My first call to Houston was probably one of the very first calls by a mostly fully cellular container ship, No.1 and No. 6 were for break bulk with tween deck hatches. When used for containers they were located on cones.
As second mate i was like the rest of us mates blown away by the professionalism behind the relaxed demeanor of the pilots as we passed opposing traffic.
Folding down the mast cleared the Houston Bridge with a metre to spare we entered the basin at the end where it all came unstuck.
Tractor tugs had not been invented yet and the tug was a twin screw conventional tug built probably in the 50’s. With no place to go, no bow thruster and plenty of windage we bore down on a row of LASH barges and shoved them under the pier.
We had 4 cranes complete with automatic spreaders and were dealing with stevedores who had no concept of bay plans and struggled to record containers in the proper slots.
There was also a 40 footer on a rail wagon that had been loaded in situ until no more zinc ingots would fit. Needless to say it stayed on the wagon.
The berth had wharf side sheds and there was just enough room to lower a container between the shed and ship side with no visibility from the crane cab. Heavy earth moving equipment was loaded in the two break bulk hatches.
Most of my time in the Houston Ship Channel (Buffalo Bayou) was as an AB at the helm of Fifties-era tankers. Except for the boring reach in Galveston Bay, it was kind of exciting passing so close that you could hear and feel the thumping of each motor ship that went by, especially with the large wooden Telemotor wheels, where you physically dipped down and around for every 10° of rudder. I once relieved a shipmate who’d knocked a tooth out on a spoke during a hard to port order.
The system the agents and pilots use for the canal when a ship departure is changed is sometimes not friendly to ships awaiting at anchor for a pilot.
We were anchored awaiting transit to City Dock once and pilot dispatch called us told us our pilot boarding time and then later called and canceled. In the middle of the night/early morning, three times.
I called the agent and complained about having to call the crew out, agent said it was the pilots, pilot dispatch told me it was the agent etc.
Apparently departing ship’s agents can cancel the pilot within two hours without penalty and the agents have learned to game the system.
Anyway, I’m not complaining, next trip the pilot gave me this multi-tool and I told him I’d never talk $hit about the Houston pilot again.
Good article here about “Texas Chicken” maneuver, called the Texas-3-step here: Houston Pilots Meeting and Passing maneuver
I remember Mike Morris - ex-Exxon Master. Decent sort.
“texas chicken” looks a whole lot worse than it is. The hydraulics are in your favor ( most of the time), and way more important you actually know the guy doing the driving on the other ship, know what and when he is going to do. Don’t get me wrong the Houston Pilots do a great job, tons of respect, know and sailed with a bunch of them over the years. Each port has it’s own unique situations and areas, making those safe and routine is why those guys get the big bucks !!
Quite a few ports are like that. Savannah comes to mind. Agents will firm up a sailing time after dinner for the middle of the night, then go to bed and only change it if the stevedores tell them it needs changed. That way they don’t have to have their sleep interrupted. Makes it a pain in the ass when you’re on the departing ship as well because the stevedores assume the agent is talking to you constantly, and the agent isn’t. When I was sailing I much preferred the ports where pilots were firm four hours before sailing or more. At least them you weren’t constantly being changed at the last minute.
I was familiar with the hydrodynamics of “Texas Chicken” but it is not something you expect to experience outside a textbook. My previous experience was during an underway replenishment in naval vessels but there you’re both going the same way. Slightly less white knuckle inducing.
Pilot times do get changed sometimes, but I’ve only seen the way it was done in Houston once.
Pilot dispatch gave me the pilot boarding time which I convert to the time to start heaving anchor. When given the first boarding time it was (say) 2200 hrs. to have the engine ready and the crew called out to start heaving. At 2200 hrs., just as we are about to start heaving, pilots call and move the pilot boarding time ahead by 2 hours.
So we go through the process a second time, I have the engine ready and crew out ready to start heaving at midnight. At that point pilot dispatch calls and again moves the time ahead by 2 hours meaning we have to do it a third time for 0200 hrs.
That’s when I called to find out wtf was going on.
I don’t know where Texas Chicken fits on the risk/consequence matrix but taking a car carrier up to City Dock 25 is tight with the corner of barges sticking out into the channel… add into the mix the tug/barges.
So called LSA (Large Sail Area) ships like car carriers have a 25 kt wind speed limit but I’ve been hit by higher unexpected gusts a couple times. Once on departure while turning around in the channel. Not much room. Pilot (and tug crews) were earning their money that time.
Edit: Stick the stern into one of those creeks to get turned around. Two tugs, not bad till the winds hits.
Got an extra half-day in Rota due to wind in my first car ship. Later in that voyage, it took us a crazy amount of time to get the ship alongside in Nakanoseki in a snowstorm with offshore wind blowing hard.
we turned off berth 3 Baytown every voyage - had about 15-20 ft to spare both bow and stern - 2 tugs - not awful - but was time to pay attention. Good training for the mates on both end judging the distance we would clear with the ship swinging.
At Solent University Ship Handling Centre you can practise the Texas Chicken on a manned models and experience the hydrodynamic effects. In fact Houston Pilots come and use the facilities and are very open and interesting and willing to share their knowledge, after all they are the undoubted experts.
thanks - used to do it at Port Revel as well I believe.
Houston was my regular run for a few years, there every 20 days give or take. With the OK of the pilot, we would usually allow whatever mate took arrival to keep the conn as long as they, the Captain and the Pilot felt comfortable with it.
They never let me play texas chicken, but believe they let one of my Captain’s do it a few times. They did let me meet a few light ships, but just able to drive around them - no need for the 3 step.
The channel was 400 ft in those days - not a particularly difficult passage, lots of ranges, and the RAI can pretty much tell you if you are center channel. Port shut down in reduced visibility as well. Like lots of ports the radio coms and the knowledge of where and when to meet or pass the local traffic is hard to pick up on a few trips.
Where I really tip my hat to the Houston Pilots is all of them that I worked with over the years where very good with working with the tugs docking, undocking, turning, always in control, able to see real motion and real slow speeds. You kind of expect that from the ones who came off the tugs into the job - but all the deep sea guys were really good as well. Up down all pretty talented folks.
Only experienced one incident. Was at a lay berth in Barbour’s Cut in '78 maybe?
There was nothing but a field there, and the bar overlooking the channel. Anyway, we cast off and promptly drove into the mud on the opposite side of the channel, attempting to turn up toward Baytown. No harm done but some red faces.
Edit: They served some good fried shrimp at that bar