Jersdawg

My folks are friends with a tugboat captain. It is not an easy job and there are apparently not enough qualified guys out there. Their friend has been "retired" for probably 8 years but still gets calls to take this job or that job due to his extensive experience. Not all are home every night jobs though. When I was visiting around the 4th, he was called for a job in and around Elizabeth seaport in NJ, and it was a three week gig. I'm sure it paid some serious cash but that's a long time to be away from home.

Poser765

A factor sure, but hardly the only. This is a very technical and VERY specific skill set. Good labor representation goes a long way, but there also being only a handful of qualified people able to do the job goes even farther.

Jersdawg

Yep. Filler.....

Avroman

And hopefully the numbers of airline pilots continues to shrink til we get back to the pay of our forefathers. (at least the actual numbers if not for inflation)

rickair7777

Some harbor and river pilots have to be rated as captains for "any ocean, any tonnage". My neighbor is an ex super-tanker CA who retired to the river pilot ranks. Those guys get pay commensurate with a super-tanker CA since that's the experience they need (hundreds of thousands $).

I've also seen ex-navy chiefs with a small boat rating break into the harbor pilot ranks and make bank.

It does require significant skill and there's only one way to get it, large vessels are not just "point and shoot" like a video game as some of you may believe. They have to be maneuvered and manipulated in tight quarters using various combinations of screws, rudders, side thrusters, and tug boats. you could have 3-4 screws, 3-4 rudders, 2-4 thrusters, and 3-4 tug boats all of which have to operated individually. Currents shift and vary depending on where in the channel you are and the tides. Best analogy is probably landing a big airship. It happens more slowly than what we do, but if you get behind the curve you'll have plenty of time to watch and enjoy as catastrophe unfolds.

UAL T38 Phlyer

Long story short: I got to spend an afternoon and night on the USS Nimitz in '91 in the Persian Gulf, after the war ended.

I got to take the helm for 5-10 minutes (Quote from my guide: "Want to drive a National-asset?")

I took over from a 19-year old E-1 that looked like the poster-child at a Clearasil Convention.

Results?

It was a helluva lot more difficult than it looked, and all I was trying to do was drive in a straight line.

Yoda2

Just to comment on the thread title... There is no such thing as a tug boat pilot. There are tug boat captains and harbor pilots, two completely different things, completely different jobs and completely different boats are used. The harbor pilot boats, while specialized and durable themselves, are only used to deliver a harbor pilot out to a ship, prior to entering the harbor. Regardless, both are very tough gigs to get, though pay very well.

USMCFLYR

Here is a link to such an event:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wCUort-74w

(didn't post the actual video due to some language)

badflaps

I've got a 100 ton ticket which is basic entry into skippering, dinner boats etc. The only way into big time is through the schools. Maritime Academy, and strangely enough Texas A&M has a marine branch. USCG, USNA not so much. Start as a bridge officer and build sea time. (Sound familiar?) Anything local is family. Sewed up.

Yoda2

Ocassionally captains are able to get lucky with their 100 ton ticket and snag a Superyacht gig. (Those officially start at 100 feet, though that's small around Lauderdale these days) Even though they don't really like doing it, the insurance companies will upgrade you, to a point, to command a slightly larger vessel. When it gets around a 130' they pretty much force you to upgrade your ticket to 200 ton, or as the case may be. The starting number/nominal for a Superyacht captain is $1000 per foot per year, plus Bennies, Etc. Of course anything is negotiable.