Local knowledge and having the feel of the ship: the essence of Piloting. Captain Ricardo Caballero Panama Canal Pilot When I was a deck officer back in the early nineties I worked on a ship that used to load grain at different ports along the Mississippi river. The name of the ship was Golden Hope, a 600 feet long dry bulk carrier with a 95 feet in beam. An average size vessel for those days' standards. We would pick up pilot at the sea buoy and proceed up river via the South West Pass. Since I was the only ship's officer who could speak and understand some English the Captain would keep me in the bridge every time we called at a U.S port. I would act as an interpreter between the Captain, who was Greek and the American Pilots, which also meant that I had to keep hot coffee available for both of them. That did not bother me at all. It was a very low price for having the luxury of watching the pilots do their thing. Besides, being in the bridge saved me from the task of hand...