San Francisco Bar Pilots Association is the official

maritime pilot A maritime pilot, marine pilot, harbor pilot, port pilot, ship pilot, or simply pilot, is a mariner who maneuvers ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbors or river mouths. Maritime pilots are regarded as skilled professionals ...

group for the

San Francisco harbor San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...

and associated waterways. The pilots in the group are licensed and regulated by

California Board of Pilot Commissioners Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun is the California state agency responsible for licensing and regulating pilots within one of the largest harbors in the world and the tributary Sacramento River delt ...

. The Association was created in 1850 and is a member of the American Pilots Association. The association is the oldest purely maritime organization on the Pacific coast of the United States predating the oldest lighthouse in California erected on

Alcatraz Island Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pris ...

in 1854. The pilots were required by law to maintain a constant round the clock watch with enough pilots aboard a pilot boat on the bar to pilot any arriving ship safely into port. In 1910 the motor boat ''California'' was built for the pilots. In 1935 three schooner pilot vessels were maintained to provide rotating five-day watches on the bar near the lightship with two, the large schooner ''California'' and ''Gracie S.'' being regulars with ''Adventuress'' as reserve. At that time the pilot vessels were crewed by seven men hosting up to ten pilots awaiting ships with a rule that at sunset enough should be aboard to pilot all vessels expected before noon of the next day. Today the Bar Pilots are responsible for piloting ships into nine ports within San Francisco Bay as far as the Ports of Stockton and

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

and the Port of Monterey outside the bay.

References

External links

San Francisco Bar Pilots Association Official Website

San Francisco Bar Pilots—What We Do

Pilot boat crews are unsung heroes of Golden Gate
Organizations based in San Francisco {{Water-transport-stub

See also

References

External links