't run aground or hit a bridge, yeah, yeah, this, if you didn't have pilots then you're It's like endanger your entire port.

Pilots board the ship miles beyond the Columbia River Bar to give everyone a chance to prepare. It takes knowledge and confidence to

guide

such a large ship. Good afternoon. Thank you. The pilots created this graphic to provide us with. quite an idea of ​​size the Wells Fargo tower in Portland is five hundred and forty-six feet high the ship here nine hundred feet long as we head out from Astoria we meet a ship heading to Longview probably to get a load of logs and the pilot on board is steering without touching the controls and your boy Jay is up there saying five degrees right of starboard, well there are a couple of ways we can give the instructions as far as where the heading wants us to say a heading there, for of course, the course 132 and if I want to change let's say 134 small courses like that for larger course changes we give rendering commands port 10 starboard 20 get them closer to where you want and then you tell them what courses there again the Columbia River is unique and powerful there is no a lot of delta allowing it to spread out at the mouth so that its current hits the tides of the Pacific Ocean with sustained force, sometimes creating monstrous waves and constantly changing the shape of the

river

bottom, it is obvious to you, but what makes it complicated to cross the bar here? the bars were streams that swell and feel all the flesh, so it's a little shallower there.

The river current coming out is met with towering changes that come in and change, so you have this huge push of river water and then the tides rise or are just right. or o a swell comes well when the current comes and makes the swamp bigger, yes, maybe it slows down, today is not a beautiful day, but in winter, we pilot boats in 20 foot seas. Wow, such big waves go over this. Boat pilot and can make even the largest ships rock and spin. Yes, I have a map. Pilots are available 24/7, unless the weather is so bad that the bar is closed, they will meet the boats at any time of the day or night when it is very bad outside from the helicopter.

They can't fly and the pilots reboard the ship with the same method that has been used since its founding 173 years ago: the rope ladder and today it's pretty calm, but many days it's pretty dangerous, huh? In winter, you can be, you know it's quiet. today, for the ship it's safe, but you don't want to be complacent, you're still climbing a rope ladder on the side of my program, yeah, so it's the best technology, I mean, I know you're still flying, but for the latter it's a ladder of rope hanging off the side of a ship, yes they have tried many other things, mechanical voice, but for a pilot boarding a ship they are trying to board, you are dependent on the maintenance of that equipment from the crew member Yes, and if there is a problem halfway up, you rely on the fact that they could speak English, so the pilot ladder, once installed, puts everything in our hands, they record video every time they go up or down of a ship so they can study exactly what happened if something feels wrong some of the videos they shared would make the bravest think twice remember there is no hanging safety line misjudge the role of the ship or the collision of waves could fall into the ocean that has happened, it happened with deadly consequences in January 2006, pilot Kevin Murray was getting off a boat in a storm, he fell and died before he could be rescued, so why would anyone do this ?

Phil Mateo says he loves being outside, like I say, 90% of the time I'm like, wow, I can't believe I'm getting paid to do this, but 10% of the time is I can't believe I'm doing this for the prairie Is it thanks? Mateo spent 27 years at sea before converting. A pilot 11 years ago said that climbing the rope ladder requires a lot of concentration. You are also looking. You mentioned the rise of a boat that should come closer if there is a big swell. You want to catch it at the top of the swell. I don't want to get on the ladder on the ship, go up and hit you, basically, which could happen and you don't want to do it while you're going down because subs go down pretty fast, someone else said pilots help protect. the environment everyone's worried russell no one wants an oil spill here we're getting close to the federal yellowstone it's a bulk carrier basically an empty cargo ship heading towards the

columbia

river that's what you're going to do to phil okay let's get out out to get into position for the shots and it feels dangerous, okay, we are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean after all, okay, not in the middle, but the water is very deep here, we are wearing life jackets because the left side and right of the pilot boat has no railing, this is the stretch you really want to hold on to that way, you can use either side to snuggle up to the side of the boat, let's get in here Dan, uh, sure we're in a safe place with railings around.

A light rain is falling. So we can get a little idea of ​​what the weather can do here, this is routine for pilots, but for me it was very strange to get on this huge ship while it moves along waiting for us. You can tell it's empty because it's standing still. high in the water once loaded that rust will be below the waterline an empty boat may be harder to get on because it can turn more from side to side notice that it has a harness on as we approach the sailor exits the pilot boat and strap yourself in, you are here to help the pilot if he needs something at the last second, the strapped to your harness makes sure you don't fall overboard, the water rushing between the boat and the ship is a constant reminder of the danger there is here.

We're heading out and then it's Phil's time, he wears a helmet just in case and grabs that thick rope for safety while our captain gets even closer to the boat and then once he gets up and we stow the boat so that if he falls . He falls into the water and settles into the boat like this, he will be on board in two and a half hours, he will have the boat on the other side of the bar and he will wait anchored in Astoria for the river pilot who will guide him to the dock where he is.

We go to and then turn to our next ship, an oil barge, what do you like about being here? Yeah, no walls, you hear that a lot in the pilot world. Yes, okay, he said the retirement age varies among pilots, but with the danger here. sooner is better than later, I guess when I was thinking about what am I going to do for a career in high school, I would like to sail, I like to ski, better paid sailing, I've seen a lot of people commute to work. City traffic to work and commuting is not my thing, it's always different, it's fun.

The barge surprised me. I didn't realize that our containers full of gasoline were moving up the coast and then down the Columbia River. This is an articulate talk about tugs and barges. about pushing a barge to boil wine of Anacortes unleaded gasoline for the Portland area and said the containers usually show up during the summer months, when we all drive more miles in cars, since the car is full, it is lower in the water and it is easier for the The pilot has a black ticket to get on board, but again there are no safety lines, nothing between him and the ocean if he slips or something breaks and yet, even though I look at them nervously, the pilots climb the ladder with ease night and day every day of the year that the bar is open with all the traffic on our rivers and all the possibilities of disaster.

It feels amazing that everything is running smoothly, but it is. I'm just walking to work, I approach the ladder, I go up some steps and his work is not a bad trip for us