As the ship left dock and headed for the opening in the fjord to open waters, I saw a tiny boat coming at us at full speed. (If I wasn’t on this mammoth ship I might not call this other boat tiny, but now my perspective on ship size is forever altered.) It pulled right up to the side of our Akademik Fedorov, and dropped off a “pilot” who climbed onboard our ship to help “drive” us in exactly the right path out of the fjord. Looking down onto the little boat from the upper decks, I learned what that when ships like this are leaving port, they often need assistance in staying on the exact preferred course, which is given by the bathymetry (underwater topography) of the sea floor. This little boat helped push our mammoth ship onto the right path!
