General Duncan Lamont Clinch
Historical Society
Press Release
Submitted by Teen Peterson
April 4, 2018 9:53 a.m.
Pilots and the Golden Age
of the
Port of Fernandina
Speaker: Willie Sweatt
Date: Monday, April 9, 2018 Time: 7:30PM
Place: Amelia Island Museum of History
Third and Cedar
Willie Sweatt is a native Fernandinian. Born in 1944, when the town was small and undiscovered except by the south Georgia folks who had beach cottages for summer vacations, he enjoyed adventures boating and fishing in Egans Creek basin, the ocean beaches, and the Amelia River.
Sweatt graduated from Fernandina Beach High School in 1962, went first to the University of Florida, and then to the U.S. Naval Academy. He went Surface Warfare after graduation, getting his first command of an oceangoing salvage ship. In 1979, he left the Navy, received a Merchant Marine license as Chief Mate, and sailed for Military Sealift Command. He also received his Unlimited Masters Oceans license.
Coming back to Fernandina, he piloted for Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base, ran tugs for Sun State Marine, worked with dredge companies, did some towing and salvage work. When Desert Storm was developing, the American merchant marine companies needed mariners, so he went back to sea on super tankers.
When his elderly parents needed help, Willie came back home. He towed for Towboat U.S., helped run Amelia River Cruises, and now has a boat dealership in town. Willie loves history and genealogy. He’s always happy to swap stories and the old-timers or help newcomers feel at home.
Willie is going to be talking about the bar pilots from the golden age of shipping in Fernandina. It was a tight knit group of mariners who had to risk their lives to assist vessels over the bar in dangerous situations. This was a boom period. Fernandina had natural resources that could be accessed by water. Our harbor could accommodate shipping vessels that sailed the world’s seas, supplying markets in Europe and Central America, principally timber and phosphate. These were exciting times.
All are welcome to attend this informative and interesting free program on Monday, April 9th, at the Amelia Island Museum of History beginning at 7:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served. For more information contact [email protected] .