Thumb through the first few pages of classic novel Moby Dick, and author Herman Melville writes a comprehensive love letter to the ocean that suggests people either give in to their love of the sea and work on it, or spend their life obsessed by it from land.
As the son of parents who loved the ocean so much they raised their children on a boat, Don Buckthought did not have a choice but to succumb to it.
"[As a family,] we moved around the South Pacific, Australia, up to Papua New Guinea and all over the place."
He and his siblings would do "the watch" during the day while his parents slept, and food was kept without refrigeration and often limited to tinned meals and cheese and biscuits.
He always loved working on the water and chose to become a marine pilot, helping large vessels safely navigate their way in and out of harbours.
The worst part of the job: 'the transfer'
At any given time, several enormous bulk carrier ships line the horizon off the coast of Wollongong.
The New South Wales south coast city is home to busy Port Kembla, a crucial transfer point for ships carrying cars, coal, grain, iron ore and steel.
The pilot is the person who travels out in a tugboat to meet the captain of the ship and help guide them safely into port.
"We have weather limits in the port, but we don't often reach those," Mr Buckthought said.
"The worst part of the job is the transfer from the pilot's post onto the ship.
He says the captain stays in control of the ship once he is on board, but the Port Authority takes over the process of safely berthing it, using local knowledge of weather, winds, water depths, tides and currents.
Port Authority of NSW head of operations for Port Kembla and South Coast Peter Ernst praised Mr Buckthought ahead of his retirement.
"Don's ship handling skills are superb and no matter how big the vessel was, how tricky the navigation required — he has always possessed a natural ability to berth any vessel safely and accurately in our port," he said.
He piloted his last ship through Port Kembla on Thursday.
Mr Buckthought has overseen about 4,000 vessel movements at Port Kembla, including helping bring in the cruise ship Radiance of the Seas when several cruise ships used Port Kembla to restock at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in Australia.
"That was a highlight, but I was unfortunate with the Ruby Princess because the rest of the pilots said I was too old to go and be exposed to COVID, so they took care of it," he said.
How the industry has changed
Don Buckthought's career as a pilot saw him spend nine years in Auckland in his native New Zealand, before moving to Townsville and then Port Kembla.
He said while the nature of the work had stayed the same, the ships requiring his services had changed a lot.
"When I first arrived in Port Kembla, it was mundane BHP ships and not much interest, then we went to passenger ships, car ships, gas is coming and container ships.
While he may be retiring from his post at Port Kembla, Mr Buckthought will never stray too far from the ocean, however the size of his vessel will certainly change.
"I have a small rooftop tinnie and a caravan and we do a lot of touring around Australia, so we'll do a lot more of that," he said.
"I'll be on the outside [of the country], I don't want to be in the middle."
