Caitlin Dwyer

In what was probably the most fun magazine assignment of my career, I did a ride-along with my friend Captain Cedric Barrett, who is a river pilot on the Columbia. I learned about the grueling, precise work of pilots and their connection to landscape, oral history, and stewardship of the river. The feature story came out in Oregon Humanities magazine, which you can read online here: Knowing the Water. I gained so much respect for the work of those who pilot ships on our waterways, and for the international crews that visit us here in the Pacific Northwest to pick up grain and truck it across the ocean. I got nerdy about radar and depth charts. I got to see the view from the bridge (haven’t you always wanted to?) and hear the bone-churning engine noise of a gigantic ship. It was thrilling, technical, and fascinating.

And if you want the more personal version of that ride-along, I did write about it on my Substack a few months back: Over the Edge. It’s not as precise in vocabulary (bulk carrier, not container ship!) which were corrected for the magazine, but still a pretty good read.