Ships of the Sea Podcast host Molly Taylor interviews Trey Thompson, Master Pilot and President of the Savannah Pilots Association, about what harbor/river pilots do and how Savannah’s 20 pilots guide ships in and out of the Port of Savannah along a 35-mile channel using helm orders, buoys, and range markers.

Thompson describes training and licensing, the week-on/week-off schedule, dispatching and coordination with tugboats, docking pilots, and ship crews, and the growing use of larger container ships despite fewer ship calls. He emphasizes that the most dangerous part is boarding via Jacob’s ladder, recounting incidents including a ladder breaking and a serious injury from a heaving line, leading to helmet use.

They discuss simulations in Baltimore for larger ships and dredging studies, right whale regulations that reshaped pilot boats, the association’s 1864 formation, and plans to move the pilot base from Fort Pulaski to Lazaretto.

The Ships of the Sea podcast is recorded on location at the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum, housed in the historic William Scarbrough House, an elegant example of early Greek Revival architecture in the South. Built in 1819 for William Scarbrough, a prominent shipping merchant and the first president of the Savannah Steamship Company, the museum showcases a remarkable collection of ship models, paintings, and maritime antiques. In addition to its exquisite interior, the museum features the largest private gardens within Savannah’s historic district, designed to reflect a typical 19th-century parlor garden.

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Learn more about The Savannah Pilots Associations

A look inside Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum

Museum EVENTS

Education and Group Programs

Meet the Production Team Dee Daniels Media

FIND A FAVORITE SPOT IN THIS EPISODE:

00:00 Welcome and Introductions

00:52 What Harbor Pilots Do

01:48 Learning the Savannah River

03:04 Schedules and Pilot Boats

05:00 Boarding Dangers and Safety

07:23 Trey’s Path to Piloting

08:02 Training and Multitasking

09:33 Docking Pilots and Tug Coordination

10:59 Weather Traffic and Holiday Ops

12:25 Bigger Ships Simulators and Dredging

14:32 Leadership and Whale Regulations

15:24 Whale Encounters

15:53 Community Leadership Roles

16:25 Pilot Staffing Numbers

17:07 Apprentices and COVID

17:54 Captains and Conferences

18:47 Right Whale Boat Rules

19:28 Rough Runs to Ships

20:12 Savannah Pilots History

21:00 Master Pilot Selection

22:28 Moving to Lazaretto Base

23:49 Funding and Wake Concerns

25:25 Future Bigger Ships

26:46 Closing and Support