Pilot trips

Done. Thanks AGAIN for contributing to a resolved issue. I should’ve known better than to think the keyboard sea lawyers wouldn’t be able to behave themselves despite the preface.

The pilot as in he/she has pilotage for those waters I think.

I’m probably out of date on this, but . . .

Pilotage requirements are usually up to the local OCMI. In many places, the OCMI knows the local vessels, the companies that operate them, and the pilots. Whatever the CFRs might say, the OCMI is going to have some requirements of his own, and is probably going to follow his own established policy.

I have no idea how the OCMI / NMC process works for pilotage. Unless the OCMI is also running one of the RECs, ( e.g., Anchorage), you’ll probably be taking the chart sketch portion of the pilot exams at the OCMI, not the REC. I think that you probably have to take the multiple choice exam for your first pilotage at the REC, but after that, you’ll probably just be doing chart sketches at the OCMI for each additional new route.

I’ve never heard of anyone needing more than one signature. I’ve seen it done with a company letter listing the names, official number and GRT of the vessel’s, and the dates, times, and names of the Master or pilot. And I’ve seen individual trip sheets signed by the master.

If you’re riding with pilots on foreign ships and getting a letter from the pilots association, the OCMI is not going to want or get the foreign master’s signature, just the pilot(s) signature(s) on trip sheets, or perhaps just the signature of the President of the association on a letter. I rarely take pilots, but when I have, I’ve sometimes had apprentice pilots along with the pilot. No apprentice has ever asked me to sign trip sheets. If you are a crewman on a ship, or even the master, I do not believe that any pilot from a pilot association is going to sign anything for you.

If you’re on tugs, it maybe trip sheets signed by the Master or a company letter, or you may have both. Some OCMI’s will restrict your pilotage to “tug and barge combinations” unless you have a certain number of ship trips, others do not place any restriction. (Unless it’s changed, Honolulu places the tug and barge restriction on your pilotage unless you have some ship trips, but Anchorage does not). Also, some OCMIs (e.g., Anchorage) do not accept any trips on vessels (including tug and barge combinations) under 1600 GRT.

If you are riding, or working on, a ferry, I think you may have either trip sheets, a letter, or both. The ferry Master, Pilots, and office will know what to do.

The OCMI will have other requirements that you must follow, such as the the number of trips on each route, the size and types of vessels, tonnage restrictions, a certain number of trips at night, trips in ice, the number of trips you can do per day, etc. The OCMI often breaks what we might think of as one “route” into several different routes. (E.g., Cook Inlet to Anchorage is, or was, five separate routes).

Your first step should be to contact the local OCMI and get a copy of their local pilotage licensing policy. Once you think you have a pretty good idea of the process, you might want to go introduce yourself to the OCMI and ask a few well thought out and intelligent questions. Make a good impression. The grading of the chart sketch can be quite subjective. If you are going to be a pilot in the OCMI’s local district, he wants to know you.

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Good Morning,

In regard to this question the 46 CFR § 11.705 (b) states “properly
certified by the master and/or pilot of the vessel”. Certifying official
must sign and legibly print their name and include their mariner reference
number.

Gerson M. Vanegas
U.S. Coast Guard
Regional Exam Center Miami

Settled. Thank you

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I’ve only ever got one signature & always good.
When on ships with both a Master and a State Pilot, I got the State Pilot to sign.
When on ships with both a Master and a Federal Pilot, I got the Master to sign.
When on ships with only the Master, then that’s who I got to sign.
Make sure if you have a State Pilot sign that they give you their USCG MMC #, NOT their State license number.

image

I’ve never heard of a state pilot or a federal pilot from an association signing off pilotage trips for anyone who has not been accepted into their training program.

doesn’t work that way in Florida. You test into apprenticeship. That said, nobody has to sign but, they generally do and it’s irrespective of being accepted into their association.

I’m not sure how that disproves what he said.

Not necessarily the “entire trip”, depending on your meaning of that phrase. You only have to be on the bridge for the section you log on the sheet.

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… and vice versa. See the original post if you have any questions. Also, see the 4th or 5th comment where the issue in question was cleared up by the USCG. I only left the post up for others’ benefit.

There’s a difference between listening and waiting to talk.

No kidding?? Omg , thank you. Perhaps your screen name should be captain obvious

That doesn’t clarify anything. He said pilots almost never sign for someone that isn’t a trainee of their organization and you replied with “you have to test into the organization”. No shit, that doesn’t change the fact that pilots will almost never sign for someone who isn’t a trainee of their organization.

Was I replying to you? No? Then fuck off with your sarcasm.

Which is why I replied to clarify lm1833’s statement about trips.

Yes, and you need to learn to listen. Also add reading comprehension and critical thinking to the list of things you need to brush up on.

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Fuck you and your nitpicking. Read the entire thread before commenting. How’s about that? My clarification was clear in that you need the signatures to gain the apprenticeship, at least in the locations I’m doing it. That creates a catch 22 if the guys comment was omni-applicable. It isn’t. Maybe just stay off my threads. Nobody likes a know-it-all and I don’t find you to be useful our helpful.

Furthermore, the original post was a question in regards to the sheet and only the sheet. I’ll worry about the pilots in my associations and as it turns out, I don’t need to. The USCG managed to disseminate that information without being a smarmy cunt. Amazing!

I did. I didn’t bother comment before because everyone else was handling everything fine.

No it wasn’t. In fact, what you said was that you test into the apprenticeship, now you’re claiming you need signatures to get in.

Look in a mirror champ.

You’re the one that got an attitude, I just replied in kind.

  1. excuse me…“if needed to gain signatures to get in, how would one get them to get it if that’s a rec?”
  2. “what you days was”??? Is that English?
  3. your commentary was moot and unnecessary as it was handled way before by the USCG and shortly thereafter by myself thanking everyone for their input and that it was no longer needed. I guess you and your buddy didn’t get the message.

Nobody sought (or needed) to disprove whatever point that guy was trying to get across. “Not applicable in Florida” means I don’t have to worry about his little signature tidbit because that’s where I’ll test (maybe). It doesn’t NEED to be disproven because its not applicable. Thanks to him (again) for his input despite it being a trivial factoid that I wouldn’t have had to worry about anyway because THE COASTGUARD cleared it up. I bet your gramma says you’re the best captain ever. Enjoy your success :joy:

Boys boys ! Relax. Better things to move on to

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It might not be applicable to YOU but it is still applicable to the original general question you asked. These conversations are public record and referenced by future forum readers and Google searchers looking for answers to the same general question.

If you’re going to get pissy because people discuss the topic above and beyond what you feel useful or applicable then you have your own issues to deal with before you can participate constructively on here.

I should qualify, I am an accepted trainee in a state pilot program, so YMMV wrt getting a State Pilot to sign an Observer sheet.