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72


had a close escape with pirates. ‘We would take ships


down to Snake Island in Galang, Indonesia to be laid up. It was like those places in the desert where you see planes laid out, but it was a random tropical island surrounded with ships. And it was full of pirates. ‘Once, when we were


in the South China Sea between Singapore and Malaysia, we narrowly escaped a pirate attack! I had an Indonesian crew and one of the crew was from the islands where all the pirates came from. He never spoke a word of English and, even though I was the Captain, I couldn’t look him in the eye, he scared the life out of me. But he was a good guy. ‘One night it was just me and him on the bridge. He was the look- out. It was pitch black and there was a target on the radar coming in fast, obviously a pirate boat. In these situations, it’s recommended to make the shop look as big and impregnable as possible. So, we put all the lights on to deter them sneaking on board, but they kept on coming. The look-out checked the radar, picked up the radio to call them and quickly said something to them in Indonesian. The pirate boat veered away and attacked an oil tanker instead. I’ve no idea what he said to them and I’ll never know.’ Rich has also battled amongst the 20 to 40 metre waves that appear as ‘big as mountains’, whilst servicing oil rigs off the Cape of Good Hope, and captained “THV Patricia”, the UK flagship of Trinity House. The ship’s main duty is to maintain some 450 navigational buoys, light vessels and the inspection of local lights around the British Isles. The ‘THV Patricia’ also offers a boutique experience for up to 12 passengers and often carried members of the Royal


Family such as Princess Anne. Rich and Hettie moved to


Dartmouth with their young family 11 years ago. Hettie teaches geography at Dartmouth Academy (and previously wrote articles for By The Dart magazine). After 20 years at sea, Rich decided to come ashore to take up the Plymouth pilot role in 2019.


“Turning at the Higher Ferry is interesting, and it takes practise to turn a 180-metre ship there!”


‘I’d done ten years as Captain, so


I’d had a good run. I did everything quite young so came ashore quite young as well. ‘The Plymouth Pilot job comes


up maybe once every 30 years. It’s a proper dead man’s shoes job so I needed to grab it while I could. Piloting – handling the ship in and out of port - is the best part of any Captain’s job, the fun part. ‘In Plymouth we bring in


everything from small cargo ships which are not very manoeuvrable - and we have to do all sorts of wonderful tricks to get them in - to the biggest oil tankers the harbour can handle. We’re moving huge ships right in the middle of a city, it’s quite exciting. ‘It takes time to know all the local anomalies of the harbour, the tides, the location of the shallow


banks, and how the wind affects the ships, and we have to be good communicators too. Captains and crews have to quickly put their faith in a Pilot who has only just climbed up a rope ladder to take over the handling of their ship. ‘In Dartmouth we


don’t do much middle ground. It’s either large yachts or big ships. Piloting a large ship into Dartmouth can be very


tricky as there are all sorts of really strange eddies that can quickly knock you off course e.g. especially on a flat tide off the Royal Dart Yacht Club. ‘We have to come into the


harbour reasonably quick because when you’re moving you’ve got more manoeuvrability. We often come through town faster than people expect with a big ship, but we’ve got plenty of time to slow down. Turning at the Higher Ferry is interesting, and it takes practise to turn a 180-metre ship there!’ Off duty, Rich has been part


of the RNLI Dart Lifeboat crew for more than ten years and his responsibilities include acting as a helm of the lifeboat and looking after the training of other crew. Before his move to Dartmouth he was previously one of the crew at Tower Lifeboat in central London, which is the busiest post in the country. Although stepping back as HM/


CEO, Rich will stay on at the Dart Harbour and Navigation Authority . ‘The Harbour Authority staff


are such a great bunch of people. There’s no one here that doesn’t want to be here. Everyone’s always out and about, busy and happy. I’ve never been anywhere where staff have so few gripes. ‘I’m actually going to stay on as


a water taxi driver too – it’s such a good excuse to get out on the river! I’ve been quite jealous of them at times while I’ve been stuck in the office.’•


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