Ken and Jackie Sullivan met at Villanova University on Jackie's first day there as a freshman. They married immediately after she graduated with a degree in nursing. By then, Ken had already earned a B.A., although he didn't need the degree for the job he had always wanted to do--become a harbor pilot. "I got the degree just in case it didn't pan out," he says.

There was little doubt that it would "pan out." A native of Long Island, Ken Sullivan came from a long line of harbor pilots: his father, his uncle and his grandfather's brothers had all chosen this profession, and Ken planned to do the same, despite the intimidating requirements for the job.

"You have to complete a seven-and-a-half-year apprenticeship to be a deputy pilot," he explains. "Then, for the next seven years, you're limited in the size of ships you can pilot. It takes a total of 14-and-a-half years to earn the designation of full branch pilot. At that point, you can pilot any ship that comes into New York Harbor, including the Queen Elizabeth."

As a member of the Sandy Hook Pilots Association, Sullivan has piloted the QE as well as many of the world's other major passenger ships, container vessels and tankers. When asked if he has any noteworthy stories about a particular ship or assignment, he hesitates for a moment and then says, no. "But, I guess that's good because if I had any vivid memories, it would probably mean that something disastrous had happened!"

The day-to-day unpredictability of the job is noteworthy enough for Sullivan. The position of his name on a list of available pilots tells him how many candidates are ahead of him for the next assignment, but the pilots have only a three-hour window of notice
that they are to report for duty. "Holidays don't count, and weekends don't mean anything," he says. "We can get a call at 7 a.m. on Christmas Day or at midnight on New Year's Eve. There's just no way to predict timing because there are so many variables. The container crane on a ship could break down and cause a five-hour delay, for example."

The pilots have a tremendous amount of responsibility, Sullivan says. While each of the ships that they pilot has a captain, it is the pilots themselves who know the harbor the way a doctor knows the human body. And, like doctors, the harbor pilots are specialists who are qualified to work in a specific harbor after they pass a test demonstrating detailed knowledge of that area's geography, currents and weather.

Sullivan says this knowledge is an essential element in the ability to move people as well as valuable or hazardous cargo through densely populated areas like New York Harbor. "Out on the open seas, there is a lot more leeway in correcting for errors," Sullivan says. "In a harbor, on the other hand, the ship has to contend with all kinds of potential hazards, from narrow channels and strong tidal currents to reefs and shoals."

In 1981, the unpredictability of Ken's schedule became a bit more problematic when Jackie gave birth to twins Megan and Kelly, now sophomores at UD. "It was especially tough at the beginning when they were babies," he acknowledges, "but we got through it. I got a valuable lesson in perspective when we went to a picnic organized by Mothers of Multiples and met a woman who had given birth to seven children in three pregnancies. She had a set of twins, then triplets, and then twins again. When someone asked her what her reaction was when she found out that she was having the second set of twins, she said, 'Oh, I was just glad it wasn't triplets again.' I realized then that we were on totally different wavelengths!"

Jackie took a break from her work as a nurse when the twins were born and became active in community organizations, including Mothers of Multiples. She returned to work as an on-call critical care nurse at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, N.J., when the twins were about 10.

As a major regional hospital, Riverview has the potential to handle such major disasters as plane, bus and train crashes. Jackie and the twins played a role in preparing for that eventuality when the girls were in high school. To prepare the medical staff to receive and care for the victims of a disaster, simulated incidents are held annually--complete with human "victims," fake injuries and trained emergency crews on the scene. Jackie had some input into the planning of a fictitious plane crash, while Megan and Kelly played the part of victims.

Neither girl, however, intends to follow the drama-filled career paths of her parents. Megan is studying nutrition, with plans to counsel healthy adults on diet and fitness, while Kelly is majoring in elementary education.

"We always knew they'd go to college together," says Jackie. "They're identical twins and they're very close, although they do have different tastes and a wide circle of diverse friends. "Having twins was a major factor in our choice of the University of Delaware. We wanted a school with a broad range of majors so they could both find programs that matched their interests. Delaware's diversity of majors also meant that they could keep their options open if they changed their minds after they started."

UD seems to be popular with the Sandy Hook Pilots Association as well. According to Ken, three other pilots have daughters at Delaware.