A Special Place: ‘Twisty, Turny Path’ Led Rod Pickens to Baltimore
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BY DERON SNYDER (as published by Port of Baltimore Magazine)
Rod Pickens was a young teen when his family moved from Prince George’s County, Maryland, to an Anne Arundel County neighborhood that happened to have a boat slip. His dad purchased a used Hobie Cat to affix atop their Volkswagen Rabbit, and the family began heading to the dock for days of boating fun.
Pickens, Vice President of Equipment and Container Processing for Wallenius Wihelmsen, has fond memories of good times spent sailing and hanging out on beaches. Being close to the water produced a liberating feeling. But something else was nudging him, too.
“We had a lot of bay pilots in the neighborhood, the guys that bring the ships up the bay and know all the twists and turns of the channels,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to meet a few and they told me what they did. It was super interesting.”
Some started their careers by attending the Merchant Marine Academy, which sounded like a good idea to Pickens. So, off he went, envisioning a life at sea.
