Page 52: of Marine News Magazine (November 2023)

51 53

Feature

Great Vessels of 2023

San Francisco Bar Pilots

GOLDEN GATE

The San Francisco Bar Pilots provide pilotage service in With onboard capacity for two crew and up to 12 pilots, the San Francisco Bay and tributaries. When it came time the new Golden Gate—which replaces a 30-year-old vessel to build a new launch to replace one of their older vessels, of the same name—is a quiet, comfortable work platform, they sought a design that’s proven, safe and heavy weather McCloy said. The boat, at 73 feet LOA including jets and capable. They also needed a vessel that could live up to their platform, with a 20-foot beam and 4-foot draft, features operational speed and endurance demands while also com- Humphree interceptors for a smoother ride, and sound plying with U.S. EPA Tier 4 and California Air Resources levels at full throttle are 64dBA. A robust HVAC system

Board (CARB) emissions requirements. provides fresh air and humidity control in the wheelhouse.

What they ended up with was Golden Gate, a 67-foot- For safety, Golden gate is equipped with an improved hy- long, all-aluminum pilot boat with a double chine hull, draulic man overboard recovery system.

designed by Camarc Design in the U.K. and built by Se- “The pilot’s reactions have been very positive. Fit and attle’s Snow & Company. The vessel entered service in ? nish of the vessel, comfort, ride quality, low noise and vi-

September, and based off pilot feedback, it’s safe to say the bration and excellent visibility are the biggest highlights,” new launch has met their demands. McCloy said. “One of the main priorities of the project “Camarc Design is a well-known pilot boat architect, was noise reduction, comfort and ergonomics for the crew. and the new Re? ned Hull model is an excellent pilot trans- Our boat crews work long shifts for years on our vessels, fer platform,” said San Francisco Bar Pilots’ Capt. David and there are negative long-term effects of high noise and

McCloy, who was integral in the design and construction vibration environments.” processes of the new vessel. “The builder, Snow & Com- The vessel features Furuno FR 2228BB/NXT radar, Fu- pany, has been a great partner in the project, and they have runo FA170 AIS, Furuno SC70 GPS, Furuno SC70 GPS provided our group with a high-quality pilot vessel,” compass and Ritchie mag compass, Furuno FM8900S ra-

Powered by a pair of MAN D2862 LE 438 1,200HP U.S. dar, Rotheta RT-500-M integrated radio direction ? nder

EPA Tier 4 engines that drive Hamilton HTX52 waterjets with Luminell CLITE2 IR LED searchlight and FLIR through Twin Disc MGX 6599 SC gearboxes, Golden Gate camera for MOB, Boning command and control system is capable of hitting 32 knots at top speed and cruises at 25 with ? at panel touch screens for systems operation, alarm knots at 85% MCR. The vessel is also equipped with two monitoring, Rose Point ECS electronic navigation and

Northern Lights M944T3F 38kW generators. CCTV/FLIR cameras.

52 | MN November 2023