Since the height of the Gold Rush, the San Francisco Bar Pilots have been guiding large vessels from the Pacific in and out of the harbors here and further inland, knowing as only they did the vagaries of the bay’s currents, its hidden shoals and every foggy channel’s twist and turn. The ships steadily grew larger just as the pilots’ salaries did, standing at $451,336 last year.
These days, though, the pilots, who are regulated by the state and number only 57, are having a hard time navigating the treacherous waters of the state government.
Click here for the full report by The New York Times.
