phosphateindustry

Pilot boat docked near the phosphate elevator: Boca Grande, Florida

from Florida Memory

• Pixel Wrangler said:

  I think this is actually a pilot boat, and not a tug (which would be much, much larger and reinforced ;) In the easiest boat identification I've ever tried to make ;) this is the Pilot boat JOHNSON. That's because "Since 1906 all of the pilot boats up to the present day (2001) have been named Johnson, either from the Capt. I W Johnson family or Capt W. H. Johnson family."[1] The famous harbor pilot family stretched from 1888 through 2001. [2]  

• Florida Memory said:

  Pixel Wrangler Excellent info. Thanks! We're updating the catalog record on FM.

• Pixel Wrangler said:

  Arrrgh -- so much for "easy boat identifications!" I just reread the reference source, and it doesn't say all the pilot boats were named Johnson. What it says is "Since 1906 all of the Boca Grande pilots up to the present day have been named Johnson..." This certainly proves the adage "you get what you look for" -- I was looking for pilot boats, and pilot boats I found ;(  

• Knowledgeable Comparison said:

  É- me familiar...