Quote:
Originally Posted by NoBozo
I enjoy watching the Mt. Washington leave the dock in Wolfeboro. They don't use a stern line at all but use a bow line and a forward Spring Line to keep the boat close to the dock, at Slow Ahead, left rudder, while boarding passengers.
When it's time to leave, they toss off the bow line and then continue to run ahead Slow with right rudder, straining Against the Spring line while nudging the pilings at the starboard bow. The stern slowly "Walks" away from the Aft pilings. When the stern is far enough out, they go to neutral then astern..backing away.
Having Twin Screws is a bonus. Ahead Slow on one screw, while running Astern Slow with the other screw is something the casual bystander probably never notices. It's a pleasure to watch fine boat handling.  |
As a point of interest, the Mount has no neutral. It is direct drive. When the engines are running the props are turning. To reverse the props the engines are stopped, levers are pulled that shift the cam shafts and the engines are restarted in the reverse direction. This takes quite an orchestrated effort every time the ship is docked and is the reason it's gone out of control a few times when they were unable to do everything necessary to complete the reversal process.