In the year 1969, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-seven (1927) vessels, exclusive of tugs and barges, called at the many facilities of the greater port of Tampa. The Tampa Bay Pilots handled virtually all of these in which almost 20 million tons of cargo were transported. They ranged in size from the small Central American and island traders of less than 100 tons to vessels of 76,000 dead-weight tons. This is a tremendous volume of cargo and a great number of vessels, the size and type of which reflect the diversity of our trade. Obviously, all of this did not “just happen overnight” The port of Tampa and its shipping have grown steadily over the years, each one more or less keeping pace with the other. The Tampa Bay Pilots Association is an integral and, we hope, an important part of this activity. It is about this group in particular and pilots and piloting in general that I wish to speak.
First, let me discuss the historical background and certain of the legal aspects of the profession. Piloting, if not the oldest profession, is at least one of the oldest. The first known reference is contained in the Holy Bible (Ezekiel, Chapter 27 to be exact). It may be speculated — in jest perhaps — that this Biblical reference may explain in part the attitude of certain present-day pilots. The name itself is shrouded in antiquity, but is thought to come from the Dutch Qijl and lood, meaning “pile” or pole and lead. Incidentally, the modern Dutch word for pilot is simply loodse. Thus, a pilot is one who uses, among other things, a lead suspended in a vertical line, as from a pole, to determine the depth of water. Undoubtedly, the best-known practitioner of this profession was the famous author Samuel L. Clemens, whose familiar penname Mark Twain, derived from “mark two” or two fathoms, then considered the safe depth for most river craft of that era.
It will probably come as no surprise to those of you with some knowledge of Florida history that those explorers and voyagers who first skirted the west coast of our State and thus could have entered Tampa Bay began with Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513. Even he may have been preceded by certain unlawful, and therefore unrecorded, traders in Indian slaves. Others answering to this roll call would have been Panfilo de Narvaez and his pilot, Diego Miruelo, in 1528, followed by Francisco Cordova, Alonso Pineda and Hernando de Soto and his advance-man, Juan Anasco, the latter two in 1539. That the Adelantado Pedro Menendez de Aviles entered Tampa Bay in 1566 guided by a friendly native is incontrovertible. This Indian piloted Menendez to the village of Tocabaga, thought to be in or near present Philippi Park at the head of Old Tampa Bay. All of these, then, are prime candidates for the first pilots on this spacious body of water. This bay has been known variously over the centuries as Espiritu Santo, Tocabaga, Bahia Honda, San Fernando and now, Tampa, to cite only a few of its names, both ancient and modern.
It is perhaps noteworthy that Barcia’s Chronological History of Florida, first published in Madrid in 1723, in referring to the wages of certain members of the seafaring profession in Menendez’ day, cited the following rates of pay: captains 40 ducats per month, pilots 24, shipmasters 9, ships’ officers 6, seamen 4, and cabin boys 2. The gold ducado or ducat was worth about $4 in terms of present-day values.
Although these low wages were deplored, it may be seen that by comparison pilots were rather well paid — a view, incidentally, which has not changed much in the last 405 years.
After 180 years of virtual neglect and indifference on the part of its Spanish owner, a Captain Braddock in command of a privateer from Virginia entered and surveyed Tampa Bay, presumably on a clandestine basis for his own country, England. Regrettably, his survey record and chart, said to be quite accurate, appear to have been lost or now non-existent.
The latter part of the 18th century saw numbers of voyagers, explorers and pilots enter, survey, and draft charts of Tampa Bay. Many left accurate and comprehensive accounts of these surveys. Among these were Juan Franco, and Francisco Celi in 1756 and 1757respectively. The British surveyor, George Gauld came in 1765 and that “universal genius,” Bernard Romans, five or six years later. Before the century ended two more Spaniards, Jos. Evia and Vicente Folch y Juan, also entered and conducted surveys, both of which they documented at some length. As one may correctly infer many of these men were not pilots as such, but their very entry into Tampa Bay and in certain instances their examinations thereof certainly qualified them as pilots in an actual if not a literal sense. Celi and Evia were in fact classified as “pilots of the Spanish royal fleet” and as a result of their surveys drafted charts of varying degrees of usefulness of Tampa Bay.
From the foregoing one may correctly infer that a pilot in those days was a member of the ship’s complement who, after navigating the vessel across the ocean or along the coast, also conducted or “conned” her into port. Gradually it was realized that expert pilotage in such cases required the local knowledge of pilots attached to a given port or area, rather than traveling pilots skilled in general navigation. From this realization, then, evolved the present-day bar, bay, river, or harbor pilot ‘in residence” so to speak. Such a pilot has the skill, experience, and local knowledge necessary to conduct ships over the bar, through the channels or rivers, and when required, to dock these vessels~ As ports grew in size these individuals banded together for convenience and greater efficiency of operation to form groups or “associations” as they are usually called.
PILOTS AND PILOTING ON TAMPA BAY Continued…
