SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Since the days of Mark Twain, the San Francisco Bar Pilots have had it good. Thanks to outsized political clout and highly specialized training, this elite cadre, currently numbering 56 ship captains, has enjoyed monopoly control over the San Francisco Bay since 1850. State law requires a bar pilot to guide every large
SF Bar Pilots Run Into Political Turbulence
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Since the days of Mark Twain, the San Francisco Bar Pilots have had it good. Thanks to outsized political clout and highly specialized training, this elite cadre, currently numbering 56 ship captains, has enjoyed monopoly control over the San Francisco Bay since 1850. State law requires a bar pilot to guide […]
![In this photo taken Wednesday April 25, 2012, Capt. Bruce A. Horton, president of the San Francisco Bar Pilots, watches as a tanker passes beneath the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Since the days of Mark Twain, the pilots have had it good. Thanks to political clout and highly specialized training, this cadre of 60 ship captains has for more than a century had control over guiding oil tankers and cargo ships in, out and around the San Francisco Bay. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)](https://www.mintpressnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/SF-Bar-Pilots_Webf-1148x645.jpg)