One of the more challenging logistical aspects of a B.C. coast Pilot's career is the complex travel arrangements which apply to most assignments. Moving a ship from one port to another, for example, means the Pilot must make arrangements to get to the berth where the ship is located and then get back home from the port where the ship is destined. This can involve the use of commercial airline flights, charter flights, float planes, helicopters, ferries, taxis, the Pilot's own car, limos, buses, etc. Some assignments are relatively easy since the vessel is only moving from one berth within the harbor to another berth within the same harbor. Other assignments are more difficult since they originate in a distant outport, which can only be accessed by floatplane or helicopters, and completes in another outport more than 200 nautical miles away. A Pilot can travel from 6 to 8 hours before he reaches the vessel and actually begins his piloting assignment.

For assignments, where the vessel is at anchor, the Pilots will use a "water taxi" to board the vessel. A water taxi is a small passenger boat that is used in relatively calm waters to provide a taxi service between the ship and shore for Pilots as well as crewmembers, ship's agents and government personnel.

When a vessel is inbound from sea, there are four specific locations on the B.C. coast where the vessel can pick up a Pilot called "Pilot boarding stations." One of these is located near Victoria, B.C., another on the west side of Vancouver Island at the entrance to the Alberni inlet, another at the northernmost tip of Vancouver Island, and the final one outside of Prince Rupert, B.C. In these locations the Pilots take a "Pilot launch" from the shore to the vessel. A Pilot launch is a specialized boat made specifically for boarding and disembarking Pilots from ships. The Pilot launch picks up the Pilot from shore and takes him out to meet the arriving vessel. This can take as little as 15 minutes as in the case of the Victoria Pilot boarding station, or as long as 2 hours as in the case of the Prince Rupert Pilot station.

If a vessel is coming in from sea to an area on the coast other than a Pilot boarding station, the Pilots will use a helicopter to board the vessel. The use of helicopters is governed by type of vessel the helicopters can land on as well as weather restrictions.