Cutter Confusion is a delightfully warm and amusing collection of reminiscences, vividly recreating an all but forgotten way of life. The author writes with genuine affection about his formative years with the Tees Pilotage Service, proving himself to be a perceptive and witty observer of nautical life.

His story begins in 1947 when he joined the crew of the B.O. Davies, a steam Pilot Cutter operating in the Tees estuary. One of five Boathand Apprentices, he worked 52 hours a week for just over a pound in wages. Each page is filled with colourful characters and the result is a feast of comic anecdotes and fascinating period-detail that will live for a long time in the memory of the reader. The author, Trevor Calcott Walker, a Pilot on the River Tees for over thirty-six years!