Capt. Harry Knowles(center) boarding ship
In the early days of piloting in Nassau Harbour there were three pilots: Capt. Harry Knowles, Capt. Willard Brown and Willard's cousin Capt. Christopher Brown.
Capt. Harry Knowles is the father of World Class sailor Sir Durward "Sea Wolf" Knowles who won the Gold Medal for The Bahamas at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
No system was in place to determine which pilot would bring in a particular ship, which meant the first to come alongside an incoming vessel was the one who got the job. The entire piloting fee was paid to that pilot, which created intense competition.
Each pilot had a crew of three or four, and one crew member constantly looked for incoming ships. Once a ship was spotted, the captain was alerted and the race was on!
Capt. Harry's pilot boat was the Alexandra, a forty-foot double ender with a center board. She was fairly fast; an important requirement for the many races out of Nassau Harbour to capture the trophy of a piloting job.
Capt. Harry Knowles is the father of World Class sailor Sir Durward "Sea Wolf" Knowles who won the Gold Medal for The Bahamas at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
No system was in place to determine which pilot would bring in a particular ship, which meant the first to come alongside an incoming vessel was the one who got the job. The entire piloting fee was paid to that pilot, which created intense competition.
Each pilot had a crew of three or four, and one crew member constantly looked for incoming ships. Once a ship was spotted, the captain was alerted and the race was on!
Capt. Harry's pilot boat was the Alexandra, a forty-foot double ender with a center board. She was fairly fast; an important requirement for the many races out of Nassau Harbour to capture the trophy of a piloting job.
The early sighting of an incoming vessel was very important. Located high on a hill overlooking the harbour at the top of Mosely lane was a large Tamarind tree which the pilots called the "Fig Tree".
Perched high in this tree, one could see beyond the harbour over hog island where incoming vessels would approach Nassau. When a ship was sighted, the race began. The winner would collect a handsome fee and the looser would be forced to wait for the next vessel, sometimes staying outside of the harbour to insure the next job.
There were times when one of the pilots spotted a ship that went undetected by the others. This unique situation required the utmost skill. The pilot and crew were charged with getting to their pilot boat and sailing out of the harbour without tipping off the others.
From the book "Driven By the Stars: The Story of Durward Knowles".
