Cape Breton's Magazine

der an element of safety • that when I'm arriving at the area where I'm beginning to make this turn that ship is not going any more than 4 knots. Then if the ship should be sluggish on making the turn you can increase the revolutions. You can in? crease the revolutions of the engine and yet not increase the speed noticeably, be? cause it's only for a matter of 2 or 3 minutes and that tremendous wash against the rudder will turn the ship and as the rudder is put the opposite direction steady her up. The thing is, going slow, if that ship has a breakdown in her steering e- quipment you rii' Full Astern and you can stop the ship and hold her. And you have the tugs alongside • the tugs are alongside before vre make that dogleg turn on the big ships • but if you vere doing 6 or 7 knots I wouldn't guarantee what would hap? pen. They might handle just as x rell but I have no intention as long as I am on the job of ever finding out. I have used the tugs on the turn but that was just to see what they would do • they were new • but now I never use the tugs on the turn. I took one in a couple of weeks ago, she was 1141 feet long • made every turn herself. The Pilot Boat; Pilot Alex Huntley goes aboard; view from the Shaughnessy's bridge. Pilot Alex Huntley: The engines were stopped when I went aboard the Shaughnessy Sun? day night. I asked about that, and I informed the captain of the problem we were having with the tugs. (The Chief Engineer on one of the two tugs coming down from Halifax had slipped, injured his head, and thus the tug was delayed. The Halifax tugs • Foundation Vigour and Point Spencer • were to join the Point Melford and the Point Tupper, the tugs in the Strait of Canso.) I told him I didn't want to anchor if possible. But I wanted the four tugs. I definitely think it's safer. If those ships get out of hand, you have to understand that we're talking about hundreds of thousands of tons and it takes a lot of pushing and pulling to show any moveraent on these ships. So if they take a sheer on you • a sheer means that a ship just goes off her course--all ships are built different • some will take a sheer under circumstan? ces another ship wouldn't • so to counteract that we have the tugs. The ship can go ahead from stern, but for side movement you want the tugs. Now Sunday night was in? credible, the weather was incredible. You don't always get those conditions. You can get some pretty scary conditions at times. The last one I had in we had real dense . fog, for a while I couldn't see the deck from the bridge. I've docked one. in a storm up to 55 miles an hour. Strong winds. Strong currents, setting on the dock. You don't worry too much if it's setting off the dock • but if you have the current set? ting on, the wind setting on • it can be a little scary. We've had a survey of the currents in the strait area by the Bedford Institute. There's no set pattern. You simply have to be prepared. You have to feel those things on board. Absolutely, on board. Sunday night I stopped the ship's engines when I passed number 1 and number 2 bouy. I was very close to number 2 bouy and I figure by the time I got up to number 3 and 4 that I had gone sideways a thousand maybe 1200 feet in two miles • that's the current setting from the westward. When they come up to the ship the tug captains are in control of their tugs. They're under pilot's orders and we tell them where to position themselves. Once they tie on Cape Breton's Magazine/3