By Jackie Peterson

Captain Adrian Osuna Salazar is a man who inspires confidence — a good quality for piloting ships in and out of the Port of Mazatlán. Unfortunately, he won’t be guiding any more ships because on New Year’s Day he retires from a 47-year career in the Mexican Merchant Marine. The captain, age 69, has been sailing since he graduated from Escuela Nautica de Mazatlán in 1962. As a navigator he found employment on Mexican freighters that took him to places in Central and South America and Northern Europe. He also has captained ferries between here and La Paz and twice served as a director of his alma mater, the local merchant marine academy, before becoming a pilot in 1982. Guiding the big ships, be they immense luxury cruisers or huge cargo haulers, isn’t exactly a piece of cake. The navigation canal leading to the docks is 150 meters wide and 40 feet deep. Not only do you have to know the possible danger points in the canal, you also have to take into account currents and meteorological conditions.  Four pilots work at this port, and take turns so that somebody is on watch 24-7, with two others on standby.  The pilots’ office on Avenida Aleman has a whiteboard where all scheduled arrivals and departures are noted. Mazatlán is a busy port with an average of five comings or goings a day. Cruise ships, of course, come and go on the same day.  When a ship is approaching port, a small launch takes the pilot on duty about a mile out past the breakwater where he boards