The Board of Pilot Commissioners is the oldest Commission in the State of California. It was created by the first legislature to be the governing body of the already-established San Francisco Bar Pilots.
Historical Legislation
The full text of the 1850 Act is available as a PDF.
The Board of Pilot Commissioners, with its lengthy and continuous existence, is the oldest Commission in the State of California. It was created by the first legislature to be the governing body of the already-established San Francisco Bar Pilots.
LAWS OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA,
PASSED AT THE FIRST SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE,
BEGUN THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF DECEMBER 1849, AND ENDED ON THE TWENTY-SECOND DAY OF APRIL, 1850
AT PUEBLA DE SAN JOSE
Chap. 18
AN ACT to establish Pilots and Pilot Regulations for the Port of San Francisco.
Passed February 25, 1850
The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and assembly do enact as follows:
§ 1. It shall be the duty of the Governor to appoint two resident Merchants, and two experienced and resident shipmasters, who together with the harbor master of the port, shall constitute a board of Pilot Commissioners for the Port of San Francisco.
Historical Names of the Commission
1850s
- 1850 (February 25): Pilot Commission for the Ports of San Francisco
- 1852 (April 27): Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Port and Harbor of San Francisco
1860s
- 1860 (April 21): Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Port of San Francisco and all the water inside the Bar
passing through the mount of the Harbor of San Francisco - 1861 (May 20): Pilot Commissioners for the Port of San Francisco
- 1864 (April 4): Board of Pilot Examiners for the Ports of San Francisco, Mare Island and Benicia
1870s
- 1870 (March 22): Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Ports of San Francisco, Mare Island and Benicia
- 1878 (March 29): Pilot Commissioners for the Ports of San Francisco, Mare Island, Vallejo and Benicia
1927
- 1927 (July 29): Board of Pilot Commissioners for San Francisco, Mare Island and Benicia
1993
- 1993 (August 21): Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun
Past and Present Commissioners
Since its establishment in 1850, the Board of Pilot Commissioners has benefitted immensely from the dedicated service of numerous people. These individuals have contributed their time and expertise, playing a crucial role in guiding the Board’s decisions and initiatives over the years.
Biographies of Past Commissioners
Commissioner Lynn Korwatch
Commissioner Lynn Korwatch “was the first woman to sail as a captain of a large commercial vessel in the United States Merchant Marine. Her first voyage as a captain was on the Maui in June 1988.” (Fred Stindt’s Matson’s Century of Ships, 1991)
Historical Photo Gallery
Cadwalader Ringgold Historical Chart
Cadwalader Ringgold was the first President of the Board of Pilot Commissioners. As you can see from this chart, he was also an excellent draftsman and a skilled cartographer.
Commander Ringgold’s chart is of extreme historical interest. It shows the depths in San Francisco Bay prior to the era of hydraulic mining in the 1880s as well as the original extent of the City of San Francisco and even the site of Mission San Rafael.
Four San Francisco Bar Pilots
Four San Francisco Bar Pilots aboard the schooner “California.” San Francisco Bar Pilots continue to do their work in formal business attire to this day.
Pilot Working Conditions
A page from the “San Francisco Bar Pilots 1945 Tidebook” showing correct rigging of the pilot ladder on a Liberty Ship. Seas at the San Francisco pilot station frequently run over 8 feet or more. Boarding a pilot ladder in such weather requires good timing – wait for the crest of a wave to carry the pilot boat to its highest point and only then step onto the ladder, climbing to the ship’s rail while the pilot boat falls away beneath you.
World War II Convoy
Part of a convoy of assault transports at anchor in Richardson Bay during WWII.
Historical Tidebook
A page from the San Francisco Bar Pilots 1945 Tidebook showing local harbor calls in effect that year. Note the six-digit phone numbers.
The information from the 1945 Tide Book is of course completely out-of-date. Please consult the latest editions of the United States Coast Pilot, Volume 7 and the International Code of Signals for the correct present-day signals and contact information.
Golden Gate Bridge
A Matson liner sales under the Golden Gate Bridge.
Three Generations of Pilot Boats
Pilot Vessels Golden Gate, Drake and the schooner California (L to R) are framed by San Francisco’s infamous Embarcadero Freeway. Image courtesy the Maritime Research Center at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.